Manifesting from Fullness: Why Wanting Can Keep What You Desire Just Out of Reach

Manifesting is often described as deciding what you want, focusing on it, visualizing it, and waiting for it to arrive.

But there is an energetic piece that is often overlooked:

There is a difference between wanting something and being able to receive it.

When we continually say, I want more money. I want a relationship. I want a new career. I want my life to change, our attention is naturally focused on what is missing.

Energetically, wanting can reinforce the experience of not having.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't have desires, dreams, or goals. Desire can show you where you would like to go next. The shift happens when you stop relating to that desire from emptiness and begin approaching it from fullness, havingness, and your ability to receive.

Manifesting and Your Energy

In Beyond the Seven: Exploring the 12 Chakras & Your Energetic Field and in my Introduction to the 12 Chakra System classes, I teach that we are much more than our physical bodies.

We have an entire energetic system that includes the chakras, our energetic field, grounding, and the energetic connections we create with the world around us.

Your energy is constantly interacting with your thoughts, beliefs, experiences, relationships, and environment.

So when you are trying to create something new in your life, it can be helpful to look beyond the question:

What do I want?

And instead begin asking:

Do I have the energetic space to receive it?

That is a very different question.

Wanting vs. Havingness

Imagine saying:

I want abundance.

Now notice what is underneath that statement.

There may be an unspoken message:

Because I don't have enough.

The same thing can happen with love.

I want someone to love me.

Underneath it may be:

Because I don't feel loved.

Or:

I want to be successful.

Underneath that may be:

Because I don't believe I'm successful yet.

This is where the concept of havingness becomes important.

Havingness is your ability to allow yourself to have something—to experience it, hold it, enjoy it, and receive it without immediately pushing it away.

You can consciously desire something while unconsciously having very little permission to actually receive it.

And that can make manifesting incredibly frustrating.

Why Don't We Get What We Want?

Sometimes the answer isn't that the Universe said no.

Sometimes we simply don't have enough room to receive what we're asking for.

We may be carrying old beliefs such as:

I don't deserve that.

People like me don't have that.

Money is difficult to make.

Relationships always end badly.

If I'm successful, people will judge me.

If I change, someone I love may not like who I become.

These beliefs can sit quietly underneath our conscious intentions.

We may also be holding other people's expectations, judgments, fears, or definitions of who we are supposed to be.

This is why I believe energy work can be such an important part of manifestation.

Rather than endlessly trying to pull or push something toward you, you can begin looking at what might be preventing you from receiving what is already available to you.

Manifesting from Fullness

Fullness doesn't mean pretending you already have a million dollars in your bank account when you don't.

It isn't about ignoring reality or forcing yourself to "think positively."

Fullness is recognizing what already exists within your life and within you.

You may already have love.

You may already have creativity.

You may already have opportunities.

You may already have wisdom, intuition, support, abilities, relationships, or resources that you haven't fully acknowledged.

When we continually focus on what is missing, we can overlook what is already present.

Manifesting from fullness begins with:

I have.

I am.

I can.

I receive.

Rather than:

I need.

I lack.

I wish.

I want.

This subtle change can completely shift the way you experience your own energy.

Are You Able to Receive?

Receiving sounds simple, but for many people it isn't.

Think about how you respond when someone compliments you.

Do you simply say, Thank you?

Or do you immediately minimize it?

Someone tells you that you look beautiful and you respond, Oh, I look terrible today.

Someone compliments your work and you say, It wasn't a big deal.

Someone offers to help you and you automatically answer, No, I'm fine.

Those small moments can tell you a great deal about your relationship with receiving.

If you have difficulty receiving a compliment, support, kindness, attention, or help, it is worth asking:

What happens when I try to receive something bigger?

Receiving is something we can practice.

Your Chakras and Manifestation

Within the 12 chakra system, I don't view manifestation as belonging to one chakra alone.

Creation involves your entire energetic system.

You need to be grounded enough to bring an idea into physical reality.

You need to feel safe enough to experience change.

You need enough self-worth and permission to have what you're creating.

Your heart needs to be able to receive.

Your communication needs to support what you're creating.

Your intuition can help you recognize opportunities and next steps.

And your external chakras and energetic field influence how you interact with energies beyond the physical body.

Manifestation isn't simply about thinking something into existence.

It is about creating the energetic space to have it.

Try This Instead of Asking, "What Do I Want?"

Take a moment, ground yourself, and think about something you would like to create in your life.

Instead of saying:

I want ________.

Try asking:

Am I willing to receive ________?

Then notice what happens.

Does your body relax?

Do you immediately hear a reason why you can't have it?

Does a fear come forward?

Do you think about what someone else might say?

Do you suddenly feel undeserving?

Don't judge what comes up. Simply notice it.

That information can show you where your work actually is.

Now ask:

What would it feel like to already have space for this in my life?

And finally:

What can I receive today?

It doesn't have to be enormous.

Receive a compliment.

Receive someone's help.

Receive an opportunity.

Receive rest.

Receive love.

Receive an idea.

Receive the beauty of where you are.

Receive your own intuition.

Every time you practice receiving, you are strengthening your relationship with havingness.

You Are Not Manifesting Because You Are Empty

One of the biggest shifts we can make is moving away from the belief that we need something outside ourselves in order to become whole.

You don't need to manifest something because you are incomplete.

You can create because you are already full.

From that fullness, you can decide what you would like to experience next.

That is a very different energy.

Instead of standing in:

I want this because I don't have it.

You begin standing in:

I am open to receiving this because I have space for it.

And perhaps the question isn't:

Why haven't I gotten what I want?

Perhaps the more useful question is:

What am I ready to receive?

That is where manifestation can become less about chasing what is missing and more about allowing yourself to have what you are creating.

To learn more about the 12 chakra system, your energetic field, grounding, havingness, and practical tools for working with your own energy, explore my books, classes, online courses, and private sessions through Energy Work & Healing.