The Law of Attraction

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The Law of Attraction gained widespread popularity in 2006 when the book the Secret became an international phenomenon. Since then, the Law of Attraction has evolved from a seemingly mystical and enigmatic new age idea into a mainstream practice for attracting everything from money, love, health, and business. For those who have been hiding under a rock for the past ten years and are still unaware of this powerful universal law, the basic premise of the Law of Attraction can be summed up in three words: “like attracts like”. That is, what we attract into our lives is an exact match to our dominant thoughts and feelings, so if your thoughts are predominantly focussed on love, and your feelings positively match those thoughts, by default you will attract love into your life. Unfortunately, the same goes for negative thoughts and feelings, so if you are feeling and thinking about the lack of love in your life, you will continue to attract a lack of love.

The Law of Attraction is an extremely polarising subject and people either completely accept it or wholeheartedly refute it. For one, the implication that we are entirely responsible for shaping our reality through our thoughts and feelings is an extremely confronting idea, especially when that reality is less than desirable, and this is where the Law of Attraction loses most people. Alternatively, many people are empowered by the notion of conscious creation; they discover a sense of liberation in the awareness that they are the captains at the helm of their own vessels. For many followers of the Law of Attraction, however, a love-hate relationship often ensues after the initial novelty has worn off and the manifestations fail to show up. At this point many become frustrated with the Law of Attraction, they start wondering what they are doing wrong, and worse, they start doubting their potential for happiness, and before long they have abandoned the Law of Attraction altogether.

Does this sound like You? Rest assured this has been me many times too. Like many people, I jumped on the Law of Attraction bandwagon after reading the Secret in 2010. I was smitten with the idea that I could create my reality, and for a few short weeks, I truly believed it was possible. However, I thought that the Secret was all there was regarding the Law of Attraction material, and when I failed to manifest my desires, I stuffed the book in a drawer and turned my back on its principles. In hindsight, I now know I was not ready to consciously use Law of Attraction. Fast forward to 2013 and I was in a particularly intense downward spiral of depression and anxiety. One day while scouring the shelves of the self-help section of my local library I came across a book called Wishes Fulfilled: Mastering the Art of Manifesting by the late great Wayne Dyer. Based on the title alone I borrowed that book, and by the end of the day I had read it in its entirety. This book, and more importantly, Wayne Dyer, was the catalyst for reigniting in me a previously fleeting belief in Law of Attraction, in fact, I credit Wayne for ultimately opening my eyes to Law of Attraction as a workable tool for life and not just some hippy fad.

I’m not going to lie and tell you that I have manifested grand things like money or cars, but I have successfully manifested a job and many material objects, and on an emotional level I have manifested happiness and hope where there once was sadness and despair. Like everyone my manifesting skills are a work in progress and my Law of Attraction journey is an ever evolving one. I have; however, picked up some handy tips along the way, so whether you are a newcomer to Law of Attraction, or a practiced student looking to lift your game, I would like to share some of these tips with you, many of which I have absorbed from Wayne’s teachings.

First, however, you need to understand the fundamental maxim of Law of Attraction: Ask, Believe, Receive. Now many of you will be familiar with this concept, but for those who are not well versed in the Law of Attraction, I will give a brief explanation. Basically, in order to attract or manifest anything into our physical experience, we must follow these three steps:

 

Ask

“We are divine enough to ask and important enough to receive”- Wayne Dyer

You must first ask for what it is you want, and detail is key since vagueness will attract vague results. For instance, you would never go to your hairdresser and simply ask for a haircut then be distressed when she cuts your elbow length hair into a bob, when what you really wanted was a simple trim, now would you? In the same way, if it is a specific car that you are trying to manifest for example, be precise! Note its colour, its make and model, even the way it sounds (write it down if it helps). This way you are ensuring that the universe has a clear picture of what it is you want.

Believe

“You will believe it when you see it”-Wayne Dyer.

By far the hardest step, you must believe unequivocally and without a shred of doubt that what you have asked for is already yours, and your thoughts and feelings must be in harmony with this belief. You must see yourself as already having that which you desire (this is where visualization helps). Any doubt will act as a road block to your desires.

Receive

“Miracles come in moments, be ready and willing”-Wayne Dyer.

The final step is to receive your desire. Now this doesn’t mean that the partner of your dreams will magically appear beside you on the couch while you are watching your favourite TV show. Receiving is about being ready and willing. You must play an active role. For example, if you get the urge to call an old friend out of the blue, or to attend a certain event, this is quite often universal guidance, and you need to heed the call. Who knows, on the other end of the phone or at that certain event might be the love of your life.

Ask, believe, receive, it sounds so simple, right? So why do so many people get it wrong?

Here are some easy to apply tips that have helped me clean up my manifesting act, and it is my hope that they will likewise help you.

Start Small

“When you become certain that nothing is impossible for you; you’ll attain everything you desire”-Wayne Dyer

It’s only natural that when you first start consciously using the Law of Attraction you want to jump in head first and attempt to manifest a lottery win or your dream house, however it is unlikely that you will ever bring those desires to fruition because you simply don’t have enough belief yet. As I previously mentioned, step 2: belief, is the hardest step to master because most people do not absolutely believe that it is possible to manifest ‘big things’ like cars and money. This is why I advocate starting small. Begin trying to manifest things like butterflies or feathers, or anything that you have no doubt about being able to manifest. Now place your attention on those things, visualize them as often as you like, and believe that they are already on their way to you. I promise you, in no time, these things will begin showing up in your experience, and through your successful manifestations of them, you will be developing belief in your ability to manifest the seemingly big things.

Just Feel Good

“Feeling good is what you should be doing everyday of your life”-Wayne Dyer

If I could offer just one piece of advice to Law of Attraction followers it would be to feel good as much as you can. Now Law of Attraction states that you get what you think and feel about, but so many people forget the latter and fall into the habit of directing all of their energy and attention to their thoughts (I’ve been guilty of this myself). The truth is, even if you spent 24 hours a day 7 days a week thinking about nothing else except winning a million dollars, you would never win a million dollars based on those thoughts alone. You must also feel the feeling of winning a million dollars. This is where Law of Attraction can get tricky! Most people would argue that they simply cannot conjure the exact feeling of winning a million dollars, and to that I would agree. The trick is to ask yourself what it would feel like to win that amount of money, and most people would concur that it would feel pretty darn good. That is the secret……. Just feel good! When you feel good you emit that same vibration, and since “like attracts like” you will be attracting good into your experience. How does that get me a million dollars you might ask? Well, provided that you have followed step 1 and have asked for a million dollars, feeling good will propel you into step 2: belief mode, any unbelief will be dispelled because you cannot feel good at the same time as feeling bad. Now I’m not saying that feeling good for an hour, or a day, or even a week will bring about your desire, rather, consistency is key.

Stop with the How and When

“Live so as to be detached from the outcome”-Wayne Dyer

When it comes to manifesting your desires, you absolutely must relinquish the need to know how or when they are going to manifest. In fact, this is the very thing that will keep you from ever manifesting your desires because in the asking of the how’s and when’s you are actually acknowledging that you do not yet have that which you desire, and in doing so you are releasing thoughts and feelings of unbelief. The truth is, once you have asked for something, how and when it will manifest becomes the responsibility of the universe, your only job is to keep yourself in a place of belief so that your desire can easily flow to you. So next time you find yourself asking how or when, simply stop and tell yourself “that is none of my business”. I cannot tell you how truly liberating that statement can be.

Keep It to Yourself

“If everything you do must be measured against the opinion of everyone else, what happens to your opinion of yourself?”-Wayne Dyer

If you are new to Law of Attraction, or if you haven’t quite got the hang of it yet, it is imperative that you keep your manifesting goals to yourself. In the same way I advocate starting small, keeping your goals to yourself, particularly in the early stages, is crucial if you are to achieve and maintain step 2: belief. Sceptics and naysayers are quite often the downfall of Law of Attraction newbies, and you can hardly blame them. Can you imagine how the idea of being able to attract a million dollars or a Rolls Royce through thoughts and feeling must sound to a person unfamiliar with the Law of Attraction? Most likely sheer insanity! It can be extremely discouraging when faced with this type of scepticism, and you can be easily persuaded into surrendering your belief in Law of Attraction for more ‘realistic’ methods. Similarly, keeping things under wraps takes the pressure off your belief in your ability to manifest. For example, if you were to tell your entire family that you intended to manifest $10,000 to take them all on a holiday, that is placing a lot of unnecessary pressure on your shoulders, you would start wondering how and when, and in a pretty short amount of time you would be in a place of doubt and fear, and “like attracts like”. So until you’re a skilled manifestor, keep it to yourself!

Happy manifesting everyone!

 

Image Attribution: Pixabay