Manifesting Change, Staying Hopeful And Reflecting On How Far You’ve Really Come

In the bi-weekly online meditation group that I facilitate (which meets every other Monday evening, is offered as a gift and is welcome to all, so please join if interested!), a recent session focused on reflecting on our meditation practice and how each of us has evolved and grown through the practice. The agenda was to encourage members of the group to explore the personal path that they have embarked on, what they have been planting (a theme we’ve been playing with in alignment with spring) and what has come into bloom. 

So often, in the throes of our busy lives, it’s easy to lose track of and/or overlook the small gains, which can be like guideposts, gently reminding us that we are progressing, that there is hope for growth, change and transformation, and that we’re on the right path. These periodic check-ins help us stay focused, motivated and can elicit feelings of satisfaction and joy, as well as aid us in staying hopeful. I think that these reflections and guideposts so beautifully offer us hope—as individuals and as a collective humanity—especially right now given all the dis-ease, conflict and trauma that is prevalent in the world. 

Accessing how far we truly have come reminds us that, while we all have struggles, we also each have gifts, and that change is always possible.

Staying Hopeful As We Embrace The Beauty Of Change 

Looking outside and spending time in nature last week, I paused in various moments, looking around and taking in all the sights, smells and sounds that so beautifully demonstrate the incredible changes that occur each year around this time. With each passing day, the grass is getting greener and the trees are bigger and more vibrant. Even the songbirds seem to be singing louder and with more joy. Although pockets of cold came in and snow covered some parts of the country, spring keeps pushing forward, bringing with it the changes that Mother Nature innately knows to be necessary to maintain the seasonal flow. 

And, so it is for us, as humans, too. Change does happen, even if there are many obstacles. Even if we go into a proverbial cold snap or unexpected snow falls on a newly planted garden, within it all, there is an innate blooming that occurs. Nature, herself, insists on it. 

Manifesting And Activating Change  

As I’m writing this, and reflecting on that meditation session, as well as all that is going on in the world, which can bring us to tears or even to the floor, I’m taking some comfort in knowing that change, that blooming, that beautiful transformation in the midst of it all, is possible. 

Recently, I’ve been noticing the changes that I’ve seen occur within the lives of the members of the meditation group, people I’m working with in my psychotherapy practice, my friends and family, and myself as well. Some are big achievements, worked on for years, that are now coming into bloom. Other shifts are smaller and more simple, yet still meaningful and demonstrative of growth.

For instance..

One of my sons, who knew from the age of 12 that he wanted to be a lawyer, just graduated from law school! 

One person who I’m working with in psychotherapy has really wanted to clean out her basement. After years of procrastination—having a flood made it more timely; here’s where what can at first seem like a challenge brings forth progress—she’s done it! 

Another man, after a struggle with depression, has made important career and living arrangement moves, which have felt empowering for him. Moving forward and making meaningful changes really CAN be done.

A fourth person recently told me that almost everything he put on a vision board, which he had made seven years ago, has almost ALL come into existence! And, it all happened because he took risks and had faith, making both large and small changes along the way. He moved to an area of the country where he could be outdoors all year long, which he loves. He recognized and acted on the need to go back to school for further education. He decided to take a healthy risk and allowed himself to date again after recovering from a terribly painful breakup. Seven years after making that vision board, he is about to ask his girlfriend to marry him, is finishing up his degree in a field he wants to be in, and is happy. He is activating, manifesting and currently making a new vision board! 

We CAN Change Our Lives! 

I often talk about the future self and being mindful of our intentions. I recently came across an article on Inc.com, How To Connect With Your Future Self: Make better decisions today by understanding your goals for tomorrow,  which  speaks to the importance of identifying and committing to your goals in order to shape your future. Psychology in the past was focused on looking backward in our personal histories and was firmly of the opinion that we can’t change the future—that it’s all set in those first years of childhood.  However, recent psychology—notably the advancements researchers are making in our understanding of positive psychology and in the field of neuroplasticity (the ability to literally rewire the brain)—makes it abundantly clear that we can change our future. Research indicates that “it’s not the past that drives us, but rather, it is the future that pulls us.”

As the author of the article Benjamin Hardy, PhD states, “Every human action is goal-driven. You can know what you’re committed to by simply observing your own behavior. Your behavior reflects your commitment. If you want to change your behavior, you’ll need to shift the future that is pulling you forward.” 

This is great news, and demonstrates that we CAN change our direction. We CAN change our thoughts. We CAN change our behaviors. And, we CAN change our lives! Rather than dwell in the past, in each present moment, we get to choose what we focus on, and focusing on positive, life-changing goals and desires helps guide us to the future we want.  

As Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

Staying Hopeful  

There are those among us, or those that we know and love, who haven’t had the “winter” lifted—yet. To those—that includes yourself if you are struggling—we can open our hearts and offer compassion to how painful and sharp life can be.  

Manifesting change and staying hopeful throughout the ups and downs inevitable in life, made me think of a podcast episode I recently listened to on Ten Percent Happier With Dan Harris, in which Dan interviewed Jacqueline Mattis, Dean of Faculty and a psychology professor at Rutgers University. In the episode, The Science of Hope, which looked at the science of hope and how we can cultivate it, I was struck by something that Jacquline said. As a clinical psychologist who has been studying hope, she spoke about how hope is an inherent part of humanity, and mentioned how important hope was to her ancestors who relied on it to survive the horrors of being enslaved people.

She explained that in the 1860’s, an enslaved ancestor was able to save enough money to free himself. He then freed his twin sons. He tried in vain to free his beloved wife, however, her “owner” kept raising the fee so that securing her freedom became impossible and she died in captivity.  Jacqueline mentioned that a key idea her family has always held onto is that “things happen for the good, sometimes it’s the greater good”—even if they take time, even a very long time, and even when there can be sadness and sorrow as well.

Most of us have heard the phrase, “things happen for the best.” But, things don’t always happen for the best—at least not in the short-term. That said, I like Jaqculine’s phrasing—that “things happen for the greater good.”

When we say that things happen for the good or the greater good, we are staying hopeful and offering that hope out into the world. It may not be that something good will be activated right away as there are long, dark winters that press on before we see signs of rebirth, renewal, new creation—of spring. But, in the midst of what feels like winter, we can hold tight to the promise that, regardless of what is occurring, there can come forth something of which can be of a greater good—and we can point ourselves toward that good, staying hopeful, envisioning a brighter future and taking action to manifest positive change. 

We let our eyes look ahead—maybe way ahead, but ahead it is—and we keep moving forward. 

I'll leave you with this short prayer/meditation…

May all beings be filled with loving kindness…
May all beings be free from inner and outer danger…
May all beings find comfort and ease…
May all beings be free…

And these questions, which you may want to spend some time reflecting and journaling on…

What is in your heart?

What is in your mind? 

What are your goals?

How do you envision the next chapter of your life? 

What will you create, manifest and activate as you move into your future?  

Here’s to staying hopeful, honoring how far you’ve come and manifesting positive change,

Karen 

If you haven’t already, I invite you to check out an abundance of guided mindful meditations recordings on my website. These are free to download and intended for both new and seasoned meditation practitioners. Also, please feel free to share these! If you do so on social or online, I simply ask that you provide a link to my website and proper attribution.