3 Manifestation Lessons from 8 Years of Trying to Land a Cruise Ship Gig

This is the story of a manifestation 8 years in the making and the three lessons I learned from this experience.

In the summer of 2010, I met Disha, a friend of a friend of a friend, during a dinner in New York City. As I got to know Disha, she shared with me how she had spent a semester sailing around the world with Semester at Sea. I was immediately hooked and wanted to do the same.

Alas, the timing was off — I was getting ready to head back to campus to start the fall semester of my junior year and I had classes I needed to take on-campus in order to fulfill the requirements for my major. Nevertheless, the idea of sailing around the world was incredibly appealing to me. I browsed around the Semester at Sea website and realized that if I couldn’t go as a student, then, maybe, one day after graduation, I could join as a staff member.

In the fall of 2011, as I entered senior year of college, I came across a book that detailed the stories of individuals who, drawn by wanderlust, decided to delay their entry into the real world. There were stories of people who worked on horse ranches, stories of people who taught English abroad and to my pleasant surprise, a story of a girl who had worked as a translator on Peace Boat, a Japanese cruise liner. I immediately put the book down to google Peace Boat and found that they were looking for English teachers and translators.

Unfortunately, despite being a native English speaker, I didn’t have the teaching requirements they were seeking. Furthermore, I didn’t qualify for the translator position — my Chinese skills were also not at the level they were seeking. My hopes of working on Peace Boat were quickly dashed, yet I didn’t give up. I tucked Peace Boat in the back of my mind.

One year later, in the fall of 2012, I decided to delay my entry into the real world. Rather than finding myself trapped in a cubicle, I found myself on the other side of the world, studying intensive Mandarin Chinese in Taipei, Taiwan. A semester later, in the spring of 2013, I continued my Chinese studies in Beijing, China, where I befriended a program participant, who turns out, had been a translator on Peace Boat several years prior! Just like that, Peace Boat was brought, yet again, to the forefront of my mind. I checked the website again and the same two positions were available. To my dismay, I, once again, tucked Peace Boat in the back of my mind.

In the years that followed, every time I quit a job, I’d check the Peace Boat website to see if there were any openings. I was, once again, met with disappointment in 2015. From time to time, I also checked the Semester at Sea website — unfortunately, I didn’t qualify for any of the positions there either.

Finally, when I checked the Peace Boat website in 2017, I noticed a new position. Peace Boat was recruiting a reporter for its upcoming voyage in 2018. They were looking for someone who could document events on and off the cruise ship through written reports and photographs. I had some writing experience and had never used a DSLR before; however, I felt like this was it. This was my golden ticket. And so I submitted an application and went through multiple rounds of the application and interview process and lo and behold…in December of 2017, I received an offer.

In January of 2018, I finally boarded Peace Boat and set sail for a two-month voyage that sailed through Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands. This had been 8 years in the making and although nothing seemed to align for many years, I held onto the dream and trusted that one day, things would come together. Looking back on the journey, here are three realizations about the manifestation process, which I hope can support you in manifesting whatever it is that your heart desires, big or small.

1) Practice detachment — let go of the HOW and WHEN and focus on the WHAT and WHY

I was clear on what I wanted (to sail around the world) and why I wanted it (to see and experience all that the world has to offer, and satisfy my wanderlust) and let go of my attachment to how and when it would happen. Had I been obsessing over how and when it would happen, I would’ve prevented the Universe/Higher Power from working its magic because my ego mind would’ve told me, “It’s been more than 5 years. Don’t you think if it were meant to happen, it would’ve happened already??” This actually brings me to my next point…

2) Hold onto the vision, even if it seems like nothing is working

Given all the times I checked the Peace Boat and Semester at Sea websites for job postings, I could’ve just given up and thought to myself, “I don’t qualify for any of the positions.” But I didn’t. I held onto the notion that one day, my vision would come to fruition and I let that dictate my actions. It was my belief in the vision that had me checking the websites every so often. It was my belief in the vision that brought me in touch with the participant in my Chinese language program that had previously served on Peace Boat. Don’t give up on your vision and your vision won’t give up on you.

3) Trust that everything is happening in divine timing

It took me 8 years to bring this dream to fruition and for a variety of reasons, I would’ve preferred to have crossed this item off my bucket list sooner rather than later. But it happened when it happened and it was perfect. The timing was perfect because in those 8 years, I developed my writing skills and had writing samples in tow when I applied for the position. The timing was perfect because I became good friends and stayed in touch with a translator from Peace Boat. A few months after the Peace Boat voyage, she messaged me to tell me that she was in India. When she highlighted her experiences there, she ignited something within me and I knew that I, too, had to go to India one day. (Two years later, I went and India changed my life, but that’s a story for another day). The timing in our lives is always perfect in ways that don’t make sense to our ego minds but makes sense to the grand order of the Universe, which always has our best interests at heart.

May you feel inspired to manifest whatever it is that your heart desires, big or small.