why I don’t teach manifestation

Last week, I was having a conversation with my friend Trisha for her podcast.

During our conversation, one of the questions she asked me was “how did you arrive to live in Punta de Mita?”, the tiny fishing village turned surf tourism destination on the Pacific coast of Mexico.

 

The truth is, Mita chose me.

 

My current mantra as of late has been

“What’s for me is for me – say YES to what is for me; What’s not mine is not mine – recognize what’s not for me and be willing to let it go”

A C C E P T what is for me and what is not for me.

 

Sounds simple enough right?

 

Except, what happens when I don’t particularly like or want what’s for me in the moment?

 

Back to my conversation with Trisha where I was telling her the story of how for a time I was living in Playa del Carmen and was trying to make it work because of a (wonderful) partnership at the time even though I knew in my heart of hearts that Playa was not for me.

The truth of the matter is that I deeply loved the man I was in a relationship with – and he was also deeply in love with me. We were devoted to each other and our relationship was literally everything I could have ever wanted … except … except we could just not seem to find a physical location that suited us both and neither one of us were willing for the other person to compromise their heart.

 

So in my last desperate effort to hold on to my relationship, I decided that I would manifest a great apartment in Tulum where we could both be happy.

 

I described to Trisha how one night, I got down to magical manifestation work and wrote down what I wanted. I wrote down exactly the kind of apartment it would be, down to amenities, appliances, and price.

The next morning I woke up, checked Facebook marketplace, and lo and behold – there it was!

 

Trisha exclaimed “Wow! I think I need to take some manifestation classes from you!”

I replied “Wait … that’s not where the story ends …”

 

Because here’s the thing I learned:

We can manifest anything we want, but preference and soul desire are two very different things.

 

Remember that whole “what’s for me/what’s not for me” concept?

 

Yeah, if it’s not in your highest good and if it’s not for you, it’s really not for you, even if you do manifest it.

 

Here’s the thing. I was never meant to live in Tulum. It was not the place I was called to on a soul level. But I desperately wanted to be there because I knew if I returned to where I was meant to be – my town in Mita – that it would mean having to let go of my relationship, something I deeply didn’t want to do, but also that deeply I knew was the next thing.

 

We cannot stop the inevitable flow of Chi – and blocking it only causes us pain, suffering, and more grief.

But sometimes accepting what is – especially when it feels like deep loss – can be the hardest thing to accept.

 

So back to the apartment.

The one in Tulum that I magically manifested in less than 12 hours to every specification I wrote down.

 

I called the number – there were 4 units available!

Glory me!

My partner and I celebrated!

We were told that the showing of the place would take place the following Saturday and that we’d need to call the owner in the early morning so that he would send us the directions and exact location details!

What luck!

The Universe was on our side!

I had actually planned to be in Tulum for an event that very Saturday.

It seemed like all the stars were lining up in our favour.

 

Except remember when I said I was never meant to live in Tulum?

That it was just a want?

A preference?

Yeah.

That’s all true.

 

Saturday morning early, I called the owner and it kept on going straight to his voicemail.

We called – both my partner and I – over and over again and the same thing.

Buzón de voz.

 

Finally.

One of the calls went through.

At this point it was mid afternoon.

The owner said “I’m sorry but all 4 units are gone. I must not have been in cell range or something because I didn’t receive your calls this morning.”

 

It was the final sign for me.

It was the place where I realized it was time for me to stop resisting the flow of my soul and life.

It was time to accept the pending losses.

 

This is why I don’t teach manifestation.

It’s not because it doesn’t work.

It’s because it works with our trivial wants, like your Christmas List to Santa.

 

It’s fun at first – until you realize the truth of how the universe really works.

 

You see, our job isn’t to work hard at pulling stuff through.

It’s the courageous work of being willing to get out of the way of the Life Force that is trying to move through you.

The Great Mystery and Deep Intelligence that is your soul/highest-self/god/dess shaping your life through the manifest that is you.

 

The real work is in recognition, acceptance, and the willingness to be an active participant in flow and surrender.