u/arijitdas

I thought I knew what manifesting was.

That’s exactly why I stopped reading the book about it.

I had barely started when the voices showed up.

Not one particular person. More like a collection of internet influencers and other gyanchos whose opinions had somehow taken up residence in my head.

I can’t remember exactly who they were.

I can’t remember their faces either.

But I remember the voice.

They were explaining why manifesting doesn’t work if you keep repeating a scenario in your head.

And, annoyingly, it sounded logical.

That was enough.

I didn’t need to finish the book.

Actually, I didn’t even need to read it.

Why would I?

I already had the explanation.

Somebody had apparently figured out the whole thing, summarized it for me, and handed me the conclusion.

So I stopped reading.

The funny part is that the person whose logic I believed probably hadn’t even read the book.

And yet, somehow, I trusted their understanding of it more than the book itself.

Today, I picked it up again.

I started reading the first chapter.

And something shifted.

Not because I suddenly thought, Oh, shit. Manifesting is real.

It was something else.

I realized I had been looking at the idea from completely outside it.

I was trying to decide whether the mechanism made sense.

Repeat something in your head.

Imagine a scenario.

Believe it.

Does that actually make things happen?

That was the version of manifesting I had been arguing with.

But then I started reading the book.

And I realized I wasn't simply reading instructions for how to make something appear in my life.

I was entering the journey of the author.

I was listening to the positive journey of someone who had achieved something.

And suddenly, the whole thing felt different.

Because maybe that was the point.

Maybe the value wasn't only in whether repeating a scenario in your head somehow causes the universe to rearrange itself.

Maybe the first thing that happens is much simpler.

You spend some time with a positive thought.

You see a different possibility.

You allow yourself to think differently for a while.

And that thought can change the way you see things.

Which can change what you do.

Which can change where you end up.

Whatever you call that, the book was taking me through a positive journey.

And perhaps that's all it needed to do.

That was the realization I had been completely blind to.

I had reduced the entire idea to the easiest version to argue against.

And then I wondered why it didn't make sense.

It's strange how easily this happens.

Someone explains an idea online.

Their explanation sounds intelligent.

It makes sense.

You absorb it.

Then, somewhere along the way, their explanation becomes your understanding of the thing.

Except you never actually experienced the thing.

You just experienced their opinion about it.

That was what happened to me.

I wasn't rejecting the book.

I was rejecting a version of the book that existed inside my head.

A version written by voices I couldn't even identify.

And maybe that's the more interesting lesson.

Sometimes the mistake isn't believing an idea.

Sometimes it isn't rejecting one either.

Sometimes the mistake is thinking you understand something before you've actually encountered it.

I thought I knew what manifesting was.

I hadn't even let the book speak for itself.

I had only heard the voice in my head.

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Hi everyone,

I wanted to apologize for an issue that I only discovered today.

Recently, we updated AutoModerator to discourage YouTube link posts and encourage everyone to upload videos directly to Reddit. Unfortunately, while making that change, I accidentally created a rule that did the exact opposite. Instead of allowing Reddit uploads, it started filtering out many legitimate videos hosted on v.redd.it.

If your cooking video was removed recently, it was our mistake, not yours.

I'm truly sorry for the frustration this caused. I know many of you spent time filming, editing, and sharing your recipes, only to have your posts disappear without any explanation.

The problem has now been fixed.

If your video was removed, please consider posting it again. We would love to see your recipes, techniques, and creativity back in the community. Your contributions are what make r/CookingVideos such a great place to discover and learn from one another.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. If you notice anything else that doesn't seem right, please let us know.

Happy cooking! 🍳

Now I’m sitting here with 14 Udemy courses telling myself:

“Okay but this time I’ll actually finish them.”