Positivity Magnet: The Color of Your Lens

I was in Peru, completely lost in Cusco's winding cobblestone streets. My Spanish consisted of maybe twenty words, my phone was dead, and I'd been walking in circles for what felt like hours trying to find my hotel.

A local woman noticed my obvious confusion. She didn't speak English. I butchered her language. But she smiled, gestured for me to follow, and walked me fifteen minutes out of her way to my destination.

She refused the money I offered, just squeezed my hand and continued on her path.

Later that week, another traveler told me how rude and unhelpful everyone in Cusco had been to her. Same city. Same streets. Completely different experience.

"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are," is a favorite quote if mine from Anaïs Nin.

That woman in Cusco didn't see a lost, helpless tourist. She saw someone who needed help, and helping felt natural to her. My fellow traveler, convinced the world was against her, found exactly that everywhere she looked.

Here's what I've learned traveling to 57 countries: the world mirrors back what we're putting out. Not always. Not perfectly. But more often than we want to admit. It’s like wearing those pink lensed sunglasses. 😉
 
Pink isn’t my go-to color by my tomboy nature. But there's a reason they've symbolized attraction, love, and magnetism across cultures for centuries. Pink holds the gentleness of self-love—that quiet knowing that you're worthy of good things.

Being a positivity magnet means examining the lens you're looking through. Are you hunting for evidence that supports your fears or your possibilities? You've heard it before: "Just be positive!" As if gratitude journals and forced affirmations magically fix everything. That's not what this month is about.

When that woman helped me in Cusco, I could have thought, "She pities me" or "People think I'm incompetent." Instead, I chose to see kindness. Generosity. Human connection across language barriers.

Same moment. Different lens. Different life. Let’s do some honest questioning:

• What story am I telling myself about this situation?
• Am I looking for proof I'm right, or looking for what's actually true?
• Where am I blocking good things because I don't believe I deserve them?

The world isn't always kind. But it's more generous than our protective cynicism lets us see.

Your February Manifestation Practice

Hold your stones. Feel their warmth. These colors you maybe don't love? They're asking you to expand beyond comfortable assumptions. Notice this month when you're hunting for the negative. Not to judge yourself—just to see. Then ask: what else is true? What good am I missing because I'm not looking for it?

You don't attract what you want. You attract what you are.

So who are you being?

Flow rather than force,
Szilvia