The Hidden Reason Your Desires Don’t Manifest

Ten years ago, I let go — and changed my life.

For decades, I ‘d been chasing romance. Two marriages, two divorces, and numerous failed relationships left me lonelier than ever. I longed for a soulmate, yearned to meet the one person who would truly understand and appreciate me as I am. I tried everything I could think of, but nothing worked.

Exhausted and ready to give up, I realized the truth: I didn’t have a clue how to “find” the right man. Clearly, all my effort wasn’t working. The only thing left to do was the one thing I’d never done: surrender. I raised my hands and handed the situation over to a Higher Power: “You know me. You know what I truly want, and more importantly, what I need to be happy. Here — I don’t know what I’m doing, but I know you do.”

Less than a year after doing this, I met my soulmate. And today, a decade on, we are still together — and happy.

This is when I learned the paradox: desire may spark the journey, but it’s who we are that carries us across the threshold into the realm of our dreams. The Universe does not respond to the clamor of wanting; it answers the quiet resonance of being. It wasn’t until I stopped living from scarcity and thinking I had nothing and became someone rooted in trust that everything changed.

The Universe didn’t respond to my wishing — it responded to the person I became the moment I stopped trying to control everything.

🌌 Carl Jung: The Inner Alignment

Carl Jung once wrote, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”

 This truth reveals why wanting is never enough. Beneath our surface desires lies the vast terrain of the unconscious; our shadow beliefs, hidden fears, unspoken narratives. (that voice inside your head that tells you ‘Nope’ no matter what you do) If those inner forces remain unexamined, they shape the reality we live, regardless of what we say we want.

To ‘become’ rather than merely ‘want’ is learning to see the shadow, to acknowledge the dissonant parts of ourselves, and to weave them into wholeness. Embodiment is not just about light, but also about embracing the darker corners of who we are. The Universe doesn’t mirror our wishes, but the truth of our being; and that includes the visible and the hidden.

This is why individuation, Jung’s great path of becoming whole, matters. Each step toward inner alignment brings the outer world into greater harmony with us. When our conscious desires echo the truths of our deeper self we resonate with clarity, and the Universe responds in kind.

Ever wonder why bad things keep happening to you? Listen to the voice in your head. Are you constantly saying “Why do I fail all the time” or “Why can’t something go right in my life for once” or “Why am I such a disaster”?

The Universe is answering you by giving you the answers to what you’re asking.

🌿 José Silva: Training the Mind to Be

Where Jung mapped the psyche, José Silva gave us tools to train the mind. Through his Ultramind method, Silva taught that shifting into alpha and theta states allows us to step beyond ordinary thinking into the creative field of possibility. In those states, imagination becomes rehearsal for what we want, and for who we are becoming.

Silva’s practices invite us to embody alignment daily: visualizing not just outcomes, but ourselves living in harmony with them. When we practice these methods, we aren’t telling the Universe what to give us; instead, we’re training ourselves to inhabit the resonance of the life we’re ready to live. We step into trust, into clarity, into presence and, through doing so, we align our inner state with the reality we seek.

🌟 How to Align Desire with Expectancy

Desire is the seed of change. It awakens us to possibilities we might not have imagined otherwise. But desire without expectancy can wither; it becomes longing without confidence. To shift into confidence, we must pair our longing with the certainty that what we want is already in motion.

Think of expectancy not as demanding, but as receiving. It’s knowing that the soil is fertile and the seed is sprouting, even before we see green shoots above the ground.

🌿 Practical Actions to Shift From Wanting to Being

🌱 Shift the Language — Instead of saying “Why can’t I do anything right?” ask the question “ Why does everything I strive to achieve succeed so easily?” This simple shift tells your unconscious mind — and the Universe — that you believe you’re successful, and the Universe will answer by showing you — giving you- success.

🌌 Embody the Feeling Now — Ask yourself: If this desire were already fulfilled, how would I feel? Spend a few moments inhabiting that feeling. Let your body experience it and then, every time you speak your truths, remember that feeling. Expectancy is a felt state.

🔮 Let go of “How” — Desire often gets tangled in control. Expectancy, by contrast, trusts the unfolding. By letting go of the need to know or control every step along the way, the Universe is free to give what is best for you.

🌹 Celebrate Small Echoes — Notice and honor the tiny reflections of your desire already present in your life: a kind word, a moment of stillness, a glimpse of abundance. These are the Universe whispering: You are on the way.

Ten years ago, I discovered that the Universe doesn’t answer the desperate cry of longing — it responds to the trust and confidence we embody. Jung reminds us that until we integrate our unconscious, we cannot live whole. Silva shows us how to train our minds into alignment. And The Power of One teaches us that when we embody trust, love, and integrity, the world shifts around us.

This is the invitation: to move beyond wishing, to align desire with expectancy, and to live each day as if the future you seek is already within you. When we embody this way of being, we don’t simply attract what we want, we become the living current through which transformation flows.

This article is part of a series inspired by my forthcoming book The Power of One, which explores how individual awareness can ignite collective transformation. Each piece bridges real-world concerns with timeless principles, drawing from science, spirituality, and intentional living to reveal how the smallest inner shift can ripple outward into meaningful change. Together, these articles are meant to form a map for living consciously in a fractured world, reclaiming personal power, and contributing to a shared legacy of light.

Additional Reading Suggestions:

What If the Future Depends on What We Think Together?
The unseen influence of shared intention and how we can harness it now. by ME 🙂

Why Life Feels Like a Struggle (And How to End It)
Understanding timing ends the struggle and restores flow by Aline | Spiritual Guide, Teacher, Healer

90% of People Fall Into This Silent Trap That Steals Their Inner Joy
The quiet weight that blocks spiritual growth and how letting it go heals you. by Ruchi Thalwal

~ Morgan C. Morgan
Writer of light, shadow, and the stories between.

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