To Do or not To Do

Manifestation has been a hot topic for quite a few years now, particularly since The Secret made this principle so mainstream.  We eat this up, don't we?  We want to know what the secret really is and how to make it come true in our lives.  We hope that if we dream of winning the lottery, we will then magically find the winning ticket in our hands the next day.

If only it were so simple, but it doesn't seem to work that way!  And why doesn't it? 

I think about this quite a lot.  Like many, I have read and tried many things and don't always see results, especially the results I want.  So is there one formula that works?

My conclusion is that there are many elements to manifestation.  I got two powerful messages this week, from two of my mentors.  The first came from Cheryl Richardson.  I listened to her most recent Laser Coaching session on YouTube, and this line really stuck out for me:  Affirmations plus consistent actions create miracles.

I believe in the whole movement of cognitive change.  Change your thoughts, change your life.  Affirm positive things until they replace the negative programming in our minds.  Cheryl takes this one step further by reminding us that actions are needed in order for our lives to shift.  Does it do any good to say, "I now live in my dream home surrounded by abundance with a loving life partner" and then sit on the couch waiting for it to happen?

But wait.  The second mentor with a message on this topic this week was Doreen Virtue.  In a telephone interview on the Aware Show, she answered a listener's question by saying that we only need to ask for our dreams once.  She used the example of ordering a sandwich.  We place our order once, and then wait for the sandwich to be delivered.  We don't follow the server into the kitchen, questioning when the sandwich will be ready.

This is quite a different perspective.  The equation is a little different from Cheryl's.  It seems to be:  Asking plus trusting equals manifestation.  There is no mention of actions.  So which is it?

I have come to believe that life has its cycles, and there is a time to be active and a time to be passive.  I know there are some days when I have a very active energy, and I want to go out and Do, Accomplish, Make Things Happen.  On these days, I take lots of actions and act on my inspirations and instinct.

It's like I am in a fabulous boat in a river and I am fishing.  I feel energetic and enthusiastic, knowing it is a great day to reel things in.  Sometimes I row upstream because something there catches my attention.  I throw my line out and hook all sorts of objects and opportunities.  I am using affirmations plus consistent actions and miracles result.

Other days, a more passive energy takes over and I know I must Wait, Be Patient, Trust.    On those days, things can come to me effortlessly.  It's like I am floating in a stream and I do not know its destination.  I still bring my positive intent, but I just relax and let the stream carry me.  Objects and opportunities float along with me and become part of my experience.   It's a totally different way of doing things, but the result is still that I get what I want.

One is not better than the other; it's a matter of balance.  It's a matter of staying in tune with life, inside me and around me, and then I'll know which energy will work best for me at that time. 

Searching for work is a great example in my life of how these two energies work at different times.  When I was a teen, I needed a summer job, and got a position babysitting a houseful of young children.  This was not a good match for me, but I needed money so I took it.  A few days later, I rode with my friend to the gas station so she could fill up her car.  The gas station manager was a family friend of hers, and out of the blue, he offered me a job!  I worked the 3-11 shift for a year and paid my way through my first year of college with this job. 

This is an example of being in the flow and allowing life to take care of me.  The universe and I both knew that I needed a job, and but the universe had a better idea of how it should look, and I was handed this job on a silver platter.

A few years ago, I found myself needing a job, and I was more active in my approach.  I wrote down my requirements.  I talked to a few friends and brainstormed.  I was led to an agency I had never even heard of before, and was immediately offered a position that exactly filled my needs. 

Now I find myself "unemployed".  I am not nervous or worried.  I absolutely know the right thing is brewing for me.  I am affirming my abundance.  I am affirming that the universe always takes care of me.  I am exploring the unique opportunities that have presented themselves.  And I am open:  it doesn't matter to me whether I have to paddle upstream to catch my symbolic fish, or whether I lay back and let the fish hop into my boat.  At the end of the day, I know I'll get my fish!

I'll end this musing with a great old song by the Byrds, recorded in 1965.  The lyrics are taken from the Bible, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.  I don't necessarily agree with each point, but the message is that there is a season for everything and it is all in Divine Order.  Let's ask Archangel Haniel to help us to be in touch with our own inner seasons so that we can manifest the amazing life that already exists in our dreams.

To everything - turn, turn, turn                  A time to build up, a time to break down          A time to gain, a time to lose  
There is a season - turn, turn, turn           A time to dance, a time to mourn                     A time to rend, a time to sew
And a time for every purpose                    A time to cast away stones                              A time to love, a time to hate             
 under heaven                                           A time to gather stones together                     A time of peace, I swear it's not too late!   

A time to be born, a time to die                  A time of war, a time of peace
A time to plant, a time to reap                    A time of love, a time of hate           
A time to kill, a time to heal                        A time you may embrace
A time to laugh, a time to weep                  A time to refrain from embracing                      -The Byrds, 1965

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