Bridge of Incidents

What Is the Bridge of Incidents?

The bridge of incidents is one of Neville Goddard's most practical teachings. It refers to the chain of seemingly ordinary events, meetings, and circumstances that naturally unfold to carry you from where you are now to the fulfillment of your assumption. Once you have impressed your desire upon your subconscious mind through imagination and feeling, you do not need to figure out how it will come to pass. The bridge of incidents takes care of the "how."

Neville described it this way: you do not consciously create the bridge. You simply define the destination by assuming the feeling of your wish fulfilled, and then a series of events begins to unfold that logically connects your present circumstances to your desired end. These events may seem random or coincidental at first, but looking back, you can see how each one was a necessary step.

How the Bridge of Incidents Works

Imagine you have assumed the state of being promoted at work. You feel it real in your imagination during your SATS practice each night. In the days that follow, you might notice a colleague leaves the company unexpectedly, your manager asks you to lead a new project, and an executive mentions your name in a meeting. None of these events were planned by your conscious mind, yet each one moved you closer to the promotion you assumed.

This is the bridge in action. Neville taught that consciousness is the only reality, and the physical world is always reflecting your inner assumptions. The bridge of incidents is simply the mechanism by which your inner world becomes your outer world.

The Bridge Is Always Natural

One of the most important aspects of the bridge is that it unfolds through perfectly natural means. Your manifestation will not arrive through magic or violation of natural law. Instead, it comes through a sequence of events that, while sometimes surprising, always make logical sense in hindsight.

As Neville said: "Do not be concerned with the means. Know the end from the beginning and the means will take care of themselves."

How to Navigate the Bridge

The most common mistake people make is trying to control or predict the bridge. They assume a desire and then immediately begin looking for evidence, planning the steps, or worrying about how it will happen. This anxious monitoring actually slows the process because it pulls you out of the assumed state and back into the state of wanting.

Here is how to properly navigate the bridge:

Stay in the end. Your only job is to maintain the feeling of the wish fulfilled. When doubt arises, return to your imaginal scene.

Follow inspired action. When opportunities present themselves and feel natural, act on them. Do not force action from desperation.

Trust the process. Even when events seem to move away from your desire, they may be part of the bridge. A seeming setback can be a necessary redirection.

Do not micromanage. Resist the urge to dictate exactly how your desire should arrive. Your conscious mind cannot conceive of all the possible routes to your goal.

Recognizing the Bridge in Your Life

You have already experienced bridges of incidents throughout your life, even before learning about manifestation. Think of any significant event: meeting your best friend, getting a job, discovering a passion. If you trace back the chain of events that led to it, you will find a series of seemingly unrelated occurrences that all converged perfectly.

The only difference now is that you are consciously choosing the destination. Instead of letting your subconscious assumptions create bridges by default, you are deliberately impressing new assumptions and allowing the bridge to form accordingly.

Common Questions

Is the bridge of incidents the same as synchronicity?

There is overlap, but they are not identical. Synchronicity, as Carl Jung described it, refers to meaningful coincidences that seem to defy probability. The bridge of incidents is broader: it includes all events, ordinary and extraordinary, that move you toward your assumed end. A synchronicity might be part of your bridge, but the bridge also includes mundane events like a conversation, a delay, or a change in routine.

How long does the bridge take?

There is no fixed timeline. Neville taught that the bridge unfolds according to the naturalness of your assumption. When your assumption feels completely natural and you no longer feel you are "trying" to manifest, the bridge tends to move quickly. The more you persist in the feeling of the wish fulfilled without anxiety about timing, the more efficiently the bridge operates.

What if the bridge seems to lead away from my desire?

Trust the process. Sometimes what appears to be a detour is actually the most direct route. A job loss might lead to a better opportunity. A relationship ending might clear the way for the person you truly desire. Neville repeatedly emphasized that we cannot see the full picture from our limited conscious perspective. Stay in your assumed state and let the bridge do its work.