Do Thoughts Create Reality?

In mainstream ‘law of attraction’ we find lots of talk about how our thoughts create our reality.  Therefore, they say, we must be careful of what we think.  The idea seems simple: think good thoughts and your life will mirror that.  Think negative thoughts and you will attract negative things to your life.

But it’s not quite that simple.  Many of those who fervently embrace and practise these popular teachings have been disappointed by the lack of real results when they follow this over-simplified formula.  Yes, thoughts do influence reality but there are more layers involved in the reality creation process.

For instance, thinking just one negative thought is not likely to yield an instant negative effect in your creation.  But we’ve been conditioned to fear “thinking negative thoughts”, so much so that we’re blocked from accessing the places that hold a lot of our power.

This over-simplification has even led to people moving in the wrong direction when attempting to bring about more desirable outcomes: instead of creating positive shifts, they may end up entrenching their unwanted reality.

Here are several distinctions that can make a huge difference in your reality creation results.

Denying the Status Quo Vs. Acknowledging the Reality

The usual recommended way is to deny what you see in your reality.  To ignore the reality of it.  To not buy into the fact that it has manifested.  Rather, we are to superimpose this appearance of reality with an alternative mental picture.  You basically will it to become this mental picture.

On the surface, it seems sound.  But by merely ignoring what is in front of you, you miss knowing where you have placed your power – the power with which to create new possibilities.  When you own and face up to what this reality is bringing up for you – what emotional reaction it triggers in you – you gain the raw material for creating magical outcomes.

Without doing this step of seeing and acknowledging what it is doing to you, that part of you that manifested this unwanted reality would still be investing power into it.

But it does not mean that you have to wallow in the unwanted reality.  It is one thing to be curious and honest about your state but another to keep beating yourself up about it.

Finality Vs. Unfolding Reality

Know that this reality does not have to stay this way forever.  Rather than seeing it as a finality, see it as part of the unfoldment of events.  Your disbelief in it being able to change is what causes it to stay unchanged.  You are in control of the direction in which it unfolds, depending on how possible you see change is.

Usually, we are told to see our reality in a black-or-white fashion: it is either desirable or undesirable.  But nothing is ever final – everything has the potential to change.  By acknowledging and working with this fluidity, more and more changes can happen, leading to increasingly magical manifestations.

Substituting Vs. Giving a Positive Meaning to a Situation

Once you know it is shifting and not stuck, you can assign a positive meaning to the situation.  This is not the same as mentally replacing this version of reality with another (visualising) or reciting positive affirmations.  Often, these techniques only work to cover up the underlying dynamics, which will continue to play out despite your resistance – and creating a countering effect to what you are consciously creating.

Instead, you acknowledge this reality but see it as a progression towards a potentially favourable outcome – without specifying what that is.  Therefore, it is already part of the favourable outcome you know you will experience.

Making these subtle tweaks in your thinking approach can give you access to more manifesting power in your reality creation game.