The hard truths about manifesting

Yoohyun Park/Production Coordinator

You can’t always get what you want

By: Ana Mamula, Staff Writer

As I was scrolling through my “for you” page on TikTok last summer, bored out of my mind in quarantine, I remember seeing the same things: crystals, spirituality and how to manifest properly. I remember my generation taking spirituality by the reins and running with it.

I personally noted the spread of misinformation on the practice itself, causing many people to have a false perception of the notion as a whole.

One of the notions that individuals carry is that spirituality cures all; you can receive anything you want, you can be who you want and you can attract whatever you want. And this all is sparked with manifesting. Apparently, you can just write down your wishes three times on a piece of paper or click your shoes together three times and poof! Your wishes come true!

That's not how it works.

I will be going through what you need to know about manifesting and the actual truths regarding this notion.

First off, what is manifesting, you may ask? Spiritual manifesting is when you're flowing, not forcing. It's different from goal-setting because it's like you're co-creating with the universe. You have a special relationship with the universe and you are working alongside it to grow into the individual you wish to become and do what you wish to do.

When it comes to manifesting, it is important to understand life itself and how your mindset truly affects everything.

When we go through life, we all go through both good and difficult periods of time. When a rough patch arises, it is easy to feel as though such patches alone comprise one’s reality, which can negatively impact one’s mindset. But what individuals do not understand is you are the creator of your reality. 

So, if you believe you are the creator of your reality and you create the good, you have to take responsibility for all — the good and the bad.

And once you take that responsibility, you can change the outcome.

Now, why is learning about life, the good, the bad and outcomes so important? Because those who fail at manifestation, those who do not do the research, are oblivious to understanding the mutual agreement you have with the universe. 

You cannot ask for good if you are looking over the bad. If you shift the power of the good and bad to things other than yourself, you are not learning, growing, accepting or changing. That is the importance of life.

Your feelings are closely dependent on how positively you dream about your future. To implement your wishes, you need energy — energy that comes from manifesting properly. 

Those who still want to turn the other way when hearing you have to go through the bad to receive the good need to understand we were not put on this earth for it to be easy. You came here to be challenged, grow and learn.

Because the hard truth is that even when you receive what you manifested, you’re still going to have challenges and obstacles.

To succeed in your spiritual journey, it’s crucial to stop tip-toeing through life and remember who you are. Start looking at your past and how far you have come. Look at all of your accomplishments, look at all of those times when you would complain about the difficulties and think about how you overcame them.

Think about how strong you have gotten. Think about what you have learned. And then you will receive what you want, you will become who you want to be and you will attract who you want to attract.