I’m 51 and a manifesting convert. Here’s how I made it work for me
I’m sitting at the kitchen table cutting images out from a women’s magazine. So far I’ve got a glamorous woman sitting at an impossibly tidy desk. The phrase ‘Take it Slow,’ is hovering above her head, and there are some green plants dotted around. I’m making a vision board - something I do every six months. And it's part and parcel of manifesting a better life.
Manifesting is everywhere right now, and the word ‘manifest’ has been named the word of 2024 by the Cambridge Dictionary. And while I don’t believe you can bring something into existence purely by thinking about it, over the years I’ve cherry picked certain aspects of manifesting, and dismissed other bits that felt too outlandish.
Manifesting for me is about keeping an open mind and staying optimistic. It’s also about having a slightly absurd level of imagination. Some people might call it being deluded, but arguably why not choose to believe good things might happen rather than the rather depressing alternative?
When I was a kid I’d rehearse my Oscars acceptance speech in the bath. I told all my school mates that my mum and dad were Bjorn and Agnetha from Abba. In secondary school I had a bus journey commute of over an hour, and dreamt up an entire life where I was married to Nathan from ‘Brother Beyond’ (they were ‘hunks’ in the classic 80’s sense). Of course this was just fantasy, but arguably when we’re younger we’re better at using our imaginations to escape real life.
How to manifest
As a 51-year-old grown-up, I’ve kept thinking that some of these dreams might be possible. Maybe not marrying Nathan but you get my gist. How do I do it? Well first I get clear on what I want to achieve (hence the vision board which is stuck to the wall in the bedroom, and covers up an ominous circle of damp). I think positively when I’m faced by challenges, and try to be grateful about small things, even when the things are very small. I also work like mad to get where I want to go. I don’t believe I can change reality through doing this, but I feel that if I focus on what I want then it’s much more helpful than focusing on what I don’t. Once you know what you want, it makes decision-making much easier.
The beginning of 2024 was rough. I was made redundant in a way that crushed my confidence. I’d had my fill of deranged bosses, and endless Zooms where people passed the buck. I felt washed up and like my life was over. That kid energy of anything is possible had GONE. Once I’d wallowed for a few days, I made a list of what I wanted to achieve. I visualised myself as achieving some of these goals. And - NEWSFLASH - this, combined with hard work, made some of these things come true.
I now have a monthly column in Good Housekeeping (this was on my goals list). More writing assignments (the woman with the tidy desk on my vision board helped - though I still don’t have a proper desk). I have a team that manages me, which sounds crazy when I say it out loud. On Saturday I will go and see ‘Abba’ in concert (okay they’re not my mum and dad... but it’s still cool, right?). My life is not perfect. I have a kitten that has continual stomach problems, and an overflowing litter tray. My young daughters fight incessantly. There is damp all over the place. But as I write those things I start to feel bad. Stuck in the grind of reality. So instead I focus on the bits that are going well. And I think about what I want next.
Manifesting can be dangerous if you believe you can conjure up any life and you don’t have to put any work into it. Or if you think it’ll cure you of serious illness. For me, someone who lost her way a bit, it’s given me a sense that better days are on the way. That I can be happy. Most importantly it’s given me something every woman needs… a bit of hope.
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