Daily Devotional August 18, 2026: How to Get What You Want

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Daily Devotional August 18, 2026: The Fastest Way to Get What You Want.

This is the wormhole out of anxiety.

Today’s episode of Good Mornings is held in honor of Cameron Scully and daughter. If you want to surround a loved one with prayer, dedicate a show, or share your heart’s work with this community, you can do so at CurlyNikki.com/sponsor.

Good morning. God morning to you.

When I first started practicing Atma Vichara, the self-inquiry, “Who am I? Who’s speaking? Who’s driving? Who’s walking? Who’s talking?”, I’d lose it, seemingly, every time this body started talking. I was a talker. And now every word that comes from this mouth points me back out of the scene.

Right now, wherever you see that body at, I want you to soften the gaze until you’re aware of the entire scene, everything surrounding that body, and that body. And notice that as you pan out, the thoughts get quiet. They might stop altogether. And as soon as the thoughts stop, that’s surrender. You’ve surrendered the entire scene. You’ve surrendered the one that was trying to surrender, the one that was praying to God to help them, begging God to help them.

And even though they may still beg God to help them, or cry, or be like, “Where is it? What’s up? What’s the delay?”, you’re aware of it. You’re not in it. You’re not the one begging. You see him. You see her. But you are set apart. That’s the difference. That’s surrender. The silence is the surrender.

And you say, “Who is praying? Who is begging?” You were begging a minute ago, and you thought it was you. And then grace comes in and the question arises: “Who’s begging?” Or “Who is praying?” Or “Who am I?” And that silence that follows the question answers the question. And then it’s just that body still sitting or kneeling there, maybe still weeping there, but you’re not in it. You have completely unplugged from the whole entire scene, not just from the body, from the whole scene. You’re aware of the whole scene at once. You’re aware of the silence.

And then you’ll be aware of thoughts and the storyline and the body. But as long as you’re not in it, as long as you’re not being it, the suffering is less. And if you can begin to practice in a way where every sensation, every smell, every sight, every word, every thought points you back out or points you to that inquiry, “Who am I?”, which points you back out, you win.

Everything that comes to that body, to that mind today to disturb it, to disrupt it, to cause it to worry, the only goal… this is a game. The only goal is to see that it is not real. It is not true. It is only there to try to ruffle you, to try to pull you back in. And all you have to do is stay out. You just stay out. It’s literally like watching a movie, and the one that you thought you were is the main character. You’re constantly aware of that one from the moment it seems to wake up until it goes to bed. You’re aware of that one. But if you can continue to be aware of it and not be it, then eventually you’ll be it in a different way, in a more powerful way, in a way that is fully conscious and also fully conscious of your power.

That’s when the multiplication happens. That’s when healing can happen. That’s when change can happen. The changes that you’re seeking happen in the silence. They don’t happen in the mind. The mind can’t change anything. As soon as the mind stops, I can tell you, I mean, countless times, thinking, thinking, thinking, nothing happening, nothing moving, nothing changing… remembering Atma Vichara because of that self-inquiry, because of grace, because of God. And then in the silence, an email, a phone call, a shift, something happens to show you: keep going that way. You can’t do it. Let the silence do it. You can’t do it. The Love is going to do it. The Love has done it. And you’re just watching it unfold. It’s happened. But the only way you get to see it is if you see your way out of that scene right now, immediately, expeditiously get out of the scene. And then the scene continues to flow, and seemingly in a more beautiful and luxurious way.

But when you’re back in it, it hurts. That’s when you know. That’s how you know you’re back in it. You’re worried. You’re spinning wheels. You’re something. Everything has been solved. It has been solved. You have solved it. This is the solution. You stand apart and you witness from here. And you know that nothing can harm you as long as you keep the peace inside, as long as you are content inside, as long as you are silent inside. And I’m not talking about inside of that body. See how easy it is to snap back into that identity? I’m talking about in consciousness, in your awareness. There is no thought here.

The silence that you hear right now between my words when I pause, that gap, that’s how you sound there inside, within, like a void, like a black hole, like a wormhole. It is the wormhole. It’s going to bring you out to the other side of whatever it was you were trying to get that body to and couldn’t. Everything that felt stalled will move forward at light speed, at God’s speed, when you get out of the scene. “Who am I? Who is thinking? Who thought that thought? Who’s affirming?”

And it doesn’t mean that the prayers stop. You don’t have to stop doing your spiritual practices. The mind will try to convince you to, but that’s just you taking on a different identity, someone that doesn’t practice spirituality. You are not the person that’s practicing or not practicing. But because I know you, that body will continue to practice. The mind will continue to chant, or sing, or Ram, or do a rosary, but now you’re not the one doing it. You’re not the one with the beads going between the fingers. You’re aware. You can feel all of that. You’re aware of the sensations, but it’s not you. It points you back to you. The beads passing through the fingers keeps you aware that you’re not the one holding the beads.

Everything points you out when you do it right. Every prayer points you out when you do it right. When you pray right, like Bawa Muhaiyaddeen says, it’s God praying to God constantly. La ilaha illallah, which is “Only God exists.” Not that, not me, not this. Only God is here. And that’s constantly on every breath so that there’s nothing slipping through the cracks.

When I’m practicing that all day, nothing slips through the cracks, and there’s so many blind spots uncovered. You realize how many things you still were believing in between those breaths when you forget to practice. And the best part about that practice, it literally burns everything away that you thought you were, and it leaves only Him. And that’s how Bawa could say that’s the highest prayer: God praying to God, because there’s no longer a “you” there. It eats all of that up. Only God exists. Only God exists. Only God is here. Only God is here.

And you’re saying it with the awareness. It’s not just the words; it’s the awareness of that Presence, of that Light, of that Love. And it’s not something you’re generating. It’s always in the background. It’s always present. It’s not the opposite of anxiety or the opposite of fear. It does not come and go. You can be having a panic attack and it’s still available. It’s still there, right there on the surface, not even buried beneath the panic. It’s like Love appearing as panic.

And once you realize you have access to that, you just have to figure out exactly what it is that breaks the hallucination, that breaks the spell. For me, it’s that inhaling: “Only God is here.” Exhaling: “That is not here. That is not real.” That worry, that thought, that problem, that symptom, that this, that that, whatever, is not. And then inhaling: “Only God.” And the relief is instant. And then the solutions come pretty quickly after that.

But you aren’t in a rush anymore. You’re not trying to rush anything because now you’ve stepped into… you’re back on the throne. You don’t have to rush anything. Everything is happening in its time, and you trust deeply in a way that you could not as that body-mind that is completely in the wind, exposed to the elements. You’re formless, appearing in form, appearing as form. But as long as you stay aware as the formless one that you are, the forms get dope.

I love you, and we’ll chat soon.

I know what it feels like to wake up with a pit in your stomach and thoughts that are racing. I also know how to turn God up, and that automatically turns the thoughts down. It turns the anxiety down. You don’t have to carry this anxiety today. You don’t have to carry it alone. Every week, I hold space for private one-on-one spiritual direction intensives where we go straight to the heart of what’s keeping you from peace and pray through it together. If you’re ready for a personal breakthrough, tap the link in today’s episode description or reserve your space right now at the top of CurlyNikki.com.