Every year on my birthday, I take the opportunity to reflect on my last year of life and set goals and intentions for the upcoming year. Since my birthday is about halfway through the year, it’s also a great time to check in on my New Year’s goals and intentions, to see how far I have come and what work I have left to do to meet the rest.
It seems like my last few birthdays have come either during or right after a big transition, hardship or struggle. This year is no different, but luckily it feels different this time. For those of you that follow me on Instagram, you probably know I got fired from my job a few weeks ago. Not only am I not upset about it, but I feel like it was the best thing that could have happened to me, and I am SO optimistic and excited about what will come next!
It took me a long time to get to a place where I could react and respond to stressful life events like that – and I have even grown a lot in the last year in that respect – but my resilient disposition towards hardship is one of the reasons I am able to manifest a life that I want.
While I am by no means exactly where I want to be in life or have everything I want to have, I feel confident and secure that I am on the right path. I have amassed a toolbox of tips and tricks to finding the right path and steering back on course when life throws you off. Keep reading if you want to know what I have learned about life at my big age:
Meditate
Before you roll your eyes, yes meditation is just as important and life-changing as everyone says it is! (If you have never meditated before, go read my how-to guide here). Aside from all the mental and psychological benefits it bestows upon you, it is the perfect time to tune into your deepest desires, find peace during hard times, and say some mantras or positive affirmations to yourself.
I find that even 10 minutes every morning really helps me keep myself on track, and keeps me motivated to keep going. I end every meditation with the mantra “surrender, trust and manifest”, which is philosophy beneath everything I do.
I know it is natural to want to be in control of your own destiny, but there is so much power in SURRENDER, that you will be shocked at how much of your life actually unfolds how you want it to when you release your choke hold on it!
Once you surrender to your own life, trust that the universe has your back no matter what. There is no use in letting go of control and surrendering if you don’t trust that it will work out. In fact, it is impossible to do one without the other. When you have trouble trusting that things will work out, think back on a time that something really scary worked out for you when you really did not think it would. Have some faith!
The “manifest” part is a little more nefarious and hard to describe, but hopefully the rest of my tips and tricks will make it a little easier to understand. Keep reading!!
Spend Time in Nature
Have you even been at a really high mountaintop or somewhere in nature where you felt far away from all your worries and everything and everyone you know? Where everything you have been stressing about just falls away? Those moments are like little glimpses of the universe outside of ourselves, where you can really see how vast and full of possibility the universe is. They get lost in our daily routines and stresses, but that truth always remains whether we want to see it or not. Once you get a glimpse of how magnificent the universe is, it is hard to not believe that you are capable of doing or being anything that you want.
Find Clarity
What if I told you that ANYTHING you want in this life is possible? Like literally ANYTHING anything. And all you have to do to manifest it is to just get REALLY clear about what it is that you actually want?
It’s like the difference between spending 20 minutes looking through a menu at a restaurant, ordering something you don’t really want when your friend makes you finally decide, then immediately regretting your decision VERSUS looking up the menu earlier in the day, knowing exactly what you want and literally TASTING it before you even get there!
If you don’t even know what you want to do or be in this life, how can you expect anything magical to happen?? The power of clarity and visualization is SO real, and is the most powerful tool in my box of tricks. The CLEARER you get on the life you want, the closer you are to manifesting it!
Express Gratitude
I knowww this one’s a drag, and when you are feeling down or not where you want to be in life, it’s the LAST thing you want to do. But TRUST me, being grateful and writing down/verbalizing what you are grateful for WILL BRING MORE GOOD THINGS INTO YOUR LIFE! Seriously, I cannot stress this enough. The universe will see straight through your ungrateful ass if you do not do this and you will not manifest what you are yearning for! The Law of Attraction is real y’all.
Laugh at Yourself
I don’t mean laugh at yourself in a self-deprecating way. But come ON, you have to have a sense of humor when shitty things happen, or else you will never get through them! And knowing how many times you have gotten through shitty things and gotten through to the great things on the other side, wouldn’t you rather spend your life laughing than worrying uselessly??
Stop Comparing
Whewww this one is a reminder to self cuz I be spending TOO much time on Instagram. But LOOK! We ALL know that things are not as they appear on social media – nothing is ever as perfect as they seem and there is always so much going on behind the scenes that no one ever posts because everyone wants to post their highlights! Stop comparing your shadows to someone else’s highlights! Take social media breaks, spend time in nature, journal, do a visualization exercise to get clarity on what you want in your own life, meditate. Just do whatever it takes to stop the downward spiral of comparing yourself to strangers online!
This is by no means an exhaustive guide, but is a great place to start if you are feeling a little lost or down right now. Most if not all of these tips and tricks are ones that I have acquired through my own experience, but have also seen reflected in countless self-help books and memoirs. Take them as you will, but trust me when I say that their power is in their simplicity. I would love to hear if y’all live by any of these rules or plan on applying any to your life! Leave a comment below and let me know 💕
*All photos taken by Jon Lee*
Thank you very much for this beautiful article. I really enjoyed reading this. I appreciate your thoughts and ideas. Your ideas are really great and helpful. Well done.
Author
Thank you! glad you enjoyed it