Thursday, March 22, 2012

Get Off You’re Butt and Start Manifesting your Dreams


Get Off You’re Butt and Start Manifesting your Dreams.
By Jonna Ivin

In 2006 the movie The Secret was released on DVD and people were buzzing with excitement over the idea that anyone was capable of manifesting their wishes and desires. The biggest key was to believe that it was already true, that you already had love, prosperity, good health and anything else your heart desired. All you had to do was believe it to be true and it would be. Sounds easy, right? So why was it so hard?


It was in the believing part that I failed miserably. Sure I could cut out pictures from magazines and glue them to a vision board and as a writer I was an expert at focusing on every pretend detail of my storybook made-up life. The color of the walls in my future kitchen, or the way my future husband’s dimples always make me smile, nothing was left to chance. It was laid out perfectly in my mind. Too bad I never thought it would actually happen.
For years, I read books, took classes and did everything I could think of to try and force The Secret to work in my life. As I sat in numerous mediation and visioning groups, I’d repeat silently, “I am surrounded by love. The man of my dreams loves me.” Unfortunately that nagging voice of reason in the back of my mind would rudely follow with, “Except, I am going home alone to an empty house.” Affirmations declaring my endless prosperity were swiftly dismissed with my thoughts of, “If I’m so prosperous why is my phone about to be cut off?” I couldn’t manifest jack-diddly-squat.

Then in 2008, Hurricane Ike hit the coast of Texas and my life would never be the same. I volunteered for the Red Cross having no idea I was on my way to manifesting the biggest dream of my life. When I arrived in Beaumont, Texas I met a man. He was a 20 year veteran with the Army Special Forces and after knowing him for a short time, and eventually falling in love I heard a whispering of intuition that I was going to write a book about him. Finally the The Secret had paid off and I had manifested the man of my dreams. Not only was he the love of my life, but I was also following my dream of becoming a writer. I’d manifested two dreams for the price of one.
I could never have foreseen the road my life would take with this man, or where I would end up as a result. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this Cali girl would move to the swamps of Louisiana and the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas or that my dream man would turn out to be my worst nightmare. Eventually I did leave the south and this man behind to head to the Pacific Northwest where I eventually wrote my memoir Will Love For Crumbs. It was not the book I thought I would be writing. It was much better.
When I sat down to begin the writing process it was the first time in my life I wasn’t pushing and struggling to try to make something happen. I just knew. I just believed without a doubt that I would finish writing and publish this book. How it would happen or when it would happen didn’t matter. All I knew was that it would happen no matter what.
Finally, after all these years I understood what it meant to manifest. It wasn’t about how hard I could pray, or the thousands of times I repeated the same mantra. It was about seeing the goal in front of me and each day taking one step closer to achieving it. Even when I didn’t know what I was doing or what I would do next, I kept it simple. One task at a time was all it took and yes, the Universe rose up and supported my dream.


I finally understood that there were two components to manifesting your dreams; believing it was possible and getting off your butt to do something about it. One cannot exist without the other. Affirmations, prayer, meditation and positive thinking keep you focused on the right path. Effort and work keeps you moving forward.




Jonna Ivin currently lives in Vancouver, Washington. She is busy working on the film adaptation of her memoir and editing Loving For Crumbs - An Anthology.
An audio book version of Will Love For Crumbs will be released in the summer/fall 2012


Dang! Jonna that was post that shock and shook me up. Makes me want to read your book. Thank you so much for sharing. It was truly exceptional.

16 comments:

  1. Yep, manifesting by believing and feeling are super helpful but we must take actual steps if we want to move forward. And I'm pretty sure there are also success stories of people who simply took steps to move forward without actually believing it would work :)

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    1. I think Jason there has to be some belief, or else why would anyone take any steps at all? I agree though that some people will just do the work without out really having the language of "manifesting or creating" around what they are doing. It works just as well!

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  2. I am wondering if I am just too damn old to start dreaming, believing and manifesting at this point. I don't know if I am resigned to things or just mired in complacency. I guess I need to think about what it is that I might really want...when I try to go there and think about it, my mind is numb...

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    1. As long as you are breathing and your heart is pounding there is still time to follow your dream. If nothing else, you can do what you love and fill your days will joy. Even if it is just a hobby, why not spend time having fun instead of being mired in complacency?

      You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

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  3. See Jonna you were an inspiration to me. Along with my dear friend in Geneva, Switzerland who one day gave me the ultimatum: Stop sitting around waiting to die and do something productive with your life.

    SO I learned at 64 how to build ebsites knowing absolutely nothing on th subject. hen I learned how to build eBooks again having no idea where or how to start. Now I keep myself busy going step-bystep through How to Make and Market Your books.

    Its all good and life is fun again

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    1. Barney, I love your spirit and enthusiasm! It's contagious!

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  4. how beautiful is that. . i was there in 2006 and shared in a little whiles the magic of your journey. Do you remember the monk on the high st (ha ha). Now you know the secret for you how beautiful is that. . May your flow be always joined to abundance & love in the nowness of now that you are xx

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    1. I do remember the monk and your first introduction to all the little geckos! LOL

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  5. I knew you and I always got each other Jonna, but it wasn't until I started reading your book that I realized how much we truly have in common. I'm so glad your unknown journey brought you into my life <3

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    1. Thanks Lorrie! It's amazing how we never know where our paths will take us once we start putting one foot in front of the other.

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  6. Jonna, your account pretty much sums up my discoveries about manifesting, with a slight twist. My sense of things is that ideas come to me when it's time, and I "recognize" them. I don't work to find them -- ideas and opportunities find me. They don't always manifest in a straight line as your memoir did. I usually have half a dozen "manifesting" projects queued up, jumping from one to another, only later finding out that they were all threads of a single braid.

    This "recognizing" and "inner sense of knowing" marks my path. The closest I can come to describing it is flowing with the river as opposed to swimming upstream.

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    1. I totally agree Sharon that ideas come and we recognize them, but I think too that in order to be open to the ideas coming to us we need to put in the work. Sometimes it takes sitting down to write without knowing where it's going to go. The action and effort often come first and the ideas follow. Which I imagine is why your "separate" ideas come together as a single thread. I don't know that this would happen say if you were just sitting around "thinking" about writing and hoping an idea came. You put in the effort and the results came. Wonderful!!

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  7. I'm fairly much on board with this. I think people concentrate for to much on positive imagery, and not enough on actual action. For me, a goal needs to be set. Thereafter, action needs to take place to continue that goal. Now depending on the goal, there may be a certain level of resistance to achieve what I had intended. It's at that point, I weigh, how important is that goal for me to achieve. If I find it very important, then it's time to continue to take action despite the burdens in my way. It is there that positive affirmations can help through the trials and the tribulations.

    So I disagree with this in the sense that they are symbiotic relationships. I do believe they can exist independently of each other with success. However, it can be a potent combination if combined when necessary.

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  8. I was unable to pay this post the usual amount of attention I do on my blog as I was out of town. I apologize to the commentors. But I'm just thrilled and impressed with all your opinions and stories. Thank you so much Jonna for this amazing post.

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  9. It was my pleasure Bri!

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