On Tuesday my artist friend was prepared to take me second hand shopping with the intent on finding some specific items herself. She intended to find old picture and window frames for her artwork because she couldn’t afford new ones. She saw these frames in her dreams and was convinced she would find them when we went shopping.

On the way to pick me up she drove by a couple who were carrying boxes of items from their house to their garage presumably in preparation for a weekend garage sale. On impulse she stopped and politely and asked if they had any picture frames or window frames for sale.

The wife looked quite put out and said words to the effect of: their garage sale wasn’t until Saturday; the signs weren’t even up yet and she didn’t appreciate “early birds”. My friend apologized saying she would come back then.

But, just as she was about to leave, the husband beckoned her over to a storage shed. He rooted around and started carrying out old pictures in frames, as well as, three large multi-paned windows with all the glass intact. She had found exactly what she intended to find. What she saw in her dreams and in her mind’s eye were manifest. She made him an offer and they settled the sale.

Common reasons people fail to manifest what they want are:

• Not understanding how the manifesting process works;
• Wasting attention and focus on things they don’t want;
• Mistakenly believing that success is dependent on “luck”;
• Being unwilling or unable to change the way they think;
• Giving no credence to dreams and failing to set goals; and/or
• Lacking the commitment required to visualize their own success.

Carlos Castaneda said:

In the universe there is an immeasurable, indescribable force which shamans call intent, and absolutely everything that exists in the entire cosmos is attached to intent by a connecting link.

The word intention connotes that the self is the initiator, who makes a deliberate choice to act on a creative impulse. It is linking this “intent” of ours to cosmic energy that leads to a birthing into the physical world — a manifestation.

Forming intent by directing your thoughts is the first step in transforming any dream into reality. The moment you commit and begin to creatively visualize what you really want in your life – it will manifest.

This post was inspired by a fellow blogger who has also written on the power of intent and commitment.

Links to related self help blog posts.