The 'manifesting' trend

Closing my eyes and thinking positive thoughts, I realised it’s been around me a lot longer than I thought.

Recently, the word “manifestation” has become a buzzword in the world of self-improvement. It’s been used to describe things like the law of attraction and the power of positive thinking. The law of attraction is a theory that the energy of our thoughts and feelings attracts experiences of the same energy. According to this theory, your thoughts have the power to affect your reality, thinking positively can bring you positive experiences. 

Only because of the increase in popularity of this idea have I realised that my mum had already introduced a sort of ‘manifestation’ to me when I was young. Whenever I had a negative thought like “what if I fail this exam?” she would say to me in a rushed voice “don’t say bad things or the bad things will happen!” It’s the law of attraction that had already been recognised and practised in my culture. 

Another example was when I used to compete in rhythmic gymnastics. It was a sport where you must catch the ribbon, hoop or ball or else you risk losing points. In the minutes before it was my turn to approach the mat, my coach would tell me to close my eyes and picture the perfect routine where I’ve caught all my throws and landed all my spins. Little did I know, this visualisation was also a form of manifestation.

Whether or not manifesting works, I have started to implement more positive thoughts into my life, think about my goals and take steps towards them rather than fearing for the worst.

Do you believe in manifesting?