Being new to a lot of the contemporary self-improvement thing, I'm still trying to get used to this word, ?manifesting?. It just wasn't in everyday use for the biggest part of my life. In high school and college, though we may have been trying to ?manifest? a party or a member of the opposite sex, we sure weren't using that word.

How many times did you have to manifest a ride to somewhere? That was my constant mission.

Or how about ?blogging?-- another example of a new buzz word that many people don't quite get-- or what about ?cell? phone? How many of us really know how the word ?cell? applies to our wireless mobile telephones?

Anyway, I digress.

So, if like me, you're still finding the term ?manifesting? kinda like a strange pair of shoes, just know that the meaning and practice, if you will, goes back thousands of years. Semantics is the only thing that makes it seem new. Various philosophies and religions throughout history have included faith and disciplines for maintaining faith as part of their teachings.

Now, I'm not going to go off writing an article about religion here. Let's keep it simple, ok. Most of us can agree that we are exposed to too much bad news and negative drama from the newspapers, television, etc. It can be very depressing and maybe that's why so many people take anti-depressants. If we simply had more constructive and positive input, people could relax more and gain a brighter view of things. All this negativity causes people to worry about their money, health and relationships. Actually, when you look at it, what all the drama and news stories are pretty much spewing out, has to do with money, health and relationships. So, we watch that and it starts happening to us.

You can believe what you see. Likewise you also see what you believe. In order to counter-act all the negativity, all you can do is create an alternative scene. That's what manifesting, visualization, law of attraction, faith, etc., are all about.

When you watch a kid in the sandbox playing with his toy trucks, he's enjoying ?pretending? he's an adult, moving the earth and building real roads with real equipment. We don't consider the child insane or delusional for this, do we? Anyone ever heard of SBDS - "SandBox Deficiency Syndrome"? So far they're only drugging kids for fidgeting in class-- it hasn't moved to the sandbox quite yet. When that happens, we may as well pack it up and find another planet to play on. The child is quite aware of reality and at the same time willing to participate in an alternate reality. As we get older, we tend not to pretend and as a result, get stuck in the framework of ?the real world?. We accept only one reality because that's the mature thing to do. It's merely too silly to consider alternate realities'I mean? what do you want to do, turn into some kind of Steven Spielberg or something? And what would be wrong with that?

If you're in a rut with life and have settled for less, it's time to start manifesting a better reality for yourself. After all, you are the one who manifested where you're at right now. So, get back in the sandbox and break out the Tonka trucks. It's ok to pretend! When you do it enough, it becomes real. Everyday is a new chance to create new scenes for yourself and manifest something good. Don't rely on the TV to do it for you. Did you ever see that bumpersticker, "KILL YOUR TV!"?

Good grounds for self-defense!!