Setting Intentions and "Magical Thinking" are Very Different!

A lot has been written and said about "setting goals" and such concepts as "manifestation" and "intention setting," but it seems like a concept that gets misappropriated an awful lot. On one hand we have good intentions and the power of positive focused intention." On the other we have something we might call "magical thinking."

Letter from @denmarkguy:

"Dear God, I pray to you every night, and I think I'm a pretty good person, I help other people, I'm mindful of my actions and I'm kind to others, so why haven't I won the lottery yet?"

Letter from God:

"Dear @denmarkguy, whereas I do hear your prayers, there's a limit to what I can do, and I really need you to go out and buy a lottery ticket..."

There's a tangible point to this old semi-joke. That point is that there is a difference between having authentic good intentions and simply having wishful thinking.

A lot of people seem to wander through life fueled by little more than good intentions. They wish for things, but they don't actually do anything to make those things come true. That said, they feel quite justified in complaining endlessly when their wishes don't come true!

Is that just a result of the modern world we live in? Is it the result of people having grown excessively entitled?

I remember some years back when that whole movie and book series "The Secret" was out and extremely popular, and the whole idea of "manifesting" was a hot topic... even the creators of that concept were commenting that people were misusing the whole idea.

I remember watching a short YouTube clip with Jack Canfield , who was pointing out that it's not enough to simply wish to have a full bank account, you have to take action in support of creating a full bank account.

In spite of this, I see an entire industry springing up around the idea that you can just sit on your butt and wish for things, and somehow they magically appear out of thin air.

Some years back, this friend of mine wanted to argue with me about this reality. She pointed out that she needed to get a new car (because her old one was basically an unreliable wreck) and after focusing on a new car for a few weeks somebody gave her a car.

Of course the point here is that there was "a someone" who gave her a car. It was not "The Universe" or her *intentions." Moreover, that "someone" did the work and that "someone" clearly grew tired of listening to her eternal whining about not having a reliable car. Point being, that the car didn't magically drop out of the sky... there was a "someone" who made the car appear and the sweat of their brow made the car possible.

The other analogy I like to use is the one of taking a bus. There's this person who complains and complains and complains because they never can get on the bus out of town. And they don't want to hear the truth that maybe they could get on the bus out of town if they actually stood on the street where the bus comes!

Again, "magical thinking."

Back in the day, I used to go to a lot of self development retreats and seminars. Part of what eventually soured me on going to these — even though I did learn a lot — was this underlying subtext of spiritual laziness . Maybe "laziness" is not exactly the right word, but there is an element of sloth in this equation. Or maybe it's simply a cognitive disconnect between tangible reality and what we wish in our minds.

The thing is, I'm all in favor of positive visualization and manifesting and all those good things. What I'm not so much in favor of, is taking these very useful tools out of the realm of functional applications, and into the realm of wishful thinking.

Maybe it's none of my business... but maybe it is because there invariably seems to be someone in that equation who gets taken advantage of. Then again, maybe they have a lesson to learn, as well!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week ahead!

How about you? Do you use affirmations and manifesting? Or do you think it's just "wishful thinking?" Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2024.06.17 00:35 PDT
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