We all know that feeling of wanting something to happen, of having an idea of how our life should be and then trying with all of our physical, mental and spiritual might to make it so.

Often we want something to happen so badly it can be painful.

This is a lot of what being human is all about—balancing our need to make our life the way we want it to be and surrendering to the reality that everything is uncertain and out of our control.

Somewhere between these two states is successful manifesting.

The challenge is that stressing over both everyday life circumstances and the big plans can really put a damper on actually enjoying our life in this very moment.

Of course we want to improve our lives. We want to make money and live our dreams. This very thing seems hard to accomplish if we just lie around in a hammock all day sipping cocktails, not even trying to accomplish anything because everything is so uncertain.

This fine line between trying and letting go is kind of like tuning a string instrument.

Not too tight and not too loose. This is the type of effort we want to put into manifesting what we want in life. Because it can be so exhausting feeling like we, on our own, have to make everything we want in our life happen. It can also be really scary just to throw up our hands, give up and not even try.

One of the great things about moving into the manifestation process is realizing we are not alone.

We start to ask ourselves what if we have help? How often have we each just wished we just had a little help?

The decision to start setting intentions and to purposely use our mind state to manifest the things we want in life means accepting and acknowledging we do have help.

Moving into the manifestation process means coming to the understanding that the words we say and the words we think are very powerful.

Here is a subtle but impactful shift I would like to suggest to our manifestation process.

The suggestion is that we add the word let to all of our hopes, dreams and plans that we are thinking about.

Unfortunately the concept of manifesting has become very effortful for a lot of people. We are making vision boards and saying affirmations. When, in reality, we are just worrying and making plans but calling it manifesting.

Manifesting is a little bit more like praying then it is like making a to-do list.

By adding the word let to all of the things we are wanting to happen, we acknowledge that we don’t have to do very much. We acknowledge that we can rest in the knowledge that we just have to ask, relax, trust and enjoy life, and that there is so much goodness waiting for us if we would just let it in.

“Let my business be a success.”

“Let me meet the the love of my life.”

“Let me be healthy.”

This is not asking for permission. We are not begging, desperate and broken.

Instead, we are whole and we are making room for more abundance by dropping all the worry that is taking up too much space and filling that new space with silence, faith and trust and just letting all the goodness available to us arise.

Manifesting can be as simple as just asking for what we want to come into our consciousness in a gentle and joyful manner and then letting it be so.

~

Relephant:

What to Let Go of to Get What We Want.

~

Author: Ruth Lera

Editor: Caitlin Oriel

Image: Courtney Emery/Flickr