Manifestation - does it work?

[TeeJ1]

Has anyone tried manifesting and had things they have manifested come true?

I really want to reconnect with an old friend (a guy), we were really good friends for a few years and fell out / lost contact when he started seeing a new girl. We never entered a relationship, we were just friends and he used to walk me home after I used to finish late at a supermarket I used to work at when I was 18.

I've always felt like he was the one that got away, all our friends used to say we should have dated but it just never happened and we never discussed it, all though I always thought the fact he walked me home off his own back was a suggestion he liked me...anyway this was 18 years ago and he's probably married with children now but I would like to get back in touch to see how he is but can't find him on any social media (I can't remember his surname) so I thought about manifesting.....does it work or is it hocus pocus?

Aww, that’s a bit harsh.

I think there is a process by which we desire something and then take positive actions to make it happen. It doesn’t matter whether that is called manifesting or “being proactive” which is the first of the 7 Habits- especially if it achieves the desired outcome.

Sounds like you are trying to run away from something instead of towards someone to me.
You can't even remember his name, he isn't the one that got away, no such thing, maybe he just treated you how you want to be treated now, but anyone can do that if they want to.

Op I’d use this as a sign that something is in your life you need to address. Are you single and desperate for a relationship? In an unhappy one? Of course some lad you didn’t even have a relationship with two decades ago isn’t the one who got away and of course you can’t manifest him.

im sorry you’re struggling so much, but think of the reason why and address this. This will work way better than any spells or magic you try to do.

And which might help achieve an outcome if effort and attention and openness to opportunity are relevant to that desired outcome. But none of those things are going to make you have a baby if you’re infertile, make the person you’ve fallen for fancy you back, or win you the Euromillions.

OP, this sounds slightly mad. You were teenagers. It was half a lifetime ago. If you’d gone out, chances are it would have been a few unfulfilling snogs in the supermarket loading bay. He didn’t ask you out, you didn’t ask him out, and he dropped you like a stone when his actual girlfriend got annoyed. None of your friends remember anything about him, and you can’t even remember his surname! Is there a reason you’re suddenly so keen to get in touch?

I’m sorry, it’s a load of nonsense. I agree with other posters, take it as an indication that you’re missing something in your life and take steps to change that.

This. It helps you focus on the achievable things that are within your reach, but it ignores the fact that many people are really stuck in awful situations that they have no control over. It's a bit of a toxic idea imo.

A positive and flexible attitude is certainly helpful when good and bad things happen to us and focussing on what you want may help to consider what steps are needed to move closer to that goal. However it seems to me that the whole idea of manifestation has mutated into something often very unhelpful. So often I see the idea that thoughts control people's external world and if you think negatively then negative things will happen or that certain thoughts are dangerous. It's the kind of thinking that is the basis for anxiety disorders. This is a hugely unhealthy way of thinking but it's one encouraged by people who often don't have our best interests at heart for example MLM companies and uplines, "mindset" coaches, readers of The Secret.

I met someone recently who believed in manifesting and had a series of good things happen to her which she put down to manifesting rather than just chance (winning £5K on a scratch card) or positive action (applying for and getting a new job). A week before her £5K win on a scratch card her DM was diagnosed with a terminal illness and died shortly after. Had her irritation with her mother manifested something negative? Within the MLM she was in she was not allowed to discuss her mother's death as it was negative (and in danger of discrediting the whole idea). That's not positive thinking, that's thought control. At best it's a laughable pile of shite, at worst it's damaging.

Better to just act upon it and try to find the person to reconnect? That is part of cultivating a growth mindset.

It’s a load of bollocks. Obviously in basic terms is just giving yourself positive reinforcement from a psychological POV. If you feel that going down the whole route of ‘the universe is sending me abundance’ rhetoric is helpful for you then go for it. Whether you achieve something you want to achieve or not, it’s got zilch to do with ‘the universe’.