When you have a desire for a big life change, you can fall into the trap of waiting for it. Delaying your happiness until you have it. It may seem like something you cannot be happy without, and I wouldn't fault you for feeling that way. Everyone deserves to feel secure, whether it be in a loving relationship, finances, a beautiful home, or all of these and more. My area of life that has plagued me since my teen years is love and relationships. I know what it is to want a loving relationship or to wish desperately that someone would change and choose me. I was unable to fully live my life because I did not have faith, through my connection with God (Creator, Source energy, or however you think of it), that the loving relationship was already mine and that I could go there in my mind any time I wanted.
While I waited for "signs that my manifestation was on the way" and watched endless manifestation videos, I missed out on doing things that could have made my life better at that time. I neglected my career and did not uplevel my skills or try to find joy in my work. I did not form meaningful relationships with the people right in front of me. I did not fix up my living space in ways that would have pleased me. I missed many opportunities to be happy and at peace in the moment, fixated as I was on lack. In my free time, I gave in to depression and stayed in my apartment rather than seeing friends or focusing on my goals and dreams. I even gave in to manipulation and love bombing tactics from another person, mistaking them for love, because I had no idea what true love looked or felt like. I settled for the first person who came along and seemed to reciprocate my feelings because I was exhausted with trying and failing to get love, or what I thought was love.
The above is an example of how I interpret faith without works. I knew about conscious manifestation at a conceptual level, but that is not quite the same as feeling it deeply within. Yes, I had some measure of faith, because I had seen others manifest things they wanted. But there was a large part of me that still doubted that it could work for me. I still felt unworthy and undeserving of the love and life I wanted.
I felt that I had to chase and plead for the love I wanted. I had to make sure the people I loved didn’t forget me. I had to do, and do, and do some more to get love. This might seem like a contradiction, because clearly, I did many works. However, they were not inspired by faith. Instead, I was moved by doubt and fear.
Jesus tells us in John 14:12, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my Father.” If you are like me, and you feel that conscious manifestation works for everyone except you, I would encourage you to dwell on this verse. Saturate your mind with it. You, too, can go to your Father, but how you go to Him matters.
Neville Goddard interpreted God the Father as our conscious awareness. What are you aware of about yourself? Are you aware of being a failure or someone who never gets what they want? Or are you aware of being a beautiful, smart, and talented being with the power to manifest anything? In the first scenario, you might feel you must plead with something outside you to make you that which you do not feel you are.
When you’ve only ever had the awareness of being a failure or someone disappointed in life and love, then by default you act from there. You may encounter good things but wonder when the shoe is going to drop or even self-sabotage. When bad things happen, you’ll tell yourself, “I knew this would happen.” You might think your prayers are unheard or unanswered. God hears you well – but He hears from your awareness. Your subconscious mind has the power of creation. The internal state that you dwell in most of the time has the power to shift your external reality, and this is something I will get into more in future blogs. If it sounds crazy to you, I would suggest checking out Joe Dispenza's book Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. It is based in quantum physics, but Dispenza provides an explanation that is easy for the non-scientific mind to process.
The verse I began with, James 2:26, is not about taking action TO manifest. You don’t do anything TO get anything, but when you have faith in yourself as a powerful manifestor, you act naturally. Eventually, you can look back and see how each thing was part of the bridge of your unfolding. This is what it truly means to take inspired action and to have faith. You don't realize at the time that you are taking inspired action. In the moment, it feels like you are living your life, nothing more.
Don't put life on hold and wait until your desires solidify in this 3D reality. Give your whole self in everything you do, knowing it is done, and watch how quickly your life turns around.