Manifesting a Good Life

Manifest has become a buzzword nowadays. I see it everywhere, from Instagram posts to self-help books. I typically wouldn't use the word manifest myself, but hey, I am trying to help my post be found by Google.

I enjoy my life. I can say that without hesitation because the life that I'm living today was designed intentionally. Manifesting to me is the same thing as being intentional. I am sure some people may disagree with me, but this is my perspective. I do not believe that what we have falls from the sky and lands into our laps, but we have to do work. James 2:17 reminds us that faith without works is dead.

When I think about my life, I know that it has been cultivated through faith. I put my desires out there in the form of prayers and questions on sticky notes, and I held on to them. It was me seeing something and believing that it was possible. That’s faith. It's making it known like my journey as a homeschool parent. I thought, “You know what? I want to homeschool my kids. But I also want to have some money to buy food. And I also want to have some money to do fun stuff with them or provide them with opportunities that I know aren't going to be free.” I moved in faith, and now, we have homeschooled for over a decade. Our daughters are now in the eighth and tenth grades.

How do you move towards manifesting a life you desire?

Write It Down

In 2009, I worked at a gym in the childcare room. Each day I worked, I brought my notebook with me. I don't know where this notebook is now, but I remember writing that I wanted to homeschool our daughters. My husband and I had decided that we would, but I wrote it again in my notebook because I needed to emphasize that I wanted to provide for them while we do this. I didn't want to go into homeschooling thinking or acting as if I didn't know that money was important. It's a necessity. It's how we buy our groceries, how we pay for our living expenses, and it's just how this world works.

As time has gone by, I have added to this desire. It's not in the same notebook, but I've written it down in other places. I want to work, and I want the work to be flexible so that it wouldn't impact our homeschool. I didn't want it to take away from our homeschool. In 2017, I became a consultant for an Ed Tech company which provided me with consistent income, but not reliable income. If you have worked as a contractor or consultant, you know that these positions do not come with benefits or a promise of full-time employment. In 2020, I became full-time at this company, and it was a prayer answered. My work is flexible. I still homeschool, and I have money to invest in my daughters’ educational goals.

Now that we've been homeschooling for over 10 years, I realize that even though I didn't know what I was doing, it worked out in my favor. I believe writing my desires down provided me with a clearer vision for myself and my family.

Make It Plain

We can write down our desires, but we don't always keep them simple. As humans, we can over try to complicate things to help God out. I want to encourage you not to do that.

Habbakuk 2:2 states, "Then the Lord answered me and said: "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it." When I wrote out my desire to homeschool, I didn't try to beautify it, make it pretty, or sound glamorous. I wrote my desires without the fluff.

At times, we get in our own way, with our words. Don't include filler words or talk around what your desires are for your family, like phrases such as, " well, you know, I don't want to, I mean, I don't need to earn this much, and we don't have to live in this kind of house." If you choose to add these little words, you will take away the importance of your desires. Don't diminish it by trying to make it sound small.

Remove as Many Barriers as Possible

In the middle of our homeschool journey, I took a job at a local elementary school. I said yes to the opportunity because I needed to be free from the thought of teaching outside of my home. Have you ever experienced a nagging feeling because you have not fully worked something out? I experienced this as I straddled my call to homeschool and my desire to teach in the public school system. The nagging feeling was weighing me down, so I decided to free myself from it. I believed that it would get out of my way is by doing it. I went to teach, and my kids went to school. We did it for nine months. When we returned to our homeschool lifestyle, we all knew that public school education was not something we wanted to do, and there was no longer hold on us in this way. Everyone was free from it. We were free.

Ask yourself if you should do this thing? Whatever your thing might be. Be aware of the impact it will have on your life. Will it free you or help you let go, or are you doing things because you don't know what to do or are afraid of missing out. You can't live in fear of missing out.

Be Intentional and Say No

Saying no is a necessity when manifesting a good life. If you know something doesn't feel right, and it's not lining up with what you believe for your life and your family, then you say no. Saying yes can be good, but it can also hinder you from living the life you desire. If you live in Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), you're going to say yes to everything. You have to be intentional.

I recall when I was focusing on the blogging part of writing. I did what most bloggers do. We work with companies, write sponsored posts, and all of that good stuff. Nowadays, this looks like being an influencer. I tried out blogging this way for maybe a year or two. I realized that writing in this capacity was not how I desired to earn or use my writing gift.

I'm writing because I want to write, not because I want to be an advertiser. I tried it out, though. Now when people are in my inbox to say, "Hey, we see you on Instagram, or we found your website and our product would be a good fit." I can say no, and I don't even have to think about it. I don't even have to think about it because that's not a part of my writing vision. Knowing my vision makes say no little bit easier. So being intentional frees you up from doing stuff that'll get in the way, which will take you away from the vision you're looking to see in your life.

To manifest a good life, you will have to know what a good life looks like for you. We all have different visions for what our best life looks like or what we desire our lives to look like. Take a moment to sit down with yourself and think about what lights you up, what gets a spark underneath you, how you see the people you're living with and doing life with then you can start working towards that. As you work towards your vision, you will set boundaries and be intentional with your time.