For the record, I am a total believer in the Law of Attraction. You can call it universal consciousness, the power of intention, conscious creation – whatever.
No matter what you call it, or how you define it, the simple truth remains that human beings have the ability to manipulate their lives in order to get exactly what they want, and that thought fills me with joy on a regular basis.
However, the problems start when people start thinking along the lines of “Well, if I have unlimited power, then I can manipulate other people as well”.
Ummm…no, it doesn’t work that way. Each person does have unlimited power, but their power is over themselves and their own experiences, not to control other people’s lives. Can you imagine the chaos if we were all imbued with the ability to control each other’s thoughts and actions like pieces on a chess board??
That’s not the Law of Attraction – that’s anarchy!
So, in doing my part to educate the masses (which actually means I’m educating myself, for you Ho’oponopono fans), I have put together this list of 10 Things you Can’t do with the Law of Attraction. Enjoy!
You can’t manufacture Money
The belief that you can sit around visualizing millions of dollars, and then suddenly they will just show up for you is nothing less than a total fantasy. As James Arthur Ray says, if you sit around on your couch doing nothing but visualizing being rich, they’ll come and take your furniture away!
Law of Attraction Equivalent: What you can do is visualize being rich or abundant, and then pay attention to what starts happening in your life. The Law of Attraction will line you up with opportunities to gain wealth, but if you don’t get up and take action when you are inspired to do so, visualizing will do very little except help you to realize what it feels like to have a bunch of money in your head, but nowhere else…
You can’t make people do Things
Despite your own unlimited power over your life, you have zero power to influence what other people do. Focusing on the desire to see your boss come groveling before you asking for respect and begging to give you a raise will just make it that much harder when he/she instead comes to your desk and yells at you for sitting around daydreaming.
Law of Attraction Equivalent: The LOA is all about resonance, not attraction. You will resonate with certain people and experiences, so those people and experiences will then show up in your life. If you want people in your life to do certain things, then focus on what it will feel like when those certain things happen. They will then be delivered, but they will very likely be delivered in a way – or by a person – that are a far cry from actual control over any specific individual.
You can’t impose ill-will onto Others
Just like you can’t control other people’s actions, you can’t wish for bad things to happen to other people, either. Also, based on the fact that you will be attracting things that resonate with you, it is far more likely that you will end up with some ill-will in your life, rather than the other person.
Law of Attraction Equivalent: If you truly want something negative to befall someone else (and shame on you for thinking that!) it is because you want to feel a certain way. You want to feel vindicated, vengeful, righteous, or whatever. Although most people would consider those to be negative emotions, again, the LOA is about resonance. By focusing on feelings such as that, you will eventually attract the circumstances that will allow you to feel that way. You may not like it when it actually happens, but that is a discussion for another day…
You can’t make someone love You
Relationships are all about you, not about the other person. By trying to impose your will of “love” onto someone else so that they will love you, the vibrations that you will be sending out into the universe will be those of lack, loneliness, low self-esteem, etc. If you continually send out those vibrations – even if you don’t realize that you are doing it – all you will attract are more opportunities to continue to feel that way.
Law of Attraction Equivalent: If you want someone to love you, it is because you want to feel a certain way. You are likely looking for feelings of confidence, safety, nurturing, passion, happiness, and similar concepts. In order to bring those things into your life, you need to focus on those feelings. The LOA will then deliver opportunities for you to feel those things, although for the record, there is a very real chance that those opportunities will not be with the person that you tried to make love you.
You can’t force your children to Change
What parent wouldn’t want to just wave a magic wand and have their children suddenly start doing well in school, having good health and social relationships, and start building a great future for themselves? Ask yourself this, however: Is that what YOU want, or what the child wants?
Law of Attraction Equivalent: Once you get past your own selfish desires, if your goal is truly the happiness, health, and success of your children (for them, not for you), then that is what you need to focus on. By using the power of the LOA to benefit another human being, you will attract opportunities for that human being to benefit from your efforts. However, that individual needs to accept the opportunities that are presented to them. You can only lead them to the door; they have to open it.
You can’t make other people Understand
Most people who learn great things or become “enlightened” immediately want to start spreading the wealth. They want other people to know what they know, and by educating the masses, will be doing their part to make the world a better place. Here’s the thing, though: People will only attract the knowledge of better days and levels of enlightenment when they are ready to. The fact that you personally understand the LOA is completely irrelevant to someone who isn’t ready to learn about it.
Law of Attraction Equivalent: You are looking at an example of the LOA equivalent right now! I understand the Law of Attraction, so rather than going outside and grabbing people off the street, and then forcing them to sit down and learn about it, I just put my knowledge out there. I write these words with the sincere intention for them to be of good use to other people, and then I just send my words out into the world and release them. You can do exactly the same thing, whether that be via blogging, writing books, podcasting, praying, or even just sending out good thoughts to the world. Put the intention out there, and then let it go.
You can’t ignore Reality
If something that you consider negative happens, then it happens. Ignoring it will not make it go away. You can’t sit there on the side of the road after having run out of gas and say, “But how
did this happen? I was using the Law of Attraction to keep my gas tank full!”
Law of Attraction Equivalent: Again, it boils down to knowing when to take action. If you consistently use the LOA principles in order to always have plenty of gas in your car, then you will be presented with opportunities to do exactly that. They may come in a myriad of different forms, but I guarantee you that none of those forms will include watching your gas gauge plummet, yet doing nothing about it. Remember, it is all about knowing when to take action on the clues that the Law of Attraction puts before you.
You can’t attract what you don’t truly Want
This is a really tough one for a lot of people because everyone thinks that they know what they want, at least in a general sense. Here’s a newsflash for you, however, again compliments of James Arthur Ray: If you really wanted it, you would already have it! If your life right now includes a lack of financial abundance, a lack of career opportunities, continual bad relationships, etc., that is because deep down inside you are attracting those things, even if you aren’t consciously aware of doing so.
Law of Attraction Equivalent: It’s called “conscious creation” for a reason! You need to consistently focus on the things that you think you want, because by failing to do so, your subconscious will simply keep creating and recreating the scenarios that have led you to where you are right now. Unless you take the action of consciously focusing – consistently and passionately – on a life different than the one that you are presently leading, nothing will significantly change.
You can’t suspend Disbelief
If someone thinks that anything is possible with the Law of Attraction, so they jump off of a building and think that they can “attract” a miraculous rescue before they hit the ground, what do you think is going to happen? Although seemingly miraculous rescues are possible, the LOA did not work for that jumper because deep down inside – again referring to the subconscious – that person did not truly believe that someone or something was going to keep them from hitting the ground. So, of course, no miraculous rescue manifested itself.
Law of Attraction Equivalent: If you truly want to change your belief system about any given thing, then you need to do exactly that. Once again, we refer back to the fact that you have to consciously create the life that you want to be living. So, if you want to change your belief systems about anything from empty gas tanks to jumping off of buildings, you need to immerse yourself in the study of concepts that will allow you to reprogram beliefs that have likely been buried in your subconscious for decades.
You can’t do Nothing
I saved this one for last because I think that it sums up everything that has already been stated.
The Law of Attraction is not some mystical, “wave a magic wand” type of ability where you can just sit on your throne manifesting all of these wonderful people and experiences into your life. You must TAKE ACTION!
In addition, as with all methods of attaining our desires, we must take consistent action. One session of intense visualization, or reading through some affirmations once in awhile is not going to cut it. If you truly want to harness the universal power of the Law of Attraction, then you need to practice its principles on a regular basis, preferably every single day.
By sitting around and thinking that you can just “wish” your way to success, all you will do is cause yourself to believe less and less in the power of the Law of Attraction, which will in turn cause it to be less and less effective in your life.
Here’s the best part, though: All of the principles that are used to invoke the Law of Attraction will also serve to make a better life for you, even if you are not a believer. So if you know for a fact that you can improve your life, it costs little or nothing to do so, and no one else even needs to know that you are doing it, my only question is this:
Why wouldn’t you do that???