Thoughts on the Law of Attraction

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Do our thoughts determine our experience or does our experience determine our thoughts?

The Law of Attraction, while not a scientific law per se, is generally accepted to mean that "a person's thoughts (conscious and unconscious), emotions, and beliefs cause a change in the physical world that attracts positive or negative experiences that correspond to the aforementioned thoughts, with or without the person taking action to attain such experiences."

In simple terms, "you get what you think about; your thoughts determine your experience."

Where my belief systems part from this quasi-scientific law, or perhaps where its interpretation becomes abusive, is the general assumption that "good things happen to good people" and, conversely, "bad things happen to bad people." 

I especially find it difficult to believe that people who experience tragedy, adversity and suffering have essentially earned their fate by something they did or because of some negative act or occurrence associated with that individual.

Did the citizens of New Orleans earn the devastation of Hurricane Katrina?  Did the Jews deserve the Holocaust?

"Men often become what they believe themselves to be.  If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it.  But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

While I obviously do not buy into some interpretations of the Law of Attraction, I do believe that our attitudes toward life can create self-fulfilling prophecy and, in this sense, "like attracts like," both negatively and positively:

If we believe that our dreams cannot be fulfilled, then we will not make an attempt to make our dreams a reality and, therefore, they will not come true.

If we pursue meaning as a destination in our lives, we are likely to be energized by hope and to be fulfilled by the pursuit of meaning itself, whether any particular destination is reached or not.

If we perceive money to be scarce, we are less likely to take risks with it and will hold our money closer to us; thereby, hindering our ability to attract it.

If we perceive money as abundant, we are more willing to take more risk with it and to give it to others, which increases the potential for money to grow and for others to realize its abundance; thereby, making it abundant.

If we share ourselves and our unique gifts with others, we create the momentum of giving that goes beyond ourselves, and this momentum consists of others sharing with others and others sharing with us.

If we attach a positive meaning to our suffering, rather than dwelling on the suffering itself, we enable ourselves to move beyond it.

If we are fearful of suffering, then we are already suffering.

If we feel that we are unattractive, then we have already made it so.

If we like ourselves, then we become more attractive to others.

I believe the Law of Attraction works to the degree that we choose to make it work, which is why I lean more toward the idea of self-fulfilling prophecy.  While I consider myself a man of faith, I do not believe our lives are completely pre-destined but that we are given unique gifts and a certain capacity, the potential of which can only be fulfilled (or limited) by our self.

What are your thoughts and experiences on the Law of Attraction?

Comments

[quints]

I often think about the law of attraction as people in my life ask me about it regularly. I am pragmatic and I believe that if it works at all, its effects are mainly psychological. I think it works thus: Lets say I am walking down a hallway and there is a key on the ground. As like as not, I will walk right by and not notice. However, lets say I dropped my key and am now walking down the hall looking for it. Even though it is a hallway and a key, I am now more likely to find it because I am looking for it and believe it may be there. I think that's pretty much all there is to it. You notice the opportunities, the "keys" that were there all the time. No magic force at all.

[The Financial Philosopher]

quints:

I agree. The law of attraction is not "automatic." We have to give it energy for it to work and, even then, there are no guarantees.

If we do not put forth any energy, then it is quite difficult, if not impossible, to generate any attraction...

Thanks for the comment...

Kent

[kras]

Kent and quints,

I agree with you. Life is a random sequence of good and bad events. If you are positively thinking person you “see” only the good aspects of life and vice versa, if you are negatively thinking person – only the bad life events. Law of Attraction has nothing to do with attracting desired things in the physical world, rather than, as Kent pointed out, it is a self-fulfilling prophesy caused by our attention, which is product of our personality and our personality is product of our genes (Nature) and our experiences (Nurture) . It seems like a perpetuating circle of experience-thoughts-experience.

Thank you for the excellent article.

kras

[The Financial Philosopher]

kras:

I like the idea that we are a product of our "nature and nurture."

To add to your thoughts, I have observed that many "negative-thinking" people tend to blame their negative experiences on others. They perpetuate their negativity by failing to see that they have any control over their experiences and also by failing to learn from their mistakes...

Cheers...

Kent

[Richard]

What an interesting post and blog. I agree the Law of Attraction is sometimes stretched beyond reasonable understanding. Why bad things happen to good people and vice versa is one of Life's big questions. I tend to the view that this is just the nature of Life. If you look at the natural world it is both incredibly beautiful and incredibly brutal. Life is as it is. No need to judge it, just to live it.

[The Financial Philosopher]

Richard:

I agree. As you imply, "life happens," but we should be mindful not to allow our attitude to "happen."

We have little control over what happens to us but we potentially have complete control over our own attitude toward any given challenge or success at any given moment.

As you may agree, self-awareness is essential to this control and, ultimately, to our well-being...

Thanks for the comment...

Kent