When it comes to setting intentions with the Universe, wording your desires correctly is so key! You always want to be completely clear and specific.
I honestly was inspired to write on this topic after my boyfriend suggested we watched an old guilty pleasure movie he loves, Bedazzled with Brendan Fraser. In this movie, Brendan Fraser’s character makes a deal with the devil (Elizabeth Hurley) to sell his soul in exchange for 7 wishes. In it, he makes vague wishes and the devil twists them a bit.
For example, Brendan Fraser’s character says he wants to be rich, powerful, and married to the woman he loves. His wish gets granted and he suddenly rich and powerful - but that’s because he’s a drug lord … and he’s married to the woman he loves, but she hates him and is having an affair. 🤣
Obviously the Universe is never going to mess with you like that! But the Universe does often have a sense of humor and will give you what you ask for. This movie reminded me so much of how I learned this lesson of being clear and specific with my wishes in 2015.
Despite being a lifelong Rangers fan, my overall favorite NHL player was on the Leafs at this point in time. So in 2015, my mom (the biggest Rangers fan ever) and I went to see the Leafs play at the Devils (Devils and Leafs tickets were insanely cheaper than Rangers and Leafs tickets, so we got really good seats just a few rows off the ice! And I got to root for my favorite player instead of having to root against him as I would have if he were against the Rangers).
We arrived at the arena pretty early and I remember thinking it would be so cool to happen to run into him and get to talk to him even just for a second. I knew about manifesting so I kept feeling gratitude and imagining how excited I’d be meeting him. But the thing is, when I worded my intention to the Universe I didn’t say his full name. I just kept saying his last name.
And wouldn’t you know, while watching warm-ups for the game, I turned around and my favorite player's DAD was standing right behind me 🤣 I talked to him for a moment and he was soooooo incredibly nice, he said he liked my jersey (obviously bc it was his son’s jersey!🤣)… but the funny thing is that, I did get what I asked for … because I only told the Universe I wanted to meet that player referring to him by his last name… and his dad has that same last name … so technically the Universe did grant my wish, I met the person with that last name… just the wrong one 🤣
In that moment, I knew it was the Universe, with it’s amazing sense of humor, telling me I had to be specific to what I want.
(Don’t worry though, four years later, I did actually finally meet my favorite player! He had gotten traded to a team a little closer by, so my mom and I went to a signing and got to take a pic with him! He was really nice and really, really tall!)
(Also another side note and fun fact: if you’re an Impratical Jokers fan, that particular Leafs and Devils game we went to happened to be the one where Q & Sal were punished by going on the ice as goalies and had former Devils players shoot pucks at them! I didn’t know who they were at the time, but like a year later I became a hugeeeee Impractical Jokers fan! I used to live in the city around 23rd street and then Union Square so all those years I had always been around near where they filmed. I wished that I would somehow run into them or at stumble upon a punishment (haha as you can see I liked to use my manifesting powers to meet celebs I love 🤣). Anyway, one day I was watching Impractical Jokers and I saw that Devils episode and realized I already had happened to run into them and stumbled upon a punishment! The Universe like reverse-manifested a desire of mine! 🤣 Which can totally happen too because technically time doesn’t exist within the universe!) They also happened to film another punishment in 2018 for Joe at mine & my boyfriend’s former place of work, but they kept it real quiet, no one knew they were in the building, so we didn’t find out until later either. But still pretty funny I’ve been in similar circles with them!)
Another example of specificity, in college for my senior year, my bestie and I wanted an apartment instead of continuing on with the dorms. The trouble was obviously finding an affordable apartment within our budget in the area of Manhattan near our school. It seemed impossible. But I knew with manifestation, I could do it. I remember thinking I wanted an apartment 2 blocks from school (our school was on 23rd street, so I thought 25th street) and said our exact budget in my head. I kept thanking the universe and repeating 2 blocks from school, our exact budget.
The next morning (I said all that gratitude a lottttt one night before going to sleep; I was determined because we were running out of time!), I woke up and checked apartments websites, and found a newly listed apartment, only $100 over our exact budget, and 2 blocks from school - only 21st street! Even though I was thinking 25th, technically 21st was 2 blocks from school just the other way! That apartment wound up being the one that became ours.
So, sure you don’t have to be too, insanely detailed specific, you can always leave room for the Universe’s magic, but definitely state clearly what it is you want!
If you ask the Universe for more money, the Universe can technically give you one dollar and would have fulfilled your needs!
Instead, state the exact amount of money you want! Or at least ballpark it. Say you want an extra $1,000 or say I’d like to make anywhere from $1,000-$3,000 extra dollars each month if giving yourself a bit of wiggle room feels like less pressure to you.
Remember, with manifestations you want to take the pressure off yourself and find a way to feel good! Feeling good and aligned and like it’s a reach but still possible is so key!
If you ask the Universe for someone to date, you may receive someone that you’ll only go on 1 date with. Instead, reframe it to exactly what you want: your true love / your forever person / a long-term relationship, etc. etc. Don’t be afraid to list out all the details of what you’d like in a date / a romance / true love!
Going back to a place to live, you may ask the Universe for a house or apartment within your budget … but then it could show up in a neighborhood you don’t want to live in, so instead reframe it to your desired neighborhood that’s close to school or work (like I did!) or just one you like the vibes of!
If you’re working to get healthier and your goal is to get to a weight you’re comfortable at, and you state you want to lose weight, technically you can lose just 0.5lbs and that would count as your manifestation being fulfilled. So state instead the desired weight you want to be and declare you already are that weight (or personally for me, I ignored the numbers and would just focus on feeling good and healthy and comfortable in my body and loving my body no matter what size it was!)
See, so recognize, your words have so much meaning, so if you know exactly what you want - state it that way!
But the absolute best thing to do is to always add “this or something better” to the end of it.
That helps you receive the best of both worlds! Because then not only do you provide the Universe with the clarity of exactly what you want, but you state that you are open to the magic.
With money, you can state “Thank you for $1,000 extra dollars each month or something better!” This means you won’t limit yourself to that $1,000 and instead maybe you’ll receive $2,000 extra!
Maybe when manifesting a trip, you’ll say “Thank you for my trip to London or something better!” And by doing so, maybe it’ll be possible fro you to not only go to London but to go to other cities in the UK as well! (This happened to me! I always tried to manifest a trip to London but left it open to “or something better” and then wound up working at a summer camp one year in The Hamptons that hired other workers from the UK, became besties with those UK ladies, and then after camp they each invited me to come visit them! So not only did I get to go to London but afterwards I got to travel to Cornwall, Wales, Leicester, and the Manchester/Liverpool area and I didn’t have to pay for hotels because I stayed at my friends houses/apartments! It was amazing!
So remember, state what you want clearly and specifically as it feels good to you but also add “this or something better” so you can be surprised with so much extra magic!
