What about Manifestation and the Laws of Attraction?
Writing a book has always been a goal of mine. I didn’t necessarily decide one day that I wanted to write a book, but it was more of a feeling, a knowing – I felt that someday my experiences would help others as they go through similar situations. I don’t recall when this feeling first surfaced, but if I had to guess, I would say probably in my early thirties. That feeling has stayed with me, and I’ve never brushed it off as a pipe dream or fantasy; I knew it would happen someday. When and about what were the only unknowns.
I’ve had a file on my computer named ‘book’ for many years where I would keep different things I had written over the years, not necessarily written to be used as part of a book but written for other purposes. I would go through those files every once in a while, but they were random, and nothing made sense to come together as a book. Nonetheless, I was never discouraged and knew that someday, something would spark.
In August, when the term gypsy soul resonated with me, I became fascinated with how it seemed to describe me perfectly. I started reading every article I could find about what it meant to be a gypsy soul. It was literally a revelation for me about who I was and how I tended to live my life. I started to write about it because writing is a way for me to process and understand it. So many of the things I was learning were things I had tried ‘not to be’. I was learning that the ways I was feeling and the ways I felt best about living my life were part of my personality, not something wrong with me.
As I continued to write, it just flowed out of me. I had no outline and no idea it would turn into a book, but as I kept going, I started to realize that might be where it was headed. Within a week, I had 14 chapters!
The whole process has happened quickly and taken on a life of its own. My brand, GypsyWander, was created; I added to and revised my first draft, navigated a large learning curve of getting published, launched a website, a blog, and more! We are three and a half months later, and I’m getting ready for my book launch in January. It’s clear that I am not in control of this whole process, but God is. Without him, there is no way I could have done all this in the time it has happened. When God is in the lead, anything is possible!
So, what does this have to do with manifestation and the laws of attraction?
Absolutely nothing! I will get to that, I promise.
As I have let God move me through this process, the idea of coaching other women in finding their own authentic selves became something he was leading me to. I began looking for training to become a certified coach.
I am a lifelong Christian, and my faith is important to me. My faith is very much a part of all my stories and experiences. Although my company, GypsyWander, was not created as a Christian-focused company, it is being led by me, a Christian woman. It’s safe to assume that since I am a Christian, my company values will mirror some of my own personal values.
Writing a book titled Discovering My Gypsy Soul and naming my company GypsyWander could give you the idea that I am a New Age thinker and pursue New Age methodology.
While I am open-minded, curious, and love to learn new perspectives, the Bible is ultimately my guide in thinking and methodology. I am a sinner more than a saint and have been given abundant grace. This means my business, my book, and my life is full of mistaken paths taken, wrong turns and generally sinful living because we live in a broken world, but because of my faith, my life is also full of joy, redemption, and forgiveness. This allows me to offer you hope and a unique perspective, regardless of your faith background or lack thereof.
You have finally made it to the part where I will discuss Manifesting and the Laws of Attraction.
As I have begun the first part of my coaching training, I am learning a lot of New Age ideas. It has taken me a while to sort through my thoughts and ideas about manifesting and the laws of attraction and find words to fit those thoughts and ideas. Honestly, I had to take a couple of steps back from my training to get my thoughts clear on this. Only some of my training will focus on these techniques, but it is part of the first section.
It’s like when I stumbled upon the term gypsy soul, I knew what it meant at a high level but had to dig in to learn more and understand it. Same with the ideas of manifesting and the laws of attraction – I had an idea of what it was about, but that was it. I had no idea it was so much of a ‘thing’.
As I learned more, something felt off. On the one hand, manifestation is a combination of goal setting and positive thinking, which I definitely believe is necessary for your life. Still, on the other hand, it teaches that you can make things happen just by adjusting your mindset and that you can make these things happen yourself.
Your mindset influences your quality of life greatly, and there is sound science to support the power of positive thinking. Mindfulness and gratitude have been shown to make a measurable difference in our day-to-day life.
Furthermore, you can't achieve what you don't believe is possible, and your thoughts and emotions influence your experience.
Where I’m afraid I have to disagree is when manifestation and the laws of attraction teach that if you want something badly enough and think of it like you already have it, you will get it. This teaches us that our words can materialize whatever we desire. The prosperity gospel comes to mind when I think of this type of teaching, which can be dangerous.
The Bible teaches that God is the creator of the universe and is in ultimate control of all things. When we try to control our own lives without God, we lose sight of God's sovereignty, trustworthiness, the perfection in his plan and the abundant life he offers.
God has blessed us with the ability to create things, but we can’t speak things into existence. In Lamentations 3:37(NIV), he says, “Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?”
Believing we can manifest our own lives risks us entering a different reality. It puts the power and control in our hands and takes it away from God. It can be tempting to “speak things into existence”, but God is the only one who can do that.
If you are still reading, you are likely in one of three categories:
1. You agree with my perspective (at least enough that you were curious about what I had to say);
2. You couldn’t disagree more and were trying to get to the bottom to leave a comment. In which case, I am totally okay with it because the world is made up of all types of different opinions and I will respectfully read your opinion;
3. Or you’re my mom!
Regardless of why you are still here, I appreciate you and hope this post has given you something to think about and consider.
If you have any thoughts on the matter, I would love to hear them in the comments below. Thanks for reading!
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At the risk of sounding preachy, consider this:
The devil tempts us today just like he did Eve, not by outright lying, but by twisting the truth.
In Genesis 3:1 the devil tempts Eve by saying, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
He does the same to us by saying, “Did God really say, ‘You must not manifest anything in your life’?”
Consider substituting the apple scenario with a manifesting scenario (and a bit of creativity) in verses 1-6 of Genesis 3:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not manifest anything in your life’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may manifest in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not manifest in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you manifest what you want your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that manifesting was good for what she wanted and pleasing to do, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she decided to manifest what she wanted.
