Latest / In The Driver's Seat / Why Being Present is the Secret to Everything You Want
Transcript
- Lisa French: Standing in a parking lot waiting for my lunch that I had ordered from a food truck, repeating my own name in my head. Lisa French, Lisa French, Lisa French. A few minutes later, I heard it called over the speakers. I'd won two tickets to a music festival. That by far wasn't my first manifestation, but what happened before I entered the giveaway taught me something I wish I'd understood. when my spiritual journey had begun. Stay with me because that's what I want to share with you today. Welcome to In the Driver's Seat. I am Lisa French. If you've ever made the vision board, said the affirmations, pictured what you wanted, and still wondered whether you were missing something, I understand that question. I've been learning about manifestation and the law of attraction for well over a decade. I've had experiences that felt absolutely magical to me. I've also had times when I was worried, frustrated, or paid so much attention to the absence of what I wanted that I could feel my energy sinking. With time and practice, I become much more aware of that difference. This story happened years after my spiritual awakening began. I already believed in manifestation. I had practiced it and I had seen it shown up in my life. This just became another experience that helped me understand at a deeper level. And it started with a parking lot party. Gulf Coast Jam is an annual four day music festival here in Panama City Beach. After five years of living here, I had never attended it. One of my good friends, Danny, worked for a local business and that was hosting a customer appreciation parking lot party. A local radio station was there. They had music, food trucks, and that kind of fun atmosphere you get when people have just kind of stepped away from their normal routine for a little while. I was heading over to see Danny, support the event, and just enjoy myself for a little bit. On the way there, I was already in a really good mood. I had received some really good news. I was listening to a podcast about manifestation during my drive over there. I just felt uplifted, joyful, and just lighthearted. I wasn't going to the event looking for an injection of happiness. It was already a great day. When I got there, I was enjoying the music and the atmosphere. Then I saw a table with a sign for a giveaway. You could sign up to win two general admission wristbands to the Gulf Coast Jam. So, of course, I entered and I had this feeling. I told myself I'm going to win these tickets. Since I had never been to the music festival before, it didn't feel heavy or desperate. I wasn't standing there calculating whether I had visualized hard enough or said the right words. I just envisioned it being a fun way to go and I was having a good time. This was approximately a couple weeks after Danny's birthday, so I offered to buy her lunch as a belated birthday treat. We ordered from one of the food trucks and while I was waiting for the food, they announced that they were getting ready to draw the first winner of the tickets. I stood there and I played the moment in my head. I imagined hearing my name called. I just replayed it in my mind over and over. Lisa French. Lisa French. Lisa French. And then they called my name. I had won the wristbands. And of course I was really excited that I won. But then there was this underlying feeling of I already knew it was going to happen, or it just wasn't surprising to me because I felt like it was a manifestation. I made that happen. Then, as if that wasn't enough excitement, I was asked to be interviewed during the live noon broadcast on the news about winning the tickets. So I went from stopping by a parking lot party to support my friend to winning two wristbands to a four day music festival with the bonus of appearing on live television. It was just one of those days when the amusement kept building on itself. And when I think about it now, the first thing I remember isn't the value of the tickets or the television interview. I remember how I felt before any of that happened. This wasn't the beginning of my belief in manifestation. My spiritual awakening had started years earlier. And I've shared parts of that story in previous episodes. By this day in 2023, I'd had years of experiences, questions, studying, and lots of practice behind me. The difference was that I had started to recognize my own emotional state more quickly. When I'm flying high emotionally, life feels open. I'm excited about what's happening around me and all the possibilities are easier to notice. As well as manifestations happen much faster. I also recognize sooner when I'm off track. Repetitive thoughts get louder, my worry, resentment, frustration starts taking up too much space. I notice those changes quicker than I did when I was first learning all of this. That awareness took time to learn. It grew through practice and through living my life. The Gulf Coast GM story stands out because The emotional state came first. I felt good before I knew there was a chance to win something. The prize wasn't responsible for my happiness that day. I walked into the opportunity already enjoying myself. A good mood is worth having on its own. We all love feeling blissful. Plenty of days end without winning something free like music festival tickets. For me, this experience became another piece of pride. Personal evidence. It showed me what it feels like when my thoughts and motions, imagination, and actions are moving in the right direction. In the early years of my spiritual journey, the things happening outside of me naturally got a lot of my attention. I noticed the signs. I noticed the synchronicities. I noticed a wanted outcome. And I thought, ⁓ my gosh, it worked. Those experiences were important and exciting. They encouraged me to keep learning and practicing. They made this whole world feel real to me in a way that reading about it in a book couldn't. What has changed is the energy I give to what was happening inside of me before the outcome. Years ago, I might have told this story mainly as I pictured winning the tickets and Then I won them. That is what happened. And now I see that there is more to it. Now I see the good news I allowed myself to enjoy, the podcast I chose for the drive over, the decision to support someone I cared about, and the fact that I was having a lot of fun before there was a result to celebrate. The external sign was exciting. The internal awareness is what I can carry throughout all of my days. I won't win every drawing I enter. My life still includes disappointment, delays, grief even, and days when my energy is nowhere near flying high. Spiritual awareness hasn't removed any of that from being human. What it has given me is a way to notice myself sooner. Now I pause and ask where have my thoughts been today? Where's my attention been focused? How do I feel after spending time there? Those questions are useful whether something magical happens that afternoon or whether the day ends in a completely ordinary way. And I honestly think that is part of why this lesson has lasted. The wristbands were for one festival. The awareness still sticks with me. The second thing I notice is how simple the visualization was. I didn't go. Home and build a vision board for Gulf Coast Jam. I didn't write the same sentence 55 times or worry about whether I was following the method correctly. I stood near a food truck and I heard my name in my imagination. Lisa French. It was clear, it was specific, and it was playful. I think law of attraction practices can become Really hard when we start treating them like we're studying for a test we need to pass. We become so focused on doing manifestation correctly that we're creating more pressure than possibility. That afternoon, I wasn't trying to prove anything. I let myself imagine a moment I wanted to experience. And then I stayed in the day I was already enjoying. That is one of the things I wish I'd understood years earlier. A spiritual practice. is a lifestyle, not a performance. There's also a practical part of this story. I went to the event, noticed the giveaway, entered the drawing, and stayed while they called the winner. I could have been in a wonderful mood at home and never known the giveaway even existed. The opportunity was there and I participated in it. Manifestation As I experience it includes the choices I make and the steps I take. The feeling doesn't replace participation, it changes the way I participate. When I feel open and engaged, I'm more likely to notice what is right in front of me. I'm more likely to have the conversation, submit the name, answer the phone, or try something I might have overlooked on a different day. I don't always know which small action will matter. In this case, entering the drawing was obvious. Other times the next step is much less clear. What I can do is stay involved in my own life. That means paying attention to the little nudges, making a choice, following the next aligned step, and leaving room for something I didn't plan. The live television interview was a perfect example of that. I imagined hearing my name called. I didn't imagine the newscast. That was an extra part of the experience I couldn't have arranged from the parking lot. And I gotta practice my speaking skills on live TV. There's something freeing about leaving that kind of room around a desire. I get clear about what I want, take the step that belongs to me. And then I stay curious about what follows. My favorite is when life surprises me with something better than I could have imagined. Sometimes the result looks exactly like the picture in my mind. Sometimes life adds a television camera and says, Well, while you're here, let's make the day even more interesting. When I first began my spiritual journey, I was learning about manifestation, signs, numerology, energy. And the law of attraction. I was incredibly curious and I wanted to understand how all of it worked. What most don't teach you, and it took personal experience for me to fully understand, is that awareness and emotional honesty belong together. Feeling good before the manifestation happens is so important. That is the energy which draws more good into your life. Sometimes life is hard and I feel exactly what I feel. The hard thing deserves to be acknowledged. Then I switch gears and find what else is present in my life that I can appreciate and love. There may be a person I love talking to, a beautiful sunset I can catch, a walk near the water, a funny movie, a meal I enjoy, something I'm looking forward to. One piece of good news that deserves to be fully absorbed. That is how the practice becomes part of an ordinary day. It lives in the drive to meet a good friend, the wait for lunch, and in the moment I decide to enjoy good news instead of immediately looking for the next problem. Those experiences are valuable because they are part of my life right now. They help me know how it feels to believe in it. anything is possible. For me, manifestation is a spiritual practice and a lived belief. I can only tell you what I have experienced and how I understand it. My emotional state and my thoughts are vital to the process. Imagination helps me connect with what I want and my choices and actions give me a part to play. There is room for fun and surprises too. I can picture an outcome without controlling every detail of how it arrives. I can enjoy the life in front of me while something I want is still unfolding. And when I recognize that I'm off track, I have a chance to choose where my attention goes next. That's the deeper understanding I didn't have at the beginning. This is a big part of the work I do now. I help people notice what they're thinking. how they're feeling and whether those patterns are supporting the life they want to create. I teach people to intentionally create the life that they love. That begins with awareness. You can't change a pattern you haven't identified. Once you see it, you have somewhere to begin. That beginning may be a different thought. It may be taking one small action. It may be giving more attention to something good that is already happening. It may be stepping away from a conversation or situation that keeps pulling you into an energy that you don't want to carry all day. This work is personal. What makes me feel light and open may be different from what creates that feeling for you. Your version probably won't involve Gulf Coast Jam wristbands. But you know your own moments. You know what it feels like when you're enjoying your life and fully present in it. And you probably know the feeling of being so caught up in worry that you can barely see anything else. Learning to recognize the difference gives you more choice. So here's what I'd like you to try. Think of one thing in your life that genuinely feels good right now. It can be small. In fact, small might be better. Focus on it for one minute. Enjoy the song. Sit outside in fresh air and sunshine. Celebrate some good news. Let yourself laugh. Buy your friend a belated birthday lunch. Notice how you feel while you're doing it. Then from that place, think about something you want to create or experience. Let yourself picture one clear moment that would tell you it happened. You don't need to plan anything out. Just choose one moment you can see, hear, or feel. For me, it was hearing my name. Lisa French. Lisa French. Lisa French. And then over the speakers, there it was. I still smile when I think about that day. I went to support Danny and enjoy a lunch and a parking lot party and came home with Gulf Coast Jam wristbands and a story I would still be telling years later. Thank you for spending this time with me. If conversations like this help bring you more intention and possibility into your life, please subscribe or follow in the driver's seat so we can keep exploring it together. It also helps others like you find my channel. Until next time, remember you are always in the driver's seat of your life. And I will see you in the next episode.