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The Power and Energy of Visioning:

Are you able to easily manifest your desires?  If not, please read on; both the School of Life and the School of Hard Knocks have taught me much about this topic. 

Vision is one of the three keys to living with ease and grace. Vision is at work in your life, whether you are aware of it or not because your thoughts have tremendous power.  Everything you think about has both energy and feeling behind it, which means that you are already visioning and living with the results of this process.  Why not put this energy and power more fully to work on your behalf?  This blog explores how visioning works. Perhaps this increased clarity will give you more say in how your life unfolds. 

My First Awareness of Visioning:

My first significant experience of the power of the visioning process took place when I was in high school, even though at the time I had no clue it was called visioning!  Way back in the early 1970s, I worked as a naturalist for a local school park program and had been active with the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania. I was applying to the Society (whose purpose was to connect people to nature) for a scholarship to attend an Audubon Camp in Wisconsin.  My Mom was helping me with the application and asking me questions to come up with good things to say.  We paused for a moment from our process and looked out at the beautiful woods behind our home.  

While I don’t remember the question that my Mom asked or the one posed on the application, I do vividly remember my answer coming to me in that moment of pause: “I teach people about nature, so they will want to help protect the earth.”

I felt a spark of wonder at the words as I spoke. I could see that Mom felt the power of my words too.  We sat silently for another moment, truly one of my most treasured memories of my Mom and her support in my life.  

Even though I didn’t get the scholarship that summer, I had received an even greater gift.  This one sentence became a guiding force for my life in a way I didn’t really understand until years later. 

My Second Awareness of Visioning:

In college, while choosing a major, I recalled this sentence, and that led me to decide on Environmental Science.  I soon met Sarah, a gal who worked for the National Park Service (NPS); when she described her job, leading hikes and giving nature talks in Shenandoah National Park, I found myself lighting up inside with excitement and joy at the possibility. 

Later that year, with some other friends, I visited the park, a forested area situated in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia.  We enjoyed the broad vistas from the overlooks on Skyline Drive, the main park road; we walked through the shady forests; and we breathed in the cool, moist, mountain air, near a bubbling brook. I felt peaceful, connected, energized, and relaxed at the same time.  

When we walked into the park visitor center and met a park naturalist, I thought of Sarah.  I even began to picture myself behind the desk, and then leading hikes and giving nature talks!  This was truly a place I could call home. 

WOW ~ Manifesting the Vision:

Two years later, just before I graduated, Sarah let me know about a job opening at the park. She advised me to stay in touch with the park staff at optimal times to increase my chances of being noticed.  I soon landed my first seasonal Park Guide position with the National Park Service at Shenandoah National Park!  

Working there enabled me to learn the inside ropes of NPS employment; after working several seasons in two different parks, I become a permanent Park Ranger.  I later talked to other seasonal employees who spent decades trying to establish permanent NPS employment. Some were never successful.  I did it in two years.

I truly believe that one phrase, and the joy it engendered in me, led to my twenty-five-year career with the National Park Service.  Over those years, I worked in six different national parks and one central planning office.  

From Vision to Form:

As I look back, I see that I simply periodically followed the thread of excitement and joy my vision generated.  Years later, though, I learned more about the visioning process and how valuable it is to place positive attention on your vision regularly.  Let us review four simple steps to help you more easily manifest your desires. 

Summary ~ Four Simple Steps to Manifesting Your Desired Outcome:

1. The first thing to remember is that visioning is more about picturing your desired outcome than focusing on your current reality or challenge. Words have tremendous power, especially words that we are repeating over and over again in our heads — whether we are conscious of it or not!  Energy goes where attention flows.  If you focus on the problem side of the situation, you will get more of the problem.  If you focus on the desired outcome, you are more likely to manifest your Vision. 
   
   I am glad I didn’t know how difficult it could be to become a permanent Park Ranger.  Those folks I met who had spent decades trying may have been focused more on the difficulty than on their desired outcome.  

2. My second tip: Be sure to write down your vision!  This simple act amplifies the power of your vision.  I first wrote my career vision in high school on an application for a scholarship to an Audubon Camp. I also repeated this statement on my college application to the University of Virginia, which just happened to be very close to Shenandoah National Park, my first park. To be honest, in between, I never really thought much about it. Today, however, I do write my current vision down and review it regularly. 

3. Third, be specific, but not too specific! One of the reasons visions do manifest is that there is a power and presence beyond us that can support us on our journey.  If we are too specific, we may thwart an unfoldment of our vision that we have just not imagined yet! 
   
   One example where this idea served me well is in my personal finances. I held a vision for almost 15 years for a level of residual income that I would like. During this time, I wrote down the specific amounts of income I desired, being very clear in my mind that it would come through my marketing business.  I did reach my goals for about a year or two and then my income decreased significantly when one of the companies I worked with suddenly went bankrupt. Ouch! 
   
   That experience led me to experiment with being less specific and more open to other sources through which money could flow my way.  Switching my approach allowed me to explore an investment opportunity that popped me up to the income level I had been envisioning, in less than a year!  Had I continued to hold the vision that my business was the main source through which my finances would flow, I may not have been open to this opportunity.  This is truly an amazing story, so stay tuned for a future blog post about it!

Feeling is the Secret to Simple and Powerful Results

4. My fourth tip is to be sure to get into the positive feeling space of your vision.  Many experts say that spending only five minutes a day is sufficient to achieve results.  Simply picture yourself when your vision is realized.  What does it feel like?  Breath into and expand those feelings.  Envision yourself doing the things that a person with your realized dream would be doing.  For example, if you imagine yourself a successful singer, see yourself on stage with large audiences doing the best performance you have ever done.  Hear the applause and feel the appreciation!  Enjoy the handshakes and positive feedback after the show.  Be sure to use as many of your senses as you can. 
   
   There you have it! Four simple tips to increase your chances of manifesting your desires. Please see the graphic below for a quick visual reminder.

I’d love to hear from you, both your success stories and your insights along the way.  Which of the steps described above most resonates with you?  What step do you think will make the most difference if you implement it?  

I invite you to continue exploring The Art of Ease and Grace with me in future blogs. 

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~ Carol McNulty-Huffman,

Best-Selling Author & Inspirational Speaker

artofeaseandgrace.com

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A Peek at My Next Blog Post:

Raising Your Vibration by Contracting! How Can That Be?

• Vibration is one of the three keys to living a life of greater ease and grace. Join me next month to explore the two main energy frequencies, or vibrations, in and around us all the time — contraction and expansion.   

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