Hmm… Exactly what does Dostoevsky have to do with manifestation?
Ok, that’s a weird question. But I was a Russian major in college, and sometimes I find myself wondering what my academic past has to do with my present life.
In this case, the answer is ‘a lot’ –
Have you read The Brothers Karamazov? No?
OK, let me save you a semester of college (you’re welcome):
Four brothers all hate their father and wish he was dead.
One brother actually kills him.
A different brother ends up being arrested for his murder.
The third and fourth brother wrestle with their own guilt – one does so psychologically, the other spiritually.
Why are all four brothers carrying the weight of their father’s death in some way, when only one of them ‘actually’ murdered him?
Because our thoughts create our reality, and we are therefore responsible for the thoughts we allow ourselves to entertain.
By entertaining hateful thoughts and death wishes for their father, all four brothers contributed to shaping the conditions in which he would inevitably be murdered.
(Granted, this story is a pretty dark way to illustrate a philosophical point, but that’s Dostoevsky for you.)
Here’s a lighter way to explore the same concept –
Would you feel safer in a room with 100 people who feel love and appreciation for you than you would feel in a room with 100 people who believe nasty and negative things about you?
If you answered yes, I’m guessing you can feel on a visceral level how being surrounded by positive thoughts will contribute to positive outcomes for you, and being surrounded by toxic thoughts will contribute to negative outcomes. The first just feels safe and encouraging, and the other feels threatening, right?
Extend that logic into your daily life…
and you start to see how your own thoughts are shaping your reality.
How can you advance your career by ‘hating your job’?
Showing up to your job with love in your heart and a smile on your face is far more likely to attract positive attention and opportunities from management, coworkers, and clients – and you never know what doors will open in the future when you make a positive impression on the people around you.
How can you create abundance by ‘hating being broke’?
Showing gratitude and loving stewardship of your current material wealth not only changes your perceptions of what you already have, it also accelerates the wealth you can build.
How can you experience physical health by ‘hating your body’?
Appreciating your body and acknowledging everything it does for you makes it so much more likely you’ll make loving, supportive choices for food, movement and self-care, which in turn will create the best possible health outcomes.
How do you find fulfilling relationships by ‘hating being alone’?
When you cultivate a loving relationship with yourself and find ways to radiate joy even when you are alone, you’ll only choose to spend your time with the people who make you feel at least as good as you feel by yourself. This becomes a natural sorting process for finding other loving and joyful people with whom you can build healthy and fulfilling long term relationships, rather than simply filling a space with anyone, just so you don’t have to be alone.
If you find yourself entertaining a talk track of negativity, stop the mind chatter!
You can acknowledge that there are problems, and promise yourself you will set aside time to explore strategies to make a change, but then put your complaints into a box and stick them on the shelf.
Now, with all your freed up mental space, dig in and train your mind to seek out what’s good and positive, and train your heart to greet your surroundings with love.
This isn’t always an easy process…
especially if you’ve let your negative thoughts run amok. But with discipline, over time the negative pathways will fade and the positive pathways will become more deeply ingrained – and it’s so worth the hard work, because there’s no question that where goes your mind, so goes your material reality.
