#60: The Secret of Naturalness

The Secret of Naturalness

A Lecture in the Voice and Spirit of Neville Goddard

You have desired many things in this life. You have held them close, you have prayed for them, you have hoped for them, and still they have not appeared. Why? Because the secret of their coming lies in a single, unchanging truth. A desire manifests when it feels natural to be so. Until that naturalness is established within you, the desire remains only a wish, floating somewhere beyond your reach. But the moment it feels natural to you to be the one who already possesses it, that moment the outer world must rearrange itself to match the inner conviction.

You are not separate from your desire. You are the awareness in which every desire lives and moves and has its being. When you rise in consciousness to the naturalness of being the thing desired, you draw its manifestation unto you as surely as the sun draws the morning. This is not a technique. This is the law itself. Consciousness is the only reality, and your world is forever out-picturing that which you are conscious of being. Therefore, the entire secret is contained in this one majestic fact: make the state natural, and it must objectify.

Look at your present world. Whatever you are experiencing now, you are experiencing it because it once felt natural to you to be that way. The conditions that surround you, the body you inhabit, the circumstances you meet every day—all of these are the natural out-picturing of your former assumptions. They feel real because they once felt natural. You did not have to struggle to make them appear; they simply reflected what you had accepted as true of yourself. So it is with every desire you now hold. The moment the new state feels as natural to you as the old one once did, the old must dissolve and the new must appear.

You do not command things to appear by loud affirmations or desperate pleadings. Such efforts only confirm that the state is still unnatural to you. No. You rise quietly, steadily, persistently in consciousness until the feeling of the wish fulfilled becomes your natural feeling. When this naturalness is attained, you give birth by becoming that which you are one with in consciousness. The revaluation of yourself expands until it feels completely natural, and in that instant the manifestation is inevitable.

How do you reach this naturalness? You do not force it. You do not speculate about it. Speculation itself is the proof that naturalness has not yet been reached. Instead, you enter the state in imagination and you dwell there. You feel yourself to be the one you desire to be. You sense the world as it would be if your desire were already an accomplished fact. You do this gently, repeatedly, until the new feeling wears itself into your being like a familiar garment. At first it may seem strange, like new clothes that do not yet belong to you. But you continue to wear it in the silence of your own consciousness. You wear it until it becomes your natural expression.

The time it takes for your assumption to become fact is directly proportionate to the naturalness of your feeling of already being what you want to be. When the feeling is natural, there is no interval. The manifestation is immediate because you are no longer fighting against the old sense of self. You have simply become the new man, and the old has passed away because it is no longer natural to you. This is the quiet, majestic change that occurs in consciousness. Nothing is destroyed. Nothing is forced. The old state simply loses its naturalness, and the new state takes its place as your natural dwelling.

You may ask yourself tonight, “How will I know when it feels natural?” You will know because the old problem will begin to lose its grip upon your attention. You will find yourself indifferent to the evidence of the senses. The very things that once hypnotized you with their seeming reality and naturalness will fade into the background. You will no longer be arguing with appearances. You will no longer be looking back upon the difficulty as though it were the only reality. Instead, you will rest in the new state with the same effortless certainty you once rested in the old. That effortless certainty is naturalness.

Be perfectly indifferent to the evidence of the senses so that you may feel the naturalness of your desire, and your desire will be realized. Turn from appearances and feel the naturalness of the thing desired. This is not a denial of the world you see. This is a deeper acceptance of the world you are. For the world you see is only the out-picturing of what you have accepted as natural. Change what is natural to you, and the outer picture must change.

In the awareness of being all things are possible. But the awareness must be lifted to the naturalness of the thing desired. If you are lifted up in consciousness to the naturalness of the thing desired, you will draw the manifestation of that desire unto you. No man comes unto the fulfillment save the father within draws him, and the father is your own awareness of being. When that awareness feels naturally the state desired, the drawing power is irresistible. The manifestation is as certain as the rising of the sun.

You have been taught by appearances to believe that certain things are difficult or impossible. You have accepted the naturalness of limitation. But now you are invited to accept a new naturalness. You are invited to feel yourself into the state where limitation has never been. You do this not by fighting the limitation, but by wearing the new feeling until it becomes your nature. The new feeling must be worn long enough to make it natural. Then, and only then, will the outer world conform.

Think of it this way. You once accepted certain conditions as natural to you. They felt right. They felt like you. Therefore they remained. Now you are called to accept a greater condition as natural. You feel yourself to be the one who already possesses the desire. You live in that feeling, you breathe in that feeling, you move through your day carrying that feeling quietly within you. At first it may seem unnatural, but you persist. You persist until the new state feels as natural as the old one once did. The moment that shift occurs, the outer world has no choice but to reflect it.

This is the secret that has been hidden in plain sight. The Bible itself reveals it again and again, not as history, but as the eternal drama of consciousness. When you read of being lifted up, it is speaking of this very act—lifting your consciousness to the naturalness of the desired state. When you read of becoming one with the desire, it is speaking of this naturalness. The virgin birth, the resurrection, the coming of the kingdom—all of these are symbols of the moment when the new state becomes natural to you. You give birth to your desire the instant it feels natural to be the one who has it.

You need not concern yourself with the how. The how is not your responsibility. Your responsibility is the naturalness of the feeling. Once that naturalness is established, the how takes care of itself in ways that no man knows. The ways of consciousness are past finding out. But they are infallible. When you have truly felt the naturalness of the state, the manifestation follows as night follows day. There is no delay because there is no resistance. The state is natural, and nature expresses itself effortlessly.

Many of you have tried to force the manifestation. You have struggled, you have strained, you have repeated words until your throat was dry. And still nothing changed. Why? Because the struggle itself proved that the state was not yet natural to you. Struggle is the sign of unnaturalness. When the state is natural, there is no struggle. There is only the quiet, deep acceptance that this is who you are. This is what you are. This is how life is for you now. That quiet acceptance is the secret.

Tonight, right now, you can begin to establish this naturalness. Close your eyes for a moment if you wish, though you need not. Simply turn your attention inward and assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled. Feel yourself to be the one who already has it. Dwell in that feeling. Let it become familiar. Let it become comfortable. Let it become natural. Do not force it. Do not strain after it. Simply let the feeling wear itself into your consciousness until it feels like home. When it feels like home, it is home. And when it is home, the outer world must become the home of that reality.

You may return to your daily activities after this hour, and the world may still look the same. Do not be disturbed. The outer picture always lags a little behind the inner change. But the inner change is already complete when the feeling is natural. Continue to wear the new feeling. Continue to live from it. In every quiet moment, return to it. In the midst of activity, carry it silently within you. Make it your secret companion. Make it your natural state of being. The more you return to it, the more natural it becomes. The more natural it becomes, the more swiftly the outer world must conform.

This is not a matter of time. It is a matter of naturalness. The time it takes is only the time it takes for you to make the feeling natural. Once that is done, time itself becomes irrelevant. The manifestation is as immediate as your acceptance. You have done it many times before without knowing it. Every condition you now accept as natural came into being in exactly this way. You simply did not realize the power you were exercising. Now you know. Now you can use it consciously.

The natural man of the senses may scoff at this. The natural man believes only what he can see and touch. But you are not the natural man tonight. You are the spiritual man awakening to his own creative power. You are the awareness that is God. And God is not mocked. What you sow in consciousness, you reap in manifestation. Sow the naturalness of the desired state, and you will reap the harvest of that state made visible.

You may have many desires. You may have desires that seem far beyond your present circumstances. It does not matter. The principle is the same. Rise in consciousness to the naturalness of each one. Feel yourself to be the one who already possesses them all. Let that feeling become so natural that you no longer question it. You no longer argue with it. You no longer look for signs. You simply know, because it feels natural to know.

This knowing is not intellectual. It is not a belief in the head. It is a deep, quiet conviction in the depths of your being. It is the feeling that this is who you are now. This is how life is for you now. When that feeling is established, doubts vanish like mist before the sun. The old problems lose their power because they are no longer natural to you. The new reality takes their place because it is now the most natural thing in your world.

You are the operant power. You are the one who decides what shall be natural to you. No one else can do this for you. No outer force can impose it. You alone enter the state and you alone make it natural by dwelling there. The world is waiting for your decision. The world is plastic to your assumption. But the assumption must be natural. It must be lived. It must be worn until it fits you perfectly and feels like your own skin.

Tonight, as you leave this place, take with you this one truth. A desire manifests when it feels natural to be so. Carry it into your home. Carry it into your work. Carry it into your quiet moments and your busy hours. Let it become the foundation of your every thought. Let it become the atmosphere in which you live. And you will discover, as you have discovered every truth that has ever transformed your life, that this truth is self-evident the moment it is lived.

The change will not be dramatic at first. It will be quiet, almost imperceptible. But it will be real. A new ease will come into your days. A new certainty will color your thoughts. The things you once struggled for will begin to appear as though they had always been yours. Because in consciousness they already are. You have made them natural. Therefore they must objectify.

This is the great secret that has been given to you. Not as a theory, but as a living reality. Not as something to believe, but as something to be. Be the one who already has it. Be the one for whom it is natural. Be that, and the world will confirm your being. Be that, and every desire will fulfill itself without effort, without delay, without question.

You are the awareness of being. You are the father of your every conception. When you conceive a state and make it natural, you have given birth to it in the outer world. This is the law. This is the promise. This is the eternal truth that has never failed and never will fail. A desire manifests when it feels natural to be so.

Go home tonight and test it. Go home and assume the feeling of your wish fulfilled. Dwell in it until it feels natural. Do not look back. Do not look around for confirmation. Simply remain in the naturalness of the new state. And you will see with your own eyes that the principle is true. You will see that consciousness is indeed the only reality, and that when you have made the desired state natural to you, the manifestation is as certain as your own existence.

This is the secret of naturalness. It has been with you always. It is with you now. It will be with you forever. Use it. Live it. Become it. And your world will be transformed beyond anything you have ever imagined. For the kingdom is within you, and it becomes visible the moment it feels natural to you to be the one who already dwells in it.

You are that one. You have always been that one. Tonight you remember. Tonight you accept. Tonight you make it natural. And tonight, in the deep silence of your own being, the work is already done. The manifestation is on its way. It cannot be otherwise. For a desire manifests when it feels natural to be so, and you have made it natural. You have made it yours. You have made it real.

Rest in that knowledge. Rest in that naturalness. And watch the glory of God unfold in your world as it has never unfolded before. This is the truth. This is the way. This is the life that has been waiting for your recognition. Recognize it now. Live it now. Be it now. And you will never again wonder why your desires have not appeared. You will know, with the quiet certainty of one who has touched the secret, that they appear exactly when they become natural to you.

And they will become natural to you, because you are the operant power. You are the awareness that creates all things. You are the one who decides what shall be natural. Decide tonight. Decide with the full power of your being. Decide that the desire is already natural to you. Decide that it is already yours. Decide, and it is done.

This is the end of striving. This is the beginning of fulfillment. This is the secret of naturalness revealed. Take it. Use it. Live it. And your life will become the living proof that a desire manifests when it feels natural to be so. It has always been so. It is so now. It will always be so. You are the proof. You are the demonstration. You are the living example of this eternal truth.

Let this truth sink deep into your being. Let it become the most natural thought you think. Let it become the atmosphere you breathe. Let it become you. And everything you have ever desired will appear in its perfect time, which is the time when it feels natural to you. That time is now. Make it natural now. And the manifestation is certain.

You are blessed. You are the blessed one who has heard this secret. You are the blessed one who will live it. You are the blessed one in whom the kingdom has come because it now feels natural to you to be the one who dwells in it. Go in peace. Go in certainty. Go in the naturalness of your fulfilled desire. It is done. It is finished. It is so.