The line between science and spirituality is distinct with some, but faint with others. As a STEM student who has strong faith in God, I believe both can seamlessly coexist. Therefore, I didn’t see manifestation as some crystal girl, woo-woo concept, but rather an interesting technique to experiment with. Wouldn’t it be fascinating to know that enough prayer and wishful thinking can land us our biggest, most unimaginable desires? Surprisingly enough, I had a fairly high success rate with my manifestations, but as I neared the end of college, I looked back at my journey and wondered, “Was it ever truly manifestation? Or just my own efforts?”
The journey began when my high school friend gifted me a crisp, colorful notebook. All through high school, such notebooks were my dumping grounds for sporadic teenage emotions. However, I wanted to start a new chapter of my life with a new habit—rather than journaling the good and the bad, why don’t I journal my desires to fruition?
With that mindset, I made it a daily task to manifest. I started my entries with “blessings,” where I noted down three things I am grateful for. Secondly, I wrote my desires, paying careful attention to each word choice. Specificity and intention are crucial to manifesting, and so I would write “I will,” rather than “I want to achieve.” Finally, and what changed my perspective of manifestation entirely, I wrote down how I will achieve that desire.
From my grades to my appearance to internships, I religiously manifested my wildest dreams. My first year of college had nearly a 100% success rate, where I accomplished goals I could never have imagined before. With high hopes, I continued manifesting in my second-year, but this time, the results were minimal. I started doubting if my manifestations were truly magic, or if I just got lucky previously. Despite the small returns, I tried manifesting again my third-year; some situations worked out like miracles, while others were disappointing.
How was it that my manifestations worked consistently the first time around, but not afterwards? Was I not writing my desires down enough? Was I not praying enough? I had to scrutinize my successful versus failed manifestations to find the missing piece: sincerity. With every desire that came to fruition, even in the most hopeless of cases, I had a sincere heart backing my efforts.
For example, when I was “manifesting” an A for my physics class, I ensured to attend every office hour, review session, lecture, and participate in discussion. More importantly, I TRIED to learn. In other cases, I may have taken all the “correct” steps, but I did not TRY when opportunities presented themselves.
I tried one last experiment: if I have the sincerity to achieve my desires, but don’t write it down as a manifestation, would I still attain success? In my fourth year of college, I let go of writing in my notebook, and instead I focused on putting a sincere foot forward. I didn’t see the results I wanted immediately, but at the VERY last moment, I achieved what I wanted to.
Traditional manifesting says to sit in a corner, write your desires down, think about it 24/7, and it will eventually come true. However, my “experiment” showed that for manifestations to come true, it requires 80% hard work/sincerity and 20% luck. I couldn’t deny that certain chips had to fall in place for me, but even when those chips were fortified, I needed my hard work and dedication to reach the finish line.
In the end, “manifesting” is just a technique to reinforce our goals; there is a greater effect of writing our desires down, reading them to ourselves, and storing them in our subconscious rather than them ebbing and flowing in our minds. By storing these in our subconscious, we are indirectly willed to take actions that lead us closer to our desire. To this day, I “manifest” in my journal; I even created several vision boards for what I want out of life! However, it is with the understanding that if my heart is not sincere, then my efforts are in vain.