I set out to actively lead a life that truly feels good in the Spring of 2008 after a series of setbacks in my personal life. My aim is to spread whatever I learn about feeling good to others through this blog.
Law of Attraction Insights - Part #1: Introduction
This post is part of a series of insights about the Law of Attraction.
I’ve mentioned the Law of Attraction quite a lot over the last few months but I’ve not really covered it in any great detail. I’ve found that the more I learn about it the more little insights I get about what it is, and more often, what it isn’t.
In this post I’ll give my own thoughts about what my understanding of the Law of Attraction is and in further posts I’ll add some insights that will hopefully clarify some points, and perhaps myths, a little more.
What is the Law of Attraction?
In a nutshell it is a universal law which states that “that which is like, shall be drawn unto itself”. That quote by itself doesn’t mean very much but the essence of it in our everyday world is that we tend to attract what we focus on, whether we believe in the Law of Attraction or not. It often works rather like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Have you ever noticed how some people manage to attract the same circumstances over and over - one abusive husband after another, one patronising boss after another, one illness after another and so on. On the more positive side, there are some people that just appear ‘lucky’ - they attract all the good stuff into their lives and everything just seems to work out well for them.
Teachers of the Law of Attraction tell us that it is a universal law, which means that it operates without our having to believe in it - rather like gravity. They say that it is based upon a power that is beyond each of us individually but that we each have the power to create our own reality of life by the choice of the thoughts that we focus upon.
How Does the Law of Attraction Work?
That’s the tricky bit! If you read some of the more technical texts you will hear theories about how it is rooted in metaphysics. Personally, I find that this stuff goes way beyond my understanding but the basis of it seems to be rooted in energy. Everything in the universe is energy in some form or another. Even a basic study of the sciences teaches us that energy can never be created or destroyed and that it merely changes form. We are humans and yet we are also forms of energy, and so is the computer you are using right now, and the clothes you are wearing, and the buildings you occupy, and the food you eat and so on.
The theory is that energy vibrates and that the thoughts we think vibrate on different frequencies and so thoughts of anger are vibrationally different to thoughts of compassion. I’m sure you’ve all had the feeling of meeting somebody new and taking an instant shine to them, or perhaps the opposite where you dislike somebody but you don’t know why - they just give you ‘bad vibes’.
And of course, I’m sure we’ve all had experiences where we can pick up on the mood of another person without them having to say or do anything. We can just sense if somebody we know is in a particularly bad mood for instance. How do we do this? Some kind of intuition probably. But the theory is that we pick up on these vibrations that other people emmanate.
Like Attracts Like
The theory of the Law of Attraction is that whatever we are predominantly vibrating tends to attract other similar vibrations which means that we attract people who have similar thoughts as us, we attract circumstances and events that match what we are thinking etc.
Of course, much of this can occur naturally. For example, somebody might be looking for a job and see one he wants to go for but he holds the belief, “I’m not good enough for that job” and so he goes to the interview with a sense of unworthyness and he does not exude confidence. The interviewers can probably detect the attitude of this candidate and they want somebody who is confident and so they don’t offer him the job which enforces his belief even more.
Is this Law of Attraction or just a self-fulfilling prophecy? Perhaps a little bit of both. But where the Law of Attraction is more appealing is when we are taught that we can use it to attract specific things to us - such as the perfect soulmate. The idea is that if we focus on what we want and get specific in our thinking, that eventually it must be attracted to us - it is law.
Why Then, Are We Not All Happy?
Surely if all we need to do is just focus on what we want and we get it then why are we not all living every day of our lives in pure bliss and abunance? With every desire, there is also its opposite - the lack of it. If you want money, the opposite is the lack of money. If you want health the opposite is sickness, disease and injury. If you want love the opposite is lonliness and so it is with everything.
The problem is that humans have a tendency to think about what they don’t want, they think about all the things that are going wrong in their lives, and what might go wrong in the future. They tell their friends all their woes and thus keep their attention firmly on the things that they don’t want. Globally, this is perpetuated even further with the doom & gloom media. The average newscast on TV tends to spout primarily a message of disaster, despair, crises, crime, terrorism, injustice, the list goes on and on but it is rarely good news.
Of course, it’s just plain hard to focus on the good things sometimes. If you’re in debt, it’s difficult to feel and think abundantly. If you’re sick or injured it doesn’t feel natural to think healthy thoughts. When everything around you is negative it takes tremendous willpower to keep your thoughts positive and just on the good stuff - the stuff that you want.
This is the reason that most of us just keep on attracting the same old things - we see what is happening all around us right now and so that is where our attention is, and that is what we vibrate so we just attract more of the same. When things go wrong, everything seems to go wrong at once. The worse it gets, the worse it gets. On the other hand, when we’re on an upward spiral it feels as though we’re being given a helping hand as the better it gets, the better it gets.
The trick, is to focus on only what we want, even when surrounded by the opposite.
Thoughts v Feelings
Most of the teachings that I have studied say that it is not really the thoughts that we think, or the words that we use, but in fact the emotions that we are feeling that really matter. This leads to another problem because often we can say words that are positive but still feel wretched inside and often we find it difficult to shake off those feelings of despair, guilt, loneliness, sadness or whatever it may be, no matter what we say to ourselves.
We know how our emotions feel. We have a ton of different emotions that we feel but we can generally classify them into two broad groups - those that feel good and those that do not. Where do these emotions come from? LoA teachers tell us that these emotions are our internal guidance system and that when we feel good, it is telling us that whatever we are focused on right now is in harmony with our desires - in other words, we’re on the right track so we should continue doing that.
On the other hand, if we are feeling bad, that is an indication that what we are focused upon is not in harmony with our desires so we should stop doing that. Take a simple example - imagine your home going up in flames and losing everybody and everything in it. How does that feel? I’ll assume that all of you would agree that it feels bad. Nobody wants that so our guidance system says “hey, that’s not what you want, why would you think such a thing?”.
I wont try to use a positive example because we all want different things so what feels good to me might not feel good to you but I’m sure you can come up with something that feels good to you.
Law of Attraction Resources
There are now many people who are teaching Law of Attraction techniques but here are a few of the more prominent ones, and those that have been most influential to me.
Esther & Jerry Hicks (Abraham)
Esther Hicks is what is known as a channeller. She talks about the Law of Attraction but her teachings do not come from herself, but from a non-physical entity known only as Abraham. I personally find it difficult to comprehend the whole idea of non-physical spiritual beings but I tend to ignore that and just listen to the message. Jerry Hicks is Esther’s husband and for many years he asked questions of Abraham through his wife, Esther and together they conduct many workshops and have written several books.
I have read all of their Law of Attraction books and I find them extremely practical because they have a great many examples of common situations that we find ourselves in, and how to turn around our thinking to be in better alignment to what we want. They also teach many specific processes such as the daily workshop which is rather like a meditation where for around 15-20 minutes a day you get comfortable, shut your eyes and simply visualise and think about everything that you want for yourself.
http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php
Wayne Dyer
Wayne Dyer is a motivational speaker who has been writing books and speaking for over 30 years. Not all of his books are about Law of Attraction, I have started reading some of his very early books and there is no mention of it there but perhaps his most prominent Law of Attraction work is his book, The Power of Intention.
However, Wayne also does a weekly radio show with the online radio station Hay House Radio. This is a wonderful resource - 24 hour free online radio show with all sorts of great guest speakers, one of them being Wayne Dyer. What is especially cool is that if you become a member (costs $48 a year) you have access to all of the archives. There are currently 3 years worth of archives so its great value. There are also several other shows based around the Law of Attraction here.
The Secret Movie
The Law of Attraction has been around for many years though I’m not entirely sure when it was given that name. However in 2006, the movie The Secret by Rhonda Byrne really catapaulted the idea into the mainstream. Personally I love the movie and I have watched it many times as it always makes me feel good but it has a downside too - it has launched the career of many a LoA ‘guru’ and spawned an entire industry around LoA. Just about everybody is teaching it now and of course, like with everything, there is a lot of hype and empty promises out there.
Watching the movie you’ll also find many other motivational speakers featured including Bob Proctor, Jack Canfield, Joe Vitalie, Bob Doyle, John Demartini so from there you can find lots more avenues to explore.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post, I have a lot more to say on the subject to stay tuned for the rest of this series. Also, if you have any questions about Law of Attraction then please feel free to ask in the comments and if its something I’ve got an opinion on, I’ll try and include it in the series.
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Paddy Bloggit
October 16, 2008
All I seem to attract at times is trouble.
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