This year more than in any year prior, Rosh Hashanah is upon us and I feel unprepared to show up with the proper mindset for this holy day. With the first night of Rosh Hashanah falling on Labor Day, I find my thoughts are still in summer getting-the-kids-ready-for-school-mode, while my inner me is struggling to focus on and connect with the real themes of our New Year.

The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah (16a, 34b) recounts that on Rosh Hashanah Hashem instructs us to recite before Him Malchuyos, Zichronos, V’Shofros—translated as verses about God’s sovereignty, remembrance of all events, and shofar blasts. The Gemara continues, “Sovereignty so that you should make me your King; Remembrance so that your remembrances should rise up before Me for your benefit; and through what? Through the Shofar.” It is these very words that lend structure to the day’s Mussaf prayer.

Although there are many themes to explore, the primary theme of Rosh Hashanah is God’s Malchus, or sovereignty. Through the pesukim we recite during the Mussaf Tefilla, we in effect proclaim God as our King, accepting our role as his subjects, and thus join in God’s mission for creating the universe. Traditionally when we consider these themes, we are inspired to feel awe and perhaps fear of God’s magnitude. This year in particular, I seek a more relatable avenue to connect with God and his Kingship—a God whose presence I try to find as a very real part of my day, and my day-to-day life.

Each year we are gifted 48 hours where we have the opportunity to pause our lives, our work and other physical distractions, and hone in on our connection with our Creator. The modern world has apps and retreats galore dedicated to meditation, while we are gifted three full days during the Yamim Noraim set aside just for this purpose. If we can channel our energy and focus during these upcoming days and show up vulnerable and honest, we will review our past actions and set goals for growth, dedicating thought and effort to strive to show up and do better in the coming year.

During the moving tefillah of Unetaneh Tokef in particular, many are moved to tears as we recall the challenges that we, our friends and our family faced in the prior year, and as we heartfully pray for an upcoming year of life, a year of health, a year of peace, a year of serenity and a year of abundance—for ourselves, our families and our friends.

As I consider the unlimited, infinite abundance, rachamim and love that Hashem has for each one of us, his children, heading into Rosh Hashanah and the Yamim Noraim this year, I pray that we be able to tap into the shefa, the ever-flowing source of abundance, that God has in store for us, and allow it into our lives.

How do we allow God’s shefa and bracha into our lives? Many (most!) of us unwittingly practice the art of resistance, rather than the art of allowing. We focus on scarcity, on fear, on anxiety—we are subconsciously stuck in a survival mindset.

In contrast to the scarcity mentality, the Art of Allowing is a practiced process of deliberately choosing the subject of our attention, limited only to subjects that allow connection with Source, with an awareness of how that perspective feels to us, When we are allowing we always feel good because we constantly allow the blessings that flow from Source into our lives. By deliberately choosing thoughts that feel good, we achieve energetic alignment with the Source of feeling good (God). This means we join God as co-creators and become active participants in our own lives, rather than the victim of life’s circumstances.

Shifting our outlook to the Art of Allowing and Deliberate Creation means prioritizing how we feel above anything else. If we are choosing thoughts that feel good, we are allowing God into our lives. In any given moment, there exists a split second during which we have a choice—do we go upstream, against the current of blessing and choose resistance, or do we go downstream, flowing with the current of blessing and choose allowing?

Sometimes making the choice between that-which-we-want and the lack-of-it is easy. Other times it can be a real struggle. When heavy challenges come our way and our desires and dreams seem far away or even impossible, we can focus on our emunah, our unwavering belief in God, and deliberately and intentionally hold ourselves in high consciousness.

The universe is governed by the Law of Attraction, which states: That which is like unto itself, is drawn. This governing law means that whatever it is we focus on, or think about (for at least 17 seconds), attracts unto itself other feelings and thoughts that are like it.

We all want to uncover the secret sauce for manifesting our dreams and desires. Everything we could ever wish for ourselves and for others (life, health, wealth and the rest of God’s blessings), already exists in our universe. All we have to do is “let go and let God do the work” and allow it into our lives.

True joy is ours when we achieve a state of calm and eager anticipation in every moment for that which is yet to come. Meaning, it is not the manifesting itself that brings the truest joy. (Although manifesting is enjoyable, too!) The truest joy is achieving the belief and absolute certainty that God provides us with all that we need and desire.

May this year be the year that we release resistant thought, sync up with the universe, and allow into our lives all the brachos God has in store for us. May all of our dreams for the coming year manifest with ease, and the mishalot libeinu, the wishes of our hearts, be fulfilled.

A special credit goes to Abraham Hicks’ “Ask and It Is Given” and her teachings on the Law of Attraction, the Art of Allowing and Manifestation, which provided many of the concepts in this article.

Alanna Apfel is the founder and patient advocate at AA Insurance Advocacy, which helps therapy patients, individuals, couples and children save thousands of dollars annually on their out-of-network mental health therapy bills. In the months that AA Insurance Advocacy has been advocating on behalf of patients, clients have collected anywhere from $5,000 to $45,000 a year in reimbursements, depending on the cost and frequency of therapy. If your preferred therapist doesn’t take your health insurance, we can help negotiate with your plan to cover your out-of-pocket therapy costs. For further information, please contact [email protected].