How to Manifest your Dreams with Gratitude

Giving Gratitude is honestly the easiest and simplest way to manifest anything you want in life. I mean REALLY giving gratitude. Feeling gratitude.

I started “counting my blessings” a few years ago by just acknowledging and appreciating my mother, sister and son in my life each day. I used to have a wind chime hanging just outside my front door and as I passed it in the hallway on my way out every morning I used to touch it and say thank you for my closest family members. To be honest I didn’t think much about it and for sure I had no idea at the time how powerful this action could be.

The concept of giving Gratitude came to me during my Reiki training.  It is one of the 5 Principles of Reiki. The 5 principles didn’t mean much to me at first but they have grown to mean so much to me now (or rather I have grown to deeply appreciate them now!) I wonder how they will resonate with you?

 

Just for today, do not be angry

Just for today, do not worry

Just for today, be grateful

Just for today, work hard

Just for today, be kind to others.

 

Dr Mikao Usui, the founder of Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki, believed that in order for anyone to practice Reiki and transfer healing energy to others, they must have first taken responsibility for their own health and wellbeing. He developed these five principles which he taught to his students as strategies to apply to life.

Although I am straying now from the topic of Gratitude I want to go through the 5 Principles with you.

 

Just for today, do not be angry.

Anger can be and is a very destructive and self-destructive force as it hurts ourselves as well as others.  Anger blocks us from love and compassion.

I realise it’s easier said than done to just “stop” being angry when the feeling comes and it’s best not to suppress the feeling for it to return another time.  So finding a way to deal with the feelings of anger when they come is essential.  Anger uses a lot of our energy and it is never in alignment with our True path. You need to remind yourself that anger is not your real nature and as such it will pass. Try to acknowledge it, witness it and then let it go forever.  Welcome calmness.  Holding anger in can and will do more harm than good especially to ourselves. Have you never noticed how angry, bitter people tend to look haggard compared to others?

 

I love this quote from Mark Twain about Anger,

 

“Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”

The second of the 5 Reiki Principles is:
Just for today, do not worry

Worry, like anger will also deplete your vital energy.  While anger deals with past and present events, worry deals with perceived future events and happenings.  We usually have no ultimate control over future circumstances anyway so worry is pretty pointless.  It’s also, like anger, very unhealthy.  Some people seem to think worrying about loved ones is a sign of caring but in fact, it projects a negative energy around both the worrier and the person being worried about.  If you think about it, worrying doesn’t achieve anything positive – only negative.  I always tell clients to substitute the word “think” for the word “worry”.  You can “think” about a situation, a solution, your friend or family – it’s far more positive to “think” about a difficult situation and how you can help solve it.  “Thinking” is far more fruitful, productive and positive than “worrying”.

 

Just for today, be grateful.

Here is the third Reiki Principle and the one relevant to this article. If we live in a state of gratitude, appreciating and giving thanks for the many blessings in life that we have, we can help transform negative attitudes and thoughts into positive ones.  This, in turn, raises our vibrations and attracts more things for us to be grateful for.  This is the seed of abundance!

 

Just for today, work hard

Of course, these Principles have been translated from their original Japanese and exact meanings can vary.  I have come to believe that when you find your Divine Path you actually don’t “feel” like you are working hard because you are usually doing something you are passionate and enthusiastic about.   I, therefore, think of this Principle  more as “Be Active” rather than actually working hard.  If the work is in alignment with your True path then it won’t feel “hard” to do.  Another way to look at this one is basically “Don’t be lazy!”
Just for today, be kind to others.

The last of the 5 Principles is telling us to show kindness to others. We must honour all living things (including animals and plants) and be tolerant of the way others choose to live their lives.
It is important that we realize and accept that being kind and friendly to everyone must include ourselves of course.

So here are the 5 Reiki Principles – simple and to the point. It was in my attempts to be a “good Reiki student” that I learned these 5 Principles but it was the line about Gratitude that “clicked” first and foremost in my mind at the time.

Slowly, over time, I added more people to my list of blessings to count each morning, then later, I added things to the list.  My good health was one of them, the wonderful girls on my course another and the wonderful things I was learning. The seasons, the snow, my trip to Kenya, the birds singing and my car starting first time!  See? After a while you will find things to be grateful for just flow forth.

Then I started writing them down in a little notebook – the more I did this, the more I received to be grateful for.  It’s all about matching vibrations.  If you complain and send out the negative vibrations of complaining, the Universe will match it by giving you more things to complain about.  If you send out the positive vibrations of Gratitude – Like attracts Like – the Universe has to match it and you will just keep getting more and more things to be grateful for.

One of the main reasons that Gratitude is such a simple and easy method of manifesting is because, like Affirmations, it can happen in your head – as often as you like.  As soon as you wake up, while cleaning your teeth, waiting in a queue, while driving to work, eating etc just look around you and find things to be grateful for and just say it – to yourself – Thank you for my morning tea, thank you for that stranger’s smile….etc

Some people feel weird because they don’t know who they are saying thank you to.  Some people choose to thank the Universe.  Some people thank God. However, it is important here to remember we are all extensions of pure consciousness and as such we ARE the Universe! Also, it would be wise to remember that YOU create your own reality, and always have, so anything showing up in your life that you are grateful for, YOU manifested. So thank yourself. Whatever you do, don’t create a perception of separation between you and whoever you thank.  That perception of separation will keep you from manifesting your desires.

If it still feels weird you can change the words to “I appreciate…….” or “I am grateful for….” then you don’t have to think about to whom you are talking but the positive energy of Gratitude is still emitting from your energy field. (This is the most important thing!)

If you still feel awkward or silly (even to yourself!) in the beginning then have some fun with it.

I am grateful for waking up this morning!

I am grateful for this old tea bag I found at the back of the cupboard.

If you are feeling grumpy or are prone to complaining and can only see the negative around you then you need to look for the Silver Lining in everything.  Eg.

I am grateful for the pouring rain this morning because the parks need to be watered.

I am grateful for getting to wear my waterproof clothes – again.

I am grateful that the car is getting a free wash!

If you do this, to yourself, all the way to work, you’ll soon have a smile on your face!

For greater impact and effectiveness try writing your Blessings down. I’ve now got notebooks and journals full of my blessings – I find a quiet spot and a quiet moment – each page headed with the date and Today I am Grateful for: Or Today I Thank myself for:  – the list goes on and on.  Use your senses – what can you SEE that you’re grateful for? What can you SMELL? What can you HEAR? How do you FEEL?

If you’re poorly or sick be grateful for the bits of you that are healthy.  If you’re not happy with your body, be grateful for the bits you ARE happy with. This is an amazing tool for learning to love and appreciate your body.  It is so easy for us in today’s world to dislike our bodies and even actively and verbally (well inside our heads anyway) hate parts of our bodies. Giving gratitude for our bodies and body parts is the easiest way to become more beautiful and healthy. Seriously.

Beautify yourself with Gratitude

I’d like to digress again here and explain how and why giving gratitude to your body is so important for your health and well being  not to mention your beauty!

One of the best times to offer gratitude to your body and body parts is while drying yourself after your shower or while moisturising or applying your makeup (or shaving etc)

It is beautifying and nourishing the body from the inside out that I want to focus on here. The secret is in how we apply these moisturisers and oils – simply by doing it with love and gratitude.  Before I expand on this I want to share with you the work of Masaru Emoto who worked with water crystals.  He used different words (and the energy of those words) directed at water crystals to see the effects.

You can see that the molecules of the water crystals responded to love and gratitude by making beautiful formations and to the negative energy of the nasty words by being, well, not so pretty, eh?  I was told of an experiment recently like this carried out on growing rice – in 3 containers.  The first one was lavished with positive feelings, words and thoughts of love and gratitude, the next one was ignored and the 3rd one was subjected to some nasty energy, words and thoughts.  As they grew and as expected the first one flourished, the 3rd one didn’t and, interestingly, the 2nd one went really bad (proving that neglect has worse consequences than negative attention).  You can see the same effects in plants grown by loving gardeners compared to those tended without such positive emotion.

Anyway, my point is this.  We are made up of 50 trillion cells (Bruce Lipton says so and he’s a Cellular Biologist!) so it makes sense to me that if we fill each one of those cells (or as many as we can!) with love, gratitude and joy we, too, will be healthier and flourish like the 1st container of rice and we, too, will be “prettier” like Emoto’s water crystals.

So,  as you dry yourself after the shower, as you rub on your moisturiser and as you apply your oils (and make up etc) tell each part of your body how much you love it, find a reason why and send love and gratitude to that part of your body – to the numerous cells of that part of your body.  Say “thank you” to them.  Don’t sit there and laugh – DO IT!

“Thank you toes for being on show all summer.  Thank you for helping me keep my balance.  I love you for this.  Thank you knees for keeping me upright (most of the time!) I love you. Thank you tummy for helping me digest food” – whatever……… You get the picture………………just keep going……………it can be quite fun! ha ha

So in addition to nourishing your body with the right foods and exercise you can also focus on nourishing it with love and gratitude.  Remember the Law of Attraction means the more love and gratitude you give to your body the more reasons it will give you to love it and be grateful for it.  Simple!

So include your body and various body parts in your lists of gratitude along with everything else you are grateful for. But again, try not to perceive your body as being separate from you for your body is also made of pure consciousness and as such is one with all that is.

Remember to always include your relationships especially those that are troubled.  Find something to be grateful for in the people you find difficult. Remember: Energy Goes Where Attention Flows

Whatever you focus on is what you will get more of so find something positive to say about those difficult people in your life.

Focus on the good things about the relationship.

You can even express gratitude for the lessons you’re learning from them.

Manifesting Money

If you are trying to manifest more money into your life, and this is a common one, then you need to give gratitude for the money you already have.  This is where “lack thinking” can get the better of us.  How can we give gratitude for the money we have when we don’t have any?

Firstly, use the word “prosperity” and not money.  You are opening up more possibilities for the Universe to bring it to you if you use the word prosperity. After all, if you are provided with certain things you usually have to buy then you get to save some money and, in effect, will have more money, right?  Prosperity works. We all have prosperity of some kind so we can repeat affirmations about prosperity with more intention and belief.

I am grateful for my prosperity.  My clothes, the food in my cupboards, the roof over my head, the pennies in my purse.  Prosperity comes to me easily.  Focus on your prosperity and not your lack.  If you focus on your lack, the Universe will bring you more of it.

The Universe has no concept of numbers. One penny, energetically, is the same as £1 which, energetically, is the same as £100 and £100,000.  Money is an energy like everything else. The only thing keeping it from you is the thoughts and beliefs that you place on it. So always bless the pennies.

With whatever issue you’re concerned about find something to be grateful for……..the Universe will take it from there!  And when more shows up – remember to Thank yourself!

Love and Blessings

Deborah