The Law of Attraction Puts the Wind in Your Sails
My grandmother used to always talk about “someday, when my ship comes in.” She constantly read New Thought material, which these days is called Law of Attraction. But her ship never came in, and she died the same way she lived – dirt poor. She was waiting for the natural laws of the Universe to deliver prosperity to her door. But as I said, her ship remained forever missing.
So let’s talk about that ship. Have you ever heard of a sailboat captain telling the wind which way to blow? Of course not. Instead, he takes careful note of what the wind is doing and sets his sails to take the best advantage of whatever wind is available. And only then does his ship move in a useful direction.
Please note – sails are adjustable. The wind is not.
And likewise with the Law of Attraction, many writers talk in all seriousness about managing or directing the Law (I’ve even babbled like that a time or two myself). But when they start offering advice, you’ll notice that they’re describing ways to manage your thoughts and feelings, not the Law. Fact is, the Attraction force is always there, always operating, and always, unfailingly, responsive to your mental cues, for better or for worse.
You can’t NOT attract.
The truth is, “managing” a natural force is simply impossible. It’s just as nonsensical as trying to tell the wind which way to blow. Or telling gravity which way to pull the things you drop.
So if we want results, we do the same thing the sailor does. We adjust our thoughts and feelings to catch the winds of happenstance and let those winds take us where we want to go. Note that if we set our sails (or our thoughts) wrong, we can’t possibly get there.
From long observation, we humans have learned that thinking certain thoughts and holding certain emotions will attract matching events. Other thoughts and emotions will attract other events. Sailing is not a perfect parallel to Attraction work, but it’s close enough for a good, convincing metaphor.
And it’s close enough to show us exactly where the responsibility for change lies – it lies firmly with you and your thoughts, and not with the natural laws. So it’s easy to see what needs to be done. We work on directing our thoughts, feelings and habits.
We get up off our butts and get to work doing things. We expend effort to make things happen. And all the while we keep strong mental images and emotions of what we want. If we do this, we get results. If we don’t do this, we also get results, but they’re not the ones we want.
Just sitting and affirming or visualizing or praying has zero power. It’s pointless… like demanding that the wind change direction so we won’t have to exert ourselves.
It’s a funny thing, though. Once you’re fully determined in your own heart that you WILL get where you want to go, no matter what, well then, surprisingly often the wind will suddenly change and help you get there far faster than you expected.
But if you think you’ll get that help for free, without first creating the conviction in your own mind and heart, then you’ll just be sitting and waiting passively, endlessly for some phantom ship to come in, like my grandmother did.
Remember – any affirmation without powerful, intense conviction is a ship without sails.
Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
Charles
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