Often we think of miracles as dramatic events like the parting of the seas or people being resurrected from the dead. We think of miracles as divine interventions. Occurrences completely outside of our control, driven by a force far greater than ourselves.

But I see miracles in even the tiniest of things. In fact, when I look closely, I see miracles everywhere.

In just one month, since deciding to take a break from traveling to return to my hometown of Seattle, I’ve had so many miracles transpire in my life I could pinch myself.

My blog traffic has increased by over 2000%, I’ve sold more ebooks in one week than I have in three months, I’ve had the energy to run three miles every day, my yoga practice has soared, and I’ve managed to avoid wheat, dairy, and sugar without experiencing any cravings at all.

Out of the blue, last week someone whom I’ve been in conflict with for years, who is the one thing I dread about going to Costa Rica, sent me an apology wishing to finally end the drama he’s perpetuated for such a long time. My practice in sending him compassion through meditation finally paid off.

Most miraculously of all, for the first time ever, being home isn’t a struggle. It feels easy. I’m finding such joy, knowing that it’s a temporary transition, and I am here with a purpose and a reason.

I may not be walking on water or turning it into wine, but every single one of these occurrences is to me, nothing short of a miracle. Miracles that are transpiring as a direct result of the positivity I am cultivating within myself and expressing out into the world.

It feels like I’m witnessing all of my wildest dreams coming true, and I know that this is only the beginning. I know that my health, my success, and my happiness will all continue to soar, as long as I keep practicing.

Today, let me share with you the methods I’ve been using to actively manifest these transformations that are leading me to the life of my dreams. It’s easier than you think, and you are absolutely capable of doing it too.

Accept Things For What They Are

It might seem contradictory, but the first step in allowing a miracle to transpire, is accepting things for what they are, accepting others for who they are, and most importantly of all, accepting yourself for who you are.

When I came back from Europe recently, with digestion problems and some extra winter layers, I could have looked at myself in the mirror and judged what I saw. I could have dwelled on the alleged flaws. Or I could smile and tell my reflection that she is perfect and worthy of feeling good. From a place of self love, I feel much more motivated to wake up early and exercise and to eat foods that fuel my body, which ultimately leads to greater transformation.

In the same way, when approaching relationships, judging the other person for not meeting our needs is unlikely to lead to any progress. If we first accept them and allow them to be who they are, we can productively consider how we can move forward while allowing them the space to evolve in their chosen way.

This was certainly the case with the man I had conflict with in Costa Rica. For years I judged him for his behaviors that triggered me, and it never led to anything productive. It kept me stuck in a limiting pattern that didn’t feel good. Finally, I decided to accept him, exactly as he is, and to accept his anger towards me for what it was. Knowing he wasn’t ready to reconcile, I reconciled with him internally. I let it go on my own, accepting that I might never receive an olive branch. Then, months later, just like magic, he sent me an apology.

Ultimately, acceptance is essential for transformation to take place, because it offers whatever is on trial the freedom to expand. Practice perceiving everything through the lens of acceptance, and notice how much easier change flows.

Work With Mantras

Much of what we create in this world originates in our minds. We think a thought, which can become a pattern, which develops an attitude, which influences our behavior, which affects our entire reality. And it’s disturbing how many of these thoughts are actually subconsciously adopted from society or our families.

Suppose you want to quit your day job, travel the world, and create an online business. If you’ve heard people say over and over again that it’s not realistic, that may become a stored belief that affects your ability to make that dream reality, no matter how much you may want it to happen.

This is where mantras come in.

Essentially a mantra is a tool to help you protect your mind from scattered or negative thinking. It’s a word or phrase repeated repetitively, which in turn can reprogram your brain into believing it. Once you believe it, you unlock your potential to enact it.

I work with mantras daily, particularly when I find myself second-guessing my strength, my worth, or my ability to achieve something that seems difficult. Even if I don’t believe it at the time, I develop a mantra that counteracts these limiting beliefs.

One I’ve been using often is simply, “I can do this.”

Last month when I came back from the states I felt so overwhelmed with everything I wanted to achieve. I needed to get my health in order, to stop eating sweets, to start exercising regularly, to instantly earn income, to improve my blog traffic, and to plan the next stage of my life. I could easily paralyze myself under the weight of it all.

So I started by simply closing my eyes, breathing, and repeating mentally, “I can do this.” And consequently it made it much easier for me to do it. What once seemed so overwhelming, I managed to achieve in just a month, with even greater success than I could have hoped for.

Start your own practice with mantras by making a list of what you want to cultivate in your life, and then turning each into a short statement that focuses on the positive. My favorite way to work with mantras is to sit in meditation first thing in the morning and simply repeat one over and over mentally for five minutes. You can also do them while exercising, washing dishes, and spontaneously during the day when you need the reminder.

Some of my favorite mantras include: “I am happiness,” “I am powerful,” “I am lovable,” “I am worthy,” and “I am a fierce badass.”

Take Responsibility For Your Life

To be the creators of our own miracles, we need to believe that we are capable. It may feel easier to place the responsibility of achieving our dreams on someone else, but that holds us back from achieving our greatness. You, and only you, have the capacity to create the life of your dreams.

Until recently, without even realizing it, I wasn’t taking responsibility for many aspects of my life. This may surprise you, considering how much I preach about freedom, independence, and choosing your own path, but when it came to the logistics of money and running my business, I didn’t want to take ownership. I’d rather write freelance articles for a pittance than leverage the brand I’ve poured my heart into for three years into something that supported me financially.

Admittedly, I always thought that a publisher might come along and offer me a book deal. Or some great, holistic, sustainable brand would sponsor me. Or my parents would invest in a property where I could host retreats. I avoided anything that required marketing or making actual income, assuming that if I just focused on what I loved doing, the universe would figure the rest out.

And occasionally it did, but for the most part it didn’t.

Then, finally, I manifested a miracle. Two weeks ago I decided to empower myself to become a businesswoman. To own what I do for the first time and let it support me financially. No guilt, no shame, no selling out. I adjusted my attitude from feeling needy to feeling worthy and decided that marketing was just another way of communicating with all of you.

What happened? In just one week, every single blog I posted went viral, my traffic skyrocketed from 3,000 to 40,000 views per day, I got 250 new email subscribers, 700 new Facebook fans, and I earned passive income through ebook sales and travel donations EVERY SINGLE DAY. All organically with no paid advertising. This happened simply from an attitude adjustment.

Excuse me, but that is a f&*king miracle.

You are the star in the story of your life, and you can write any script that you want. Empower yourself to take the reigns and step into your greatness. It’s right there waiting for you.

Do the Work

Sometimes miracles happen without us understanding how or why. Like magic our dreams manifest without us doing anything except professing the desire. These synchronicities happen to me with such frequency, it’s impossible for me not to believe in a greater power.

Like the time when I received a $10,000 back payment for a scholarship in college I had “accidentally” not been awarded yet, the exact day I was unexpectedly cut off financially. Or when I was completely broke on my way back to the states after nine months in Southeast Asia, needing a cell phone, and Nokia contacted me offering $1000 and an international smart phone out of the blue. Or the time I simply I decided I would do my yoga teacher training, despite having no money, and the next day found a work trade opportunity at the yoga studio where I wanted to do my training for years, offering a free yoga training in exchange for blog writing.

But sometimes, magic doesn’t happen like that.

Sometimes I plant the seeds in a new moon ceremony, I focus on what I want to manifest in my meditation, I practice releasing myself from the outcome, and it still doesn’t lead to what I want in my life.

Oh, right, because I wasn’t actually DOING THE WORK.

Meditation and intention setting are undoubtedly powerful tools for manifesting change, but only when they’re followed up with deliberate actions in our waking lives. Mantras are meant to help you do the work, not to do the work for you. Don’t let your spiritual practices become another means of displacing responsibility.

Seeing the magic that has unfolded around me, I’ve realized that magic isn’t just some mystical force of universal energy. Magic, is in fact something that lives within each of us. Acknowledging that? I can’t imagine anything more spiritually powerful.

Let The Old Shit Go

Creating the life of your dreams means constantly letting go of what no longer serves you to make room for what does. Take stock of your life often and don’t be afraid to release what no longer fits. The more space you create within your life, the more space the magic has to grow.

Admittedly, letting go is one of the hardest things that we can do. It’s much easier to cling to something that isn’t really that great, than it is to open up to the unknown. I wish I knew a work around or a quick fix, but the only solution I know is to choose courage. Start with the small things like clutter in your closet and gradually build the confidence to dig deeper.

Magnify Your Intentions

Sometimes we’re so overflowing with ideas that we become scattered. Our attention gets spread across so many different projects, relationships, and goals, that we don’t seem to progress much in any of them.

This has been the greatest challenge for me in running my business and in managing my life. Not only do ideas constantly flood my brain, but I become distracted by the stimulation that surrounds me, and the unlimited opportunities I’m presented. “Should I travel to the Phillippines or Brazil?” “Stay put in Costa Rica or go work in Australia for a year?” “Write another ebook or start an online store or lead yoga retreats or make Youtube videos,” and on and on and on.

The nature of the mind is to wander, which at times can be beautiful. It allows for fantasy and imagination. However when you want to turn dreams into reality, it takes focus. This is the key reason why I decided to take a break from traveling for a few months to come back to the states and focus my attention and energy. When I began to prioritize my ideas into actionable tasks, I immediately saw progress.

Ask yourself what your intentions are for your life. Most likely you can’t do everything all at once, so focus only (for now) on what is most essential in creating your happiness. When you notice your attention wander, remind yourself of these intentions to bring your efforts and energy back to what matters most.

Respect Your Precious Energy

Along the same lines, be respectful of your energy. There are only so many hours in the day and there are only so many channels you can invest yourself in. It’s ok to set boundaries and to say no.

Practice and All is Coming

When you were a kid learning to ride a bicycle, you had to practice. The more you practiced, the easier it became, until eventually it became so easy that even if you went years without doing it, you could always pick it right back up.

I believe that everything life is like riding a bicycle. Some things take longer to learn and more practice to instill, but if you practice enough, eventually anything can feel natural. If you can turn the changes you want manifest into practices, over time they will feel less like work, and eventually become your life.

When it feels hard, remind yourself that it’s worth it. Remind yourself that you deserve it. And when you really really don’t want to do it, do it anyway. It will get easier. Just like riding a bike.

Develop Rituals

Because I’m my own boss, it’s extremely important that I develop my own rituals to keep me on task. I find that if I implement simple practices first thing in the morning, it’s much easier for me to accomplish larger goals throughout the day.

I typically start my mornings early with a short five minute meditation, followed by some dancing and hula hooping to get my creativity flowing. Then I go on a three mile run and spend thirty minutes doing yoga. By the time I sit down to start my work, I already feel accomplished, which is a huge confidence boost in helping me tackle my projects.

What would a realistic morning ritual look like for you? Consider how much time you can carve out, even if it’s only five minutes, and choose a positive practice that you can implement every single day.

Focus on the Possibilities Instead of the Limitations

If you take just one thing away from this article, let it be this. In every single situation in your life, focus on possibility.

I remember times while traveling when I worried that I was going to run out of money. This became a huge source of stress that prohibited me from enjoying where I was. However, I remedied the situation by sitting down and brainstorming a list of all of the possible ways that I could fund my trip. (See my post How to Travel the World When You’ve Got Absolutely No Money.) When I saw on paper that I had dozens of options for sustaining myself, I realize that my fear was irrational.

Practice by thinking of something you want to create in your life that currently feels overwhelming or even impossible. Mentally take note of the negative talk that says you can’t do it, and make a pact to set that aside for just ten minutes. Then, begin to write out all of the possibilities, even the ones that seem ridiculous. If you get stuck, consider researching what others have done to make their dreams possible. This inspiration will get your creative juices flowing.

Continue practicing this as often as possible, and you will notice that as soon as you see the possibility, you see the path to freedom.

Don’t Be Afraid to Shine

For so many people, this is the number one barrier in actualizing their dreams. I’ve used this quote in another blog post recently (How I Afford a Life of Constant Travel and You Can Too) but it’s so relevant it bears repeating again and again. The quote is by Marianne Williamson in A Return to Love:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

The only thing that holds you back from achieving anything that you want to achieve is you. Own your brilliance and the entire world will take notice.

Shift Your Attitude

I’ll bet you that right now, in this very moment, you can instantly create a miracle. You don’t need a hat, a wand, a full moon, a shaman, or a psychic to do it. All that you need is you.

Think about something that’s preventing you from being the person you want to be and living the life that you want to live. Something that’s causing you frustration, pain, stress, anger, stagnation, contraction, or really anything that doesn’t make you feel good. Focus on that aspect of your life. Feel it, notice the sensation of it. Try to accept it for what it is.

And then, shift your attitude.

Decide, even just for a moment, to perceive the situation differently. Because really, that’s all that a miracle is.

A miracle is feeling the immediate relief when you to choose peace over drama. It’s feeling the immediate connection when you choose collaboration over competition. It’s feeling the immediate contentment when you choose gratitude over dissatisfaction. It’s feeling the immediate freedom when you choose possibility over limitation. It’s feeling the immediate happiness when you choose love over fear.

Make that choice, the positive choice, and make it again and again and again, until it’s no longer a choice: it’s who you are.

For more resources in manifesting miracles, check out: 

20 Daily Practice That Changed My Life

20 More Daily Practices That Changed My Life