The ‘law of attraction’ is often stated that: ‘We attract into our lives what we think about’. Because the reality of our existence, in actuality, exists within our minds, it is here that ‘attraction’ first needs to take form, and if it can, it needs to gather momentum and passion-pull to have any chance of success. There are however, many other forces that work against fulfilment of the law of attraction for the majority of people. But what is this law of attraction, and what are these things that work against the law of attraction?
Social scientists understand that humans primarily tend to marry and create intimacy based on age, religion, socioeconomic status, and education. Subsequently they have applied Plato’s first ‘Law of Affinity’, that ‘Like attracts Like’, to our intimate relationships. Although the opposite is also well observed in many cases, this ‘Law of Affinity’ has gathered a strong following in modern Western societies, and it has been merged with earlier ‘thought philosophies’, and is now called—the law of attraction. In general, ‘thought philosophies’ suggest that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts, a person brings positive or negative experiences into their life. It suggests that visualisation is a major key and has to be clear and detailed to set in place the required chain of events to culminate in the materialisation of that vision. You must see the picture more and more complete, see the detail, and, as the details begin to unfold, the ways and means for bringing the vision into manifestation will develop. Thought will lead to action, action will develop methods, methods will develop friends and contacts, and these people will bring about circumstances that materialise the vision.
The law of attraction encapsulates the required mental processes to experience particular physical circumstances. It links these desires with the requirement that we have to mentally focus on what we desire before it becomes physical reality. Also ‘thought philosophy’ suggests that the law of attraction is continually in operation, bringing to each person the conditions and experiences that we predominantly think about, desire, or expect. A core claim by New Thought authors is that our thoughts also directly influence our health. Thoughts that cause emotional stress make people sick, while thoughts of wellness or love can keep people healthy and cure illnesses. It is also claimed that if someone consistently thinks prosperous thoughts then irrespective of their actual financial situation, they will experience prosperity in the future—because ‘like attracts like’. ‘The action of the mind plants a nucleus which, if allowed to grow undisturbed, will eventually attract to itself all the conditions necessary for its manifestation in the material world’.
From our experiences, all of us know that the maxims of the law of attraction aren’t correct in their simplicity. Only one person wins the 100 metre Olympic race, although thousands desire and spend their maximum effort for many years, thinking and dreaming about bringing this reality into their lives. Only a minority of people can become billionaires, but many millions of people incessantly dream of being a member of this elite group. There are certain ‘forces’ that govern each person’s ability to succeed using the law of Attraction.
The ‘thought philosophy’ ideas are not new. In 1891, Prentice Mulford used the term law of attraction in his publications Some Laws of Health and Beauty and Good and Ill Effects of Thought. In 1897, Ralph Trine wrote in his publication In Tune With The Infinite, that the law of attraction works universally on every plane of action, and we attract whatever we desire or expect. If we desire one thing and expect another, we become like houses divided against themselves, which are quickly brought to desolation. Determine resolutely to expect only what you desire, then you will attract only what you wish for.
In 1910, Wallace Wattles wrote in The Science of Getting Rich, “that simply believing in the object of your desire and focusing on it will lead to that object or goal being realized on the material plane”. In 1912, Charles Haanel wrote in The Master Key System, that “the law of attraction will certainly and unerringly bring to you the conditions, environment and experiences in life, corresponding with your habitual, characteristic, and predominant mental attitude”. In 1937, Napoleon Hill published Think and Grow Rich, in which he insisted on the importance of controlling your own thoughts in order to achieve your material success.
Law of attraction proponents claim that it affects our relationships, so if a person focuses on another person’s good qualities then they experience more of those, whereas if they focus on what they dislike about that person, then those will be the characteristics of that person that they experience. They also claim that if you can visualize that a certain person is being nice to you, then you will be attracting experiences that match those thoughts.
However, long before you are attracted to John rather than Ralph, or Candice rather than Sally, you will have evolved a mental map, a template which is linked to your brain ‘circuitry’ and this frames your sexual arousal and the passion-pull that induces you to fall in love with one person and not another. These attraction maps vary for each of us and while some people get turned on by social status, big breasts, small feet, or exotic laughter, most of us are attracted by what is average—good complexions, cleanliness, health and fitness. The genes of men incline them to be attracted to younger, good-looking, sexual women, while the genes of women incline them to be attracted to men with property, money, status or survival skills. These male/female attraction maps are partly innate. It is to a male’s genetic advantage to fall in love with a women who will produce viable offspring and it is to a woman’s survival advantage to be attracted to a man who can help support herself and her young.
In addition to this, how you see the quality of your life is linked to the gene responses of your parents, your experiences during utero and through conditioned responses after birth. Because of this, when you use the law of attraction to enhance the quality of your physical life, you have to allow for these pre-conditioning influences and ‘neutralise’ those that create specific beliefs and rules which may be limiting your ability to live the quality life you desire.
‘Other’ people are the most complex deterrent to each of us achieving the life quality we desire. The world’s population is rapidly increasing and there is increased competition for resources. This makes it more difficult, takes longer and requires more effort for the average person to gather wealth and land. Exploiting this through real estate, financial speculation, and supplying specific needs directly linked to population growth will work in favour of the laws of attraction. Exploiting the locations where population is increasing and then using the laws of attraction will most likely increase the chances of experiencing romance, intimate relationships, and companionship.
For those who are a little older, we know that these desired physical experiences may not give you long term happiness and contentment. Our reality is a mind map, distanced from the real world. Changing this mind map and side-stepping some of the forces influencing our physical existence assists us to experience a higher quality physical life.
How do you find what you define as a quality life—that have created your attraction maps for others and your needs or social status, and cultural landscape? Join me for an 80 minute lunchtime mini-workshop at my clinic to map these in you and to explore the mental exercises you need to follow to use the law of attraction to improve the quality of your life. Phone Larisa (02) 62826800 to book your place.
The Law of Attraction And Its Limitations
