Everything in my life has a place, a home of its own.
Each time I use my makeup products, I put them right back where I got them from. Likewise, my toothbrush has a home. My hairbrush has a home. My books have a home. If I own it, and it's mine, I know where it is 99.9% of the time. I’m a pretty meticulous person.
But that .1% still exists.
~
I lost my laptop a few weeks ago. I'm strategically using the word "lost" to insinuate that, at the end of the day, I'm to blame. I can't point fingers at anyone or anything because I have no evidence to suggest that it was stolen, but this ordeal is a big, fat mystery. Although it's hard for me to believe it just vanished, at this point, that's all I have to go off of.
Long story short, I had to buy a new laptop because mine was simply ~gone~
I waited a solid week to see if my laptop would reappear before purchasing a new one, but it didn't, which meant I had to slowly but surely come to the realization that I needed to cough up a good chunk of change to pay for a new one. At first, that realization was painful. I was not accounting for the fact that I'd need to buy a laptop right before heading to Italy, but is there ever a time when losing your laptop fits swimmingly into your planned events? I don't think so.
"Roll with the punches, Taylor," is what I said to myself. "You gotta just deal with the situation, and if that means buying a new laptop, just buy the damn laptop."
Now, I believe everything happens for a reason. I first convinced myself that losing my laptop at the time I did was a good thing because what if it was on the cusp of breaking or getting really bad, irreversible water damage? Maybe losing my laptop was a proactive way for me to buy a new one before I left for Italy and was stranded without one overseas.
So, what did I do? I reluctantly paid close to a grand for a new laptop. I bit the bullet and moved on with my life.
A few days after I bought my new MacBook, I landed a new gig. The highest paid gig I've had to date. In the moment, letting go of that grand was nerve-racking and anxiety-inducing, but like I said, I believe everything happens for a reason.
Buying a new laptop was the universe's way of saying, “We're going to take something away from you, and then when you let it go, we're going to reward you. Give you back tenfold what you gave up."
I promise you, when you look at what happens to you as what happens for you, your life changes.
~
The highlighted piece you just read, I wrote that before I landed my gig. Before I even knew the offer was on the table. Before I had any inclination that my highest paid gig was around the corner, I wrote that.
And although it was not a few days later and instead a few weeks later, it came true. I landed my highest paid gig to date. It didn’t come without nerves and lots of pacing around my kitchen thinking to myself, “Who do I think I am asking for this much money?” But it was an affirmative, direct “yes” when I stated my rate— there was no negotiation. It was in that moment that I realized, why it came so easy.
Because I had already claimed it for myself.
~
Let me make something very loud and clear: Manifestation is NOT a woo-woo technique that spiritual gurus promote to provide empty hope to those who are in need. It is a powerful tool that can help you align your beliefs, your thoughts, and your actions when you lean into what is happening to you and reconfigure your mindset to believe that it’s actually what is happening for you.
I have learned a thing or two about manifestation over the last few years, and I’m a firm believer that it takes a combination of potent factors to work correctly. What are those factors?
Unwavering baseline belief in yourself
Commitment to the “dirty work”
Appreciation for your current situation
Celebration of the smallest wins
I urge you to reframe the unideal moments of your life. Look for the silver lining. Remind yourself that they’re teaching you a lesson, helping you grow, strengthening you for what’s up ahead.
After all, losing a laptop is never fun, but learning how to shape-shift your life, really, truly is.
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