Crafting Your Order

I love to go out to eat! I particularly love eating out at a new restaurant I’ve never been to before. I’ll go online and check out what the restaurant has to offer, dreaming and planning what meal I’d like to have. Knowing what I am going to eat ahead of time takes the pressure off having to peruse the menu while socializing with my friends or family. I can simply order, relax, and enjoy the food and the company! The whole restaurant experience completely entices the foodie inside of me!!

Why am I telling you this? Because I would like to use my thoughts about going out to eat and looking at the menu ahead of time as a metaphor for manifesting. 

Manifesting is a mainstream buzz word of the moment. I hear people use it all the time! For example, a group of friends and I were out together the other night. One of my friends expressed her frustrations at work, described how things could be better, and shared what her dream job would look like. Another friend, listening to all of this, responded with, “You can find that dream job! Just manifest it!”

I wish it worked that way…..that would be pure magic.

So what exactly is manifesting and how does it work? Some people describe it as a practice of thinking positive thoughts with the purpose of making those thoughts a reality. In all honesty, this description can make manifesting sound pretty hokey. We can’t “just manifest” something into reality. That sounds more like wishing than manifesting to me. And there is a distinct difference between the two, which I’ll try to explain in a second.

But first, let me go back to my restaurant analogy. When we go to a restaurant and place an order for our meal, we tell the waitstaff exactly what we want, how we like it cooked, what we’d like on the side, and more.  Then, a little while later, it all appears in front of us so we can enjoy what we asked for! 

Imagine for a second, that the waiter comes to my table to take my order and I tell them that I don’t know what I want and to simply “surprise me”. Or maybe, I give them a list of a few things I’d maybe enjoy but give them permission to pick something for me. Imagine that I am the most undecided restaurant patron on the planet! 

What will the waiter bring me? It is possible they will bring me something that I like, but don’t particularly enjoy and relish in. Or, they may bring me something that I totally dislike, ruining my restaurant experience! The possibilities of what actually lands on the plate in front of me are endless. 

Manifesting is kinda like that…..you have to be clear in what you want to create.

I like to try new restaurants because I have a passion for food. I want to treat myself because I know I deserve it! I don’t want to pay for a meal that I will regret. I know what I want to eat and exactly what menu item ignites something inside of me. 

I manifest because I have a passion for something. I want this something because it gives me purpose and meaning and I know that I am worthy. I don’t want to live a life that I will regret. I know what I want and exactly what will ignite something inside of me. See the connection? 

Wait….there’s more….

My excitement for restaurants goes beyond my passion for food. Going to a restaurant in hopes that I will eat the meal of my dreams is simply wishful thinking. It is important for me to take action to ensure I will enjoy my meal. I look at the menu ahead of time. When I get to the restaurant, I ask my friends or family what they are ordering and take stock of if I am ordering the best meal that I can! I sometimes even ask the waiter for their opinion on my meal choice. I look around to see what other tables have ordered and what might seem enticing to me. 

Right here is the difference between wishing and manifesting…..

Wishing is simply something that you want and hope magic will bring you. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t, right?

Manifesting starts with a wish but then takes action. 

I start with hopes about something I want in my life and then I take actions to nurture this dream into reality. Maybe I use affirmations or positive visualizations in my meditations or before I fall asleep at night. From there, I do my research by looking at other people that have already achieved this dream. And then I take my first step toward my manifestation. From there, any actions I take towards my dream get easier and easier, and eventually come into reality.

Manifestation makes a claim on what I want and then I act accordingly.

Just like the restaurant….I make a claim on the meal I would like and then I place the order exactly the way I would like it to be served to me. 

Manifesting can be challenging if you don’t embody what you’d like to create, however. Embodiment is the difference between a real-life amazing meal at a restaurant and a simple drawing of the meal. Visualizing what I want in my mind isn’t enough. I also need to figure out how to move past my limiting beliefs…..to work through the fears I might have about how deserving I am. Manifesting doesn’t work if it comes from a place of judgement.

Let me give you a real life example….my fitness journey seems like the easiest place to start.

For years, I wished for a better body. One that didn’t have stretch marks or wobbly bits. One that had muscle tone and a flat belly. I visualized this dream body before I went to bed at night. I thought positively that someday I would lose the weight and live in a body that I loved.

I took action. I went on diets. I exercised more. I weighed myself. I went to Weight Watcher meetings and I lost weight.

…..but I never kept the weight off and I never had my “dream” body.

It wasn’t until recently that I realized I was manifesting things all wrong. How was that possible?? I had a wish! I was visualizing it! I was taking action! 

I was forgetting one important part….

Belief.

Belief in myself.

Belief that I was deserving.

I had this wish of a “dream body” because I judged every ounce of the body that I was gifted. I looked at all my imperfections and formed negative opinions about every single one of my physical flaws. I was manifesting a better body because I hated the one that I was walking around in! 

How could I manifest my dream when I wasn’t being clear on what I wanted? 

I didn’t want a better body! 

I wanted a new one. 

And that isn’t humanly possible. I was trying to place a blind order with the universe that was bound to leave me grossly unsatisfied….just like placing a wishy-washy order at a restaurant!

It is taking me some time, but I am slowly starting to appreciate the body that I have been given. My body is alive. My body created and delivered two amazing children. My body is a complex and incredible machine. 

Once I began to lose the harsh judgement towards myself, what I wanted to manifest became clearer. 

I wanted to be healthy and fit. 

And that is a very clear order to place for my manifestation.

My meditation teacher, Emily Fletcher, was on to something when she told me that manifesting is like “placing an order with the cosmic waitress.” Manifesting takes a dream, mixes it with faith and belief in oneself, includes actions towards those beliefs, and then delivers.

Without fear.

And that’s the essence of manifesting - placing a clear order with the universe, just like ordering from a menu at a new restaurant. As you navigate your own manifestations, remember to be clear about what you truly desire, believing in your worthiness to receive it, and taking purposeful actions towards your dreams.

It is about embodying your desires, banishing self-doubt, and a willingness to embrace the process. Once that happens, the universe has a way of delivering exactly what you need.

Pure magic.