Yet another door is about to close, just as a new one opens.

The Ultimate Blog Challenge is winding down, but that doesn’t mean my writing tasks will disappear. I’ve made some new friends this time around, and will continue following them to see where their journey takes them.

Meanwhile, once UBC ends, NaNoWriMo begins. I’m diligently reading some of the material I received concerning plot development, and though much of the terminology is familiar, much more is not. I’m learning a great deal, some of which will stay in my head during this first pass, but most will come into play once I begin the first revision…after November is over.

So what exactly is this “visualization” stuff? Does it really work?

I know you’ve seen it because, these days, it’s all over the net. “Visualize”. “Manifest”. “Laws of Attraction”. But when I was first introduced to these concepts, they had only just begun to leave the hands of the pioneers in the field who were disseminating these new fangled ideas, and you only heard about them in certain circles. These days, just about everyone has hear about them, and more and more of us are utilizing their principles, not only for the big things, but in our every day lives.

As I see it, by visualizing something or some condition you really want in your life, and doing so while feeling the high vibrational emotions you would be feeling if they already existed, you draw to you the tools and guidance you need to make the visions materialize. Not everyone has jumped on this particular train, any more than everyone jumps on any train or idea. But I’ve noticed that those who dissent the loudest are the ones who think that they should see immediate results on the big stuff.

Others, myself included, have learned that the larger things, no matter how you might manifest them, take time to develop. If nothing else, you may still have to read several signs and perform several steps before the larger manifestations occur. You see, even manifestation by visualization is a process.

Not only that, if you fail to recognize the signs and don’t align yourself or perform certain tasks when they need to be performed, like a train, you’ll miss your connection. Like anything else, visualization in the wrong hands won’t work. As I see it, the greatest opposition to manifestation of our visualizations is entitlement.

With entitlement, people just expect to be handed what they want without having to go to any effort, up to and including visualizing what they want while exuding the joy of already having it. If you can’t even be bothered to feel joyful, why in the name of all that’s good would the Universe waste time trying to give it to you? You wouldn’t recognize it for what it was anyway! The “entitled” don’t feel gratitude because they don’t understand the simple concept that appreciation attracts more of what you appreciate. They don’t even feel the need to appreciate what they believe they’re simply entitled to, for no other reason than that they inhabit a particular space in time.

I realize that in a perfect world, a wish for that brand new car or the perfect job or the perfect mate would be fulfilled immediately. But part of the perfection of our world lies smack dab in the middle of its imperfections. Part of those imperfections require us to actually learn lessons and acquire tools so we’ll know what to do with what we receive, and how to take care of it once it’s ours! Even the unenlightened would no more give a five year old a brand new car than they would have them raise a baby. Some things require a period of learning before being handed the keys to that Maserati.

Have you read about some of the people who’ve won big in the lotteries, but had never had money in their lives? Oftentimes, they’re bankrupt in a short time because nobody ever taught them how to handle money properly instead of just throwing it away. So, too, with families who were nearly destitute until “Extreme Home Makeover” gave them a brand new house. There are documented cases where they mortgaged their new house to start a business, but had no idea how to make it work, and lost everything.

We have to be just as prepared to receive what we envision. We have to respond to those clues which give us lessons to learn which will prepare us. Even the people in the Secret movie talk about their big dreams manifesting over time, even after they’ve forgotten about the visualization. They were working up to it the whole time, though they didn’t realize they were doing anything except living their life and facing some challenges and appreciating everything in their lives.

As I move along the path that my visualization of a writing career created, I move slowly at times, and more quickly at others. I recognize some lessons and overlook others for awhile until something draws my attention to what has been right in front of my face for weeks and even months. I’d certainly be further along had I paid more attention earlier this year, but in truth, am I not exactly where I’m supposed to be? Were those delays not put in place for a reason? Am I not more inspired and open to ideas because of the delays?

Looking at the chronicle of my progress.

I’m luckier than most. If I want to know where I was at a given point in time, I simply go back and look at what I was writing at the time. This isn’t just true of the 5 years of blogging I’ve done, but in the files of what I call “brain dumps” which I’ve done over the years, mostly when I was having trouble sleeping. It was there that I found my dream to leave accounting and concentrate on writing was already screaming loudly in my mind nearly twenty years ago. It’s there that I chronicle strange dreams or thoughts I can’t seem to get out of my brain. Even the fiction I wrote had an element in it which echoed those hopes and dreams.

So I know that even though the going this year has been slow, I am making progress and I am moving toward the manifestation of my dreams. Like anything else, I simply have to go through the process. I have to develop as a person, as a writer, as a Divine Being, before some of those things will fully manifest. But if I look carefully, more has already manifested than I realize when I only give my life a casual glance.

I encourage you to look deeper when you think your hopes and dreams are being ignored. The Universe is always going to try to give you something even better than you visualized, so maybe you just aren’t ready to recognize what is before you. When you are, get ready for one of those epiphanies, those “Aha Moments” I speak of so frequently. They’re all around you, just waiting for you to open your eyes. Embrace the possibilities!

My Gratitudes tonight are:
1. I am grateful for the lessons which prepare me for all of the amazing things I’ve been visualizing faithfully.
2. I am grateful for all of the visualizations which have already manifested, and always better than my original picture.
3. I am grateful for my writing which gives me a reminder of how much I’ve received, and to offer up my gratitude for how blessed I am.
4. I am grateful for the improvements in my physical self. I’m already seeing small improvements in what I am capable of doing.
5. I am grateful that I have the time, the inclination and the means to prepare healthy meals for myself.
6. I am grateful for abundance: love, health, happiness, manifestations, gratitude, friendship, inspiration and prosperity.

Namaste