Manifest destiny

I was never really one to believe in manifest destiny. The idea of "speaking something into existence" seemed foreign to me. Positive attitude? Hope for the best? Absolutely, but anything more than that just seemed like wishful thinking which can be fruitless. Then in early February something happened that I had joked about for a while and I kind of went "hmmmm, well then..." It honestly changed the way I looked at things. Is it possible to make something happen because you wish it? Did I speak this thing into existence?

I think my issue with manifest destiny stems from the idea of prayer really. Now, before you jump down my throat, hear me out on this one...

If every single person that prayed had their prayers answered, would that really solve all problems? I believe there's a hit movie that answers this question. The same goes for manifest destiny. If every person that said "this is going to happen" had it happen, wouldn't it just be commonplace? What makes one person's wishes or prayers more important than someone else's? Is it just that their will is stronger? These are the questions I'd been asking myself as I struggled with this concept.

But still, I thought I'd give it a shot. I wrote down the following...

By my birthday, I will be in a different job

Now, I'd thought these things before, but always said it in a way that was more... threatening (for lack of betters words). I'd always phrase it like, "If I'm not out of here soon I'm going to punch things." Well that's no good. So I didn't really change the idea of wanting to get out, but more the way I put it into the universe. The main concept of needing a new job was still there, but there was more positivity behind it.

I recently had a very good interview that simply felt different than others I'd had. Something about it just makes it feel like this is the one. So, again, I wrote the following...

This is it. This is the one. This will work.

Having that thought in the back of my mind and repeating it over and over again has given me the strength to push through the depression. I've given myself hope by telling myself that it'll happen. False hope, some might say based on my history, but hope nonetheless. And I think that's the key. If we remember the myth of Pandora's Box, the one thing left in the box when all the troubles had been released into the world... was hope. Holding onto that when all else seems lost is sometimes all we have.

After the 2nd interview, I was not feeling as confident, but I never gave up that hope. I continued to speak it as if it were going to happen.

It can. It will. It must.

I kept repeating all of these things to myself. Any time I found my brain going idle and worrying about the future: repeat. Before going to sleep: repeat. When my job would get me down: repeat. Whatever I could do to boost that positivity and make it happen, I was doing. I would not give up. These phrase became like mantras to me... saying them over and over again to the beat of an internal drum only I could hear.

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I began writing this post about a month or so ago. Starting and restarting, editing, adding... constantly changing it. It became almost like a way to deal with the waiting and drive home this new found will that I had. I am now pleased to say that after interview #3, I have been offered a job! After 9.5 years with the same company, 8 years of searching, I am finally moving on to where I feel my true calling lies.

This has been such a long road and, if anything, it proves that positive thinking and manifest destiny really can work. I said this was going to happen, and it did. I'm completely floored by this and typing this last bit through tears of joy.

Believe in yourself. Believe in your dreams. It can... and WILL... happen.

- Danielle