This idea has been showing up a lot in my life lately. I just read You Are A Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero, and she talks about it. Before that, I read Becoming by Michelle Obama, and she talks about it too. Basically, the idea is that by expressing thanks for something that hasn’t yet happened, you can help create an environment that is conducive to its manifestation.
In other words, it’s a way to show trust in people and situations. One of the reasons I like it is that it gives my anxious brain something to do instead of endlessly ruminating about unknowns (and all the ways things definitely won’t work out).
For example, I have been thinking about my goals for 2019. One of them is to publish some of my writing in a local publication. This feels scary to type and to think. I think about all the networking I haven’t done yet. All the people already dominating this space. All the reasons I’m too late.
A note from the future: A little trust paid off more than I ever could have imagined. Within a couple years, I had published widely. And, in January 2021, I achieved a life-long goal and landed a story in The New York Times.
But this scarcity mindset doesn’t help me move toward my goal. I’ve been playing at redirecting my critical thoughts to thankful ones I could have if I truly believed that my goal will come to pass:
- I am so glad I’m already on the path that will lead to my writing being published.
- I am so thankful for all the local writers whose account I’ve followed who showed me how to put myself out there too.
- I am so grateful for how my daily writing practice here set me up perfectly to produce content under a quick deadline that lots of folks find engaging.
I know it sounds a bit hokey, but honestly? It’s helping. I feel calmer imagining the things I already want being on their way to me. Whether or not I do get something published in 2019, that calm confidence feels like a way more useful mindset here in 2018.