Last updated February 11, 2008
The Law of Attraction for Skeptics
Many of you will have already heard of the Law of Attraction. For those of you who haven't, here's a brief summary:
The Law of Attraction is said to be a fixed and all-powerful law of the universe, which says that like attracts like. Its primary effect is to bring to you things that are like the things you are thinking about, feeling about, talking about, and taking action towards. It acts in response to all of your thoughts, feelings, words, and actions, not just the ones you want it to respond to.
To give a brief example, this means that if you are always worrying about money, talking about your debt, and trying to figure out ways to pay it down, you're actually attracting more circumstances that will maintain or increase your debt and cause you to continue to need to worry about money, talk about debt, and try to figure out ways to pay it off. Like attracts like. Whereas if you just stop worrying about the debt and start thinking like a wealthy person with no financial worries - thinking positive - you'll soon discover breakthrough ways to get rid of it with little effort. At least, that's how it's supposed to work. ;)
Many fantastic stories have been told about the Law of Attraction. It has gained most of its attention in the last couple of years from the movie and book The Secret, though there are books about it dating at least back to 1912. The movie has also earned a lot of skepticism, because it presents the Law as being somewhat improbably magical.
So let me go on to explain the most simple and pragmatic reasons why the Law is real and valid.
1. The Law tells you to stop worrying about the problem. This frees up your mental energy, which allows your subconscious mind to cook up new ways to solve your problems. Solutions will simply occur to you, just as they do when you decide to set aside an issue and `sleep on it`.
2. The Law requires you to think about what you want to be true in your life, rather than dwelling on your present circumstances. This forces you to become solution-focused instead of problem-focused - and looking for solutions is more likely to turn them up.
3. The Law demands that you actively work to feel good all the time by practicing habits like gratitude. That becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The minds of happy people are biased to perceiving what is good... and as you see the good things in your life, you'll become happier and feel more successful - whether or not your circumstances actually change. In that sense, it's sort of like brainwashing yourself... but in a good way.
4. The Law asks you to act & speak in more positive ways, and to act `as if` you are already as successful as you wish you were. So, you will sound like a successful person who can make things happen... which increases the odds that others will extend business opportunities and offers to you. They will also be more likely to give you helpful advice, since they'll see that you're success-oriented.
5. The Law asks you to assume personal responsibility for your life - and it's pretty hard to improve your life while you're blaming other people & circumstances for everything.
6. The Law requires the persistent application of faith. You are to continue to assume that things will eventually work out, and simply press on, no matter how bad things look. And it's a simple fact that persistence is a key trait of successful people
7. The Law tells you to believe that an all-powerful law of the universe is at your disposal, and directs you to take only inspired action while trusting the law to complete the project for you. This inspires enthusiasm & hope. And enthusiasm and hope are, again, key to success in any venture.
8. The Law has you visualize your desired circumstances every day - which requires you to define the conditions you want. Defining the goal is essential to achieving it. Visualizing it also builds enthusiasm.
So there's the simple, logical explanation for you skeptics - I'm sure you can see the benefit to adopting this way of thinking!
Do I really think that this is all there is to the Law? No... I believe it has effects that truly are magical. For those of you who aren't skeptics, and can gleefully jump both feet first into the magic of the world, go ahead and take the leap. My initial investment of faith into the Law of Attraction has paid off in profoundly positive and life-affecting ways. But if you need a little logical nudge in order to take that first step, I hope this article did the trick!
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By:
Hilary
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