A number of Law of Attraction — or intentional manifestation, as I refer to this process — teachers and advocates promote gratitude as a means for getting faster or more reliable results. Will gratitude deliver faster or more reliable manifestations? Maybe.
I have a slightly different take on gratitude and manifestation than is typical, I believe. In my opinion the issue is not gratitude so much as it is acceptance.
Many people approach gratitude within intentional manifestation as a need to express thanks for something. Law of Attraction teachings may emphasize this by encouraging an expression of thanks for various elements of our lives, even the most basic. We may be told to make a point of expressing gratitude for much of what we observe.
I’m not altogether comfortable with this.
If we are expressing gratitude as a means for getting something to work in our favor, in this case Law of Attraction manifestations, then is it really gratitude? Or is it actually manipulation? And won’t the omniscient universe know the difference?
Many teachings on the Law of Attraction and gratitude do emphasize an expression of genuine gratitude, but does genuine gratitude ever come from obligation? It’s certainly possible that, after some time and practice, expressions of gratitude may ultimately come from the heart — or they may continue to simply be rehearsed.
Does rehearsed or forced manipulation do you good from a Law of Attraction perspective? I’m not absolutely certain, but my guess would be no.
Let me make clear that I’m not discouraging genuine gratitude for what is now, or for what we envision will be. This latter type of gratitude can come up during visualizations of desires: as we get into these visualizations we can have an experience of the desire being manifested and may feel emotions around this, including gratitude. I actually encourage visualizations of this scope and depth.
It’s the forced or rehearsed expressions of gratitude that I don’t consider helpful, or necessary. A preferable alternative, in my opinion, is acceptance. What does acceptance involve? Accepting the current state of our being. This is not the same as being resigned to a particular experience; we can anticipate a different future while being in full alignment with what currently is.
Many people, in some shape or form, resist, deny, or reject present circumstances. They effectively pronounce ‘This shouldn’t be. This should be instead.’ What is already is, and rejecting what is creates tension and suffering. There is sometimes a fine line between accepting what is, and taking actions to try and affect what will be. It can be very difficult to balance the two, although it can certainly be done.
Achieving this balance may be the formula for successful intentional manifestation: fully accepting, and not rejecting, what presently is as we attempt to affect what will be (through applying intentional manifestation). There’s no need for obligations of gratitude here.
We can simply be as we are, in alignment with what is as we endeavor to shape what will be through our intentions.
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