This idea is one of those things that’s really hard to see from way down in Reactive Brain,* because Reactive Brain says this situation is wrong! Something needs to change!

Then there’s Creative Brain* – the part of us that knows that we are constantly co-creating with the universe and that every moment is perfect for our evolution and growth – just as it is.

I spent some time down in Reactive Brain yesterday. I don’t know that there was any particular reason for being there, other than I had some dense energy that I wasn’t moving through my body. Instead, I entertained my mind’s negative stories and began to believe some of them. In no time, I slipped into feeling sorry for myself and wondering when things were going to work out the way I wanted them to [insert child-like foot stomp here!].

What was I doing wrong? I wondered. Why wasn’t the universe supporting me?

At some point, as a way to distract myself from my current woes, I turned to reading (something that can be both a shift move for me: something that supports me to shift my state, and a drift move: something that helps me to numb out and avoid my feelings).

My initial intention with picking Barbara Brennan’s book: Hands of Light, was to avoid myself and to drift. Luckily, however, it unexpectedly helped me do the opposite (often books about spirituality, energy, emotion, psychology can do this for me :).

Minutes into reading Brennan’s book, my energy began to shift. I started feeling excited and curious. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, without any sort of direct inquiry (other than the question I’d forgotten I’d asked earlier about why I wasn’t receiving support) my inner self began listing all the ways I have been taken care of by the universe.

The information coming in was so out-of-the blue, I decided to follow it and take note – versus brush it off or ignore it. I took to my journal and began making a list of all the examples popping into my mind.

Within minutes, I had a list of 8 items (all that had occurred within a matter of two weeks!) in which I had received what I wanted, but hadn’t noticed until now – simply because they had arrived in ways that were subtle and unexpected, and frankly, because I wanted things to happen the way I wanted, I wasn’t paying attention to other possibilities unfolding.

Now, to my small mind, of course, this list still wasn’t enough. Because, you know, I hadn’t yet booked all the clients or paid off all my school loans or [insert whatever thing my ego thinks I need to have NOW]. However, to my essence – my truest self – this list was perfect. I’d received everything I needed for today. And, all things considered, even though my life looked nothing like I’d planned for years ago, it’s a life I really love.

As I continued writing about my experience, I felt a big shift within me. I had this sense that I’d finally “gotten” something I hadn’t quite been able to put my finger on up until now with the whole manifesting thing.

I realized that if I could trust the universe to provide the matter, means, and action to support my soul desires – and allow myself to turn over needing to control this – I didn’t have to dictate the way in which things showed up in my life. Instead, I could get clear about the qualities of what I wanted and trust that the universe would supply me with I need, because just as it proved to me yesterday – life really is always supporting me (even if Reactive Brain prevents me from seeing this from time to time :).

Today, how might life be showing up to support you in ways that you haven’t yet recognized?

If you’re feeling anchored in Reactive Brain and blocked from possibility, the wonder question is a great way to kick start a shift: Hmmmm, I wonder how the universe is supporting me in ways I cannot yet see?

As you open yourself up to receiving answers and guidance, breathe deeply and tune into your body. Notice how your energy might be shifting from density and contraction to a more expanded state. Become the observer of your thoughts, watching as their content shifts from negative stories to more positive ones filled with possibility. Without expectation, allow yourself to move through your day from this new Creative Brain space and simply notice what messages come in about how life might actually be supporting you, even if it doesn’t appear to be that way on first glance.

Happy wondering, friends!

*Julie Colwell coined the terms Reactive Brain and Creative Brain, which are concepts that encompass all of emotion – both those of reactivity/threat and expansion/rest and digest.