Law of Attraction

Let Your Thoughts Determine Your Destiny

The Law of Attraction: Getting Everything You Want Out of Life Through the Power of Your Own Mind. And Let Your Thoughts Determine Your Destiny

Imagine for a moment that you have in your possession a source of complete and total power. You alone can command the warmth of the sun, the fall of the rain, the turn of the tides and the direction of the winds. What would you do with this kind of power? Would you abuse it causing the world to fall into utter chaos? Would you be benevolent and merciful, using your power to help the people of your planet achieve their ultimate potential?

            Unfortunately (or fortunately, as the case may be) there is no way for a person to have that much power. Mother Nature controls the planetary systems according to her own rules and her own designs. You will never be able to have utter control over the environment you are inhabiting.
            What if you could, however, have the power to determine the course of your own life? What if you could accomplish great things and acquire great riches just by using the power of your own mind? What if I told you that this does not have to be a “what if?” What if I told you that you possess in your psyche the power to chart the course of the rest of your life on whatever path you see fit?
            Chances are you would tell me that I had obviously been watching too much Sci-Fi and needed to get out of the house more  often, not to mention my obvious need to expand my vocabulary, considering the number of times I have used “what if” in this conversation. You would be wrong (about the Sci-Fi, anyway). Every person holds in their mind the power to shape the events of their life to achieve whatever end they see fit. This power is what is known as the law of attraction.              Picture Taken by Google Images
What is the Law of Attraction?
            The belief held by many theorists is that the universe is governed by a set of universal laws; these laws cannot be changed, cannot be broken and apply to every individual, regardless of age or nationality. These laws are the riverbanks which guide the flow of their lives on its journey to its ultimate end.
            The law of attraction is one such law. The law of attraction is the belief that anyone can determine their destiny through the power of their minds.
            "The Law of Attraction attracts to you everything you need, according to the nature of your thoughts. Your environment and financial condition are the perfect reflection of your habitual thinking."  Joseph Murphy

The History of the Law of Attraction
            Before we go too deep into the modern applications of the law of attraction it is important that you understand that this is not simply New Age nonsense (most descriptions of the law of attraction refer to it as a product of a New Age Mentality).  The principles of the law of attraction date back far beyond the new found popularity of the New Age.
            The immortal Buddha was actually one of the first to introduce man to the law  of attraction. He said, “What you have become is what you have thought.” This was a principle that the people of the east were acquainted with for centuries before it began to sweep into the western hemisphere.
 http://www.crystalinks.com/buddha.html
            The concept of karma also may have drawn its roots from the law of attraction. Karma states that you will eventually be revisited by that which you have sent out into the universe. If you have practiced kindness and compassion you will receive in kind. If you have been deliberately cruel to another you will receive back into your life that cruelty which you have sent out. Your actions and thoughts morph into physical entities, causing the universe to react in kind.
            The law of attraction began to gain popularity in the western hemisphere in the 19^th century, as people began to appreciate the power of positive thinking and apply it to their life. This new concept was first introduced to the general public by William Walker Atkinson, the editor of New Thought magazine, who published a book called Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World in 1906.
            As you can see, the law of attraction is not new. The concept that thought can have a predominate affect on the course of a man’s destiny has been taught by wise men  throughout the ages, and has given rise to a whole new era of beliefs.



What is the Premise of the Law of Attraction?       

The theory behind the law of attraction is the belief that energy attracts like energy in the vast expanse of space and time that comprises our universe. Each person’s being is constantly radiating energy out into space; the type of energy being radiated is determined by the emotional state of the individual in question and may differ from day to day-sometimes even hour to hour!

            This emotional energy is what is commonly known as a “vibe” and is referred to as a vibration by scientists studying the law of attraction. Chances are that you are familiar with the term. Have you ever been with someone who is so happy they seem to be radiating a “glow which inspires happiness in all those around them? By the same token, have you ever spent time with someone who was so critical and unhappy that they consistently gave off a “negative vibe” which seemed to suck the life and happiness out of all those around them?
            You do not have to possess psychic powers to be able to feel the vibes that people emit; this energy is very real on a psychological plane and will affect anyone, anywhere at any time. Our vibrations are usually an unconscious response to some form of environmental stimulus; something has happened which has caused us to feel happy, or sad, or scared, or confused, or stressed, etc., and our subconscious response to this (because vibes are generated and projected from the subconscious rather than the conscious) is something that is beyond our control.

 Chances are the person who is emitting a negative vibe does not choose to be unhappy, nor do they wish to inflict their unhappiness on all those around them by the simple fact of their presence. (Before you say what you are thinking, yes,  there are some exceptions to this rule. Misery does love company and there are many who take a great deal of delight in inflicting their pain on other people. It is important to understand that this is not usually done in a desire to cause others pain but out a desire to not feel so alone in their unhappiness. But we digress…)

There are a number of feelings which lead to positive and negative vibes being emitted, and it is important before we continue on any form of discussion about the law of attraction that you understand what each of these are (you’ll understand the reasons for this a little later).

Positive vibes

Positive vibes are generated from good feelings, such as:

v  Joy

v  Love

v  Excitement

v  Abundance (of anything that causes a positive response)

v  Pride

v  Comfort

v  Confidence

v  Affection

Negative vibes

Negative vibes are generated from negative feelings, such as:

v  Disappointment

v  Loneliness

v  Lack (of any of life’s necessities or luxuries)

v  Sadness

v  Confusion

v  Stress

v  Anger

v  Hurt

What do Vibes Have to With the Law of Attraction?
            As we mentioned earlier the fundamental principle of the law of attraction is the belief that life energy attracts like energy. This means that if a person is emitting positive vibes they will draw good things to them and if they are emitting negative vibes they will draw bad things to them.

”You are a living magnet, attracting what you want.”

            You have seen this principle in practice before. Have you ever known someone who was always upbeat and positive and seemed to be too lucky to be true? On the flip side, you have certainly known someone who loved to complain and look on the darker sides of life that always seemed to have something new to complain about because things were always going wrong in their life. These examples show people attracting the results of the energy they are giving off.
            “Remember, you attract to your life whatever you give your attention, energy and focus to, whether wanted or unwanted.” Michael J. Losier
            Does this mean that all of the bad things that happen to you in this life are because you subconsciously wanted them to? This is one of the most common arguments against the concept of the law of attraction and it often the hardest to refute because people have not yet recognized that the law of attraction is not a pipe dream or something that someone dreamed up while sitting on their porch one hot summer night. It is a fact of life, and its effects are far reaching.
            In answer to your question, no, not everything bad that happens in your life is a result of you subconsciously wishing for it to happen. Sometimes it is a result of someone else wishing for it to happen. To quote an example from a website pertaining to the law of attraction a child or a spouse who is abused is not abused because they wished for this abuse to happen. This abuse happened because the abuser allowed their negative thoughts concerning their child or spouse to creep across their subconscious until they eventually began to dictate their actions.
            The mind is a powerful thing, and where the mind goes the feet will soon follow. The foundation of any success you are going to encounter in lie is not the ability of your physical body to overcome the obstacles but of your mind to believe that a way lies around them. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Where your mind can believe that there is a way for the body to achieve its heart’s desire a way does exist.

How Can I Use the Law of Attraction?
            This is an excellent (and very important) question. After all, it doesn’t do you much good to know what the law of attraction is if you do not know how to use it to achieve success in your own life. Once you have mastered the basics of the law of attraction you will be able to apply it to any area in your life.

1)      The first step in finding success through the law of attraction is to accept responsibility for the things that have occurred in your life, both good and bad. This is often the most difficult part of achieving success through manifestation because we are taught from childhood to believe that our environment contributes in a large part to the circumstances in which we find ourselves. It’s very hard to take the responsibility and acknowledge the fact that your environment was not the major contributing factor in each of these events; in many cases you will have no one to blame but yourself.

In order to help yourself move past these events take a moment and write down on a piece of paper all of the major events in your life (again, both good and bad). Leave plenty of room underneath each one. Now, take a moment to go back and review these events. Write down what you were feeling at the time they happened, how you felt before they happened and what events had occurred prior to this. Chances are you are going to find that events occurring in your favor occurred at times when you were possessed of a positive attitude and other things in your life were going right. On the flip side, events which occurred probably happened concurrently with other events in your life which caused you to have a negative outlook on life. Coincidence?

2)      Once you have accepted the fact that you are responsible for your own fate it is time to go one step further and determine what it is about your life that you would like to change. Do you want to find another job? Move to a new house? Enter into a meaningful relationship? Receive a promotion?

Identify the things you wish to achieve and write them down. Display them in a prominent place; constantly being able to view the anticipated results of your endeavors will help to keep you on the right track. In essence, with the creation of this list you are asking the universe for what you want. Take the time to think on this for a while so that it is embedded firmly in your mind, and keep your goals specific; making a goal too big or too general is an almost certain guarantee that you will not be able to achieve it because you will be too busy worrying about how you are going to achieve it.

3)      Raise your vibrations so that they are all positive. Act and feel as though you are confident that the end result you are hoping for is going to occur. This is an essential part of the law of attraction because it is very easy to allow your mind to begin to wander to all of the difficulties which you may encounter when trying to achieve your goals. This will cause your vibrations to become negative and will work against you rather than for you.

4)      Accept that it can happen. Many times your subconscious is your own stumbling block; you will be attempting to convince your conscious mind that something can happen while at the same time your subconscious is picking out the reasons that it will never work. In order to help yourself overcome this stumbling block and have absolute faith in the fact that you will be able to effect this change in your life you should look again at the sheet of paper upon which you have written your goals and attempt to write them in terms that will help your mind and body accept them as fact.

It is recommended that you write these statements in the third person rather than the first; it is often difficult for the mind to accept something as fact when it is couched in such relative terms as I, me or my. For example, if you are attempting to find a new job you could say, “Millions of people every year work in jobs which make them happy.” If you are seeking to enter a meaningful relationship you could say, “Millions of people around the globe have found their soul mate and are now happily settled in comfortable, established relationships”.

The purpose of writing these statements down is to purge the negative vibes and doubts from your mind. If you are unable to accept the outcome as fact your subconscious mind is going to conjure a different outcome, and it is going to be this outcome that your mind and body focus on; therefore, this outcome is going to be the one that will become your reality and you will walk away absolutely certain that the law of attraction is one hundred percent false.

What Can the Law of Attraction Do for You?

"Why is true success so relatively effortless? It might be likened to the magnetic field created by an electrical current through a wire. The higher the power of the current, the greater the magnetic field that it generates. And the magnetic field itself then influences everything in its presence." David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D.

The law of attraction can help to determine the course of your future, and the successes or failure which you may encounter along the way.

Work
            Let us for a moment consider the possibilities of the law of attraction when applied to your working environment. For those who are searching for a job it may be impossible to find one which suits them. Is this because such a job does not exist, or is it because in their subconscious mind they believe that they will not be able to find a job and consequently are releasing so much negative energy out into the universe that they are actually driving these jobs away?
            Anyone who has ever tried to search for a job (or known somebody who was) knows that you have a drastically improved chance of finding gainful employment when you are already employed elsewhere than when you are unemployed. For someone who has lost their job and is currently without employment it may seem easier to climb Mount Everest than to get that first all-important interview. It seems as though job after job simply isn’t interested in what they have to offer.

      Why is this? It certainly cannot be because there are no employment opportunities out there; after all, chances are they would not have applied for the job if the job had not already made its interest in recruiting new employees clear. Why, then, do people suffer from unemployment for months or even years at a time?

      The answer to that is they often believe they will not be able to find a job, and consequently they have stopped trying. In their subconscious minds they do not truly believe that any of their efforts will bear fruit, and so they are projecting that negative energy all around them.

      On the other hand, an individual who already has a job is secure and confident in their ability to find a job and do it well; after all, someone has obviously thought them worthy enough to hire them (and keep them) in the first place, and chances are if they are searching for a new job it is because they are confident enough in their abilities that they believe they deserve a job that will treat them better/pay them more/provide more stimulating work/etc.

      It is this quiet confidence that will lead to the effects of the law of attraction becoming obvious. Since they are projecting this positive energy around them they will be drawing in positive energy as well, attracting the job that they truly want. Remember when you were listing your goals above and you had to accept the fact that they could happen?

      Chances are that you too are looking for more from your career than you have right now; if you are not, then you probably don’t need to be reading this because you have obviously already mastered the ability to chart your own destiny. If you are still seeking for that golden opportunity, ask the universe for it, then sit back and wait, secure in the knowledge that the universal law of attraction will bring it to your doorstep. It might not be today, it might not be tomorrow, but it will occur.

      Let us say that you are satisfied with the job you have but you are seeking a promotion; after all, no one wants to be at the bottom of the totem pole forever.

      In order to get the promotion you are dreaming about the first thing you must do is remove any doubt from your mind. Walk into the interview one hundred percent sure that the position will be yours; remember, if you are still living with the belief that the position may be above you and you are not certain that you have the necessary skills to fill the position you are absolutely right.

“We are unlimited beings…we have no ceilings”

Michael Beckwith

      The same principle can be applied to the opening of a new business as well. If you have ever gone to high school you have probably received the lecture on what to do and what not to do in an interview. One of the biggest don’ts in interviewing protocol is to let the interviewer see that you are nervous. By showing the interviewer that you have confidence in your ability to handle any job which they throw at you, you are increasing your value as an employee in their eyes. 

      The same can be said of any attempts to open a business. It is essential when approaching prospective investors that you have one hundred percent confidence in yourself and your business in order to guarantee that they will be willing to take a chance on you.

      Is this need for absolute confidence a coincidence only, or is it the law of attraction at work? By having confidence in your abilities you are sending positive energy out into the universe, and consequently drawing the positive energies currently existing in the universe back unto yourself.

      It is impossible to over-emphasize the importance of vibrating positive energy when you are talking about the law of attraction, and you will see this theme repeated in any and all conversations pertaining to it. The release of positive energy into the universe is what allows you to chart the course of your destiny on a strong route to success rather than a wavy road of uncertainty that will eventually lead you unhappiness, either through the failure to achieve the goals for which you have worked so hard or through the constant up and down flow of your life, never being certain which is going to dominate.

Love and Family

     

      There are two parts of their life which people generally try to change; their work environment and the relationships which they have with their families and their significant others. You may be asking yourself, “Can the law of attraction really help me to build relationships with the people that I love, and to mend broken fences?”

      The answer is, absolutely! The people you love are governed by the same ebb and flow of energy as you yourself are, and as such their energies will naturally be attracted to like energies which are being emitted from another person. If you are vibrating positive energies and emotions they will respond in kind. They will not be able to help themselves; it is simply the way of the world.

      Let us consider your family first, as with family there is already a subliminal bond which will help you to improve your relationship right from the very beginning. There are many reasons why family members may find themselves at odds with each other; it is not necessarily a pre-requisite that you like the people you love, and for families who often find themselves in each other’s back pockets and competing for common resources the fights can become vicious.

     

      Regardless of the reasons you and your family may have had for your falling out it is never good to leave relationships festering like that. You need to fix them in order to achieve true serenity and harmony in your life (have you begun yet to notice how closely the law of attraction interacts with other laws which govern the universe?). In order to fix a relationship that has been broken you must first be confident in the fact that you not only are going to be able to mend the broken ties, but that you truly want to.

      It is very easy to utter lip service to the people around you, telling them that you want to mend your broken fences (and often blaming the fact that they are broken on the other party involved, of course) when in reality you continue to carry the stain of dislike that you hold towards the other person in question. You don’t really want to mend your fences, or if you do you have not yet let go of what has caused the separation in the first place.

      Letting go of your resentment is an essential ingredient in finding harmony, for in order for the law of attraction to be able to work to smooth your way you must first rid yourself of all of the negative energy you have been sending towards them so far. It is important that you accept the fact that you can forgive and forget, allowing the two of you to move on with your life with a much happier relationship than you have experienced to date.

      The process of attracting a significant other is much the same; however, in order for the law of attraction to be able to attract them to you, you must be very specific when making your request to the universe regarding exactly what it is that you are looking for in a relationship.

      This does not mean that you should outline the color of their hair, their eyes, their political background (although if this is of primary importance you it may be worth submitting it for consideration) or their political position in society. Remember, the law of attraction means that your subconscious mind is going to be drawn to their subconscious mind, and politics are not going to be of primary importance there. Instead, focus on the kind of values you wish for them to possess, the type of relationship that you are looking to share with them (do you want to get married, date casually, etc) as well as personality traits which you feel are especially important. Then allow yourself to believe that you are going to find this paragon of virtue.

      The last step here is the most important. As was the case in the example we used pertaining to the ability of an individual to obtain employment, the belief that a relationship with the person of your dreams is beyond your reach is going to result in you being absolutely correct. Remind yourself that every day hundreds of men and women are building a life with the person of their dreams; there is no reason for you to be excluded from this number.

      It is essential that once you have placed a request for a significant other with the universe that you be willing to have patience for the desired results to occur. The whys and wherefores of this will be discussed in more depth a bit later, but for now let us look at the obvious. The universe is not always going to give you exactly what you want, exactly when you want it. It does things in its own time.

      Now, imagine that you have asked the universe to give you the man or woman of your dreams, but you become impatient because they have not yet become a part of your life within a few months of making the request. You begin to date someone else, and that someone else begins to occupy your mind and your attentions until they are all that you see. They are not the person which you asked the universe for, however; they are simply someone intended to fill the time until that person arrives.

      Over the course of time that you are dating this other individual, however, you have become acquainted with quite a lot of new people. These new people are shadows passing in and out of your life because they are not this new person whom you have begun to date. What would you do if the person you had been waiting for was among that number? What if they had come looking for you, but you did not recognize them because you were so busy trying to keep yourself busy until they got there?

      It is essential that you not close either your mind or your heart to the universe because of external distractions; this is the most fatal mistake you could make, for it means that you have lost faith in the ability of the energies of your mind to interact with the energies of nature to bring you your desired results, and the negative energies generated from these thoughts will result in the person of your dreams walking away from you before you even knew they were there.

When Doesn’t the Law of Attraction Work?

      As you will have gathered from previous sections, the law of attraction does not always work the way that all parties involved would like it to. Why is that? After all, in the law of attraction is universal, why does it only work part of the time?

      The answer to that is found in the minds of the people who are attempting to use it to their own benefit. The only thing standing between you and success is yourself; this was discussed earlier. If the mind is clogged with so much negative energy that it cannot release the positive vibes which will attract the positive energies of the universe, the law of attraction will not be able to help them. They must first rid themselves of all of these negative vibes and start fresh.

 

Common Mistakes

      As with any skill it takes time, effort and devotion to truly master the use of the law of attraction in your life. There are a number of factors which can cause the law to behave in ways which you may not have expected, almost all of which fall back on the user’s ability to follow the guidelines required to find success with this fabulous new tool.

      Fortunately, the mistakes which are made with regards to the use of the law of attraction are as universal as it is, and therefore very easy to identify and correct.

      Five Common Mistakes

1)      Believing that positive thinking is enough to attract what you want

Positive thinking occurs only on the conscious level; this is why positive thinking is not enough to put into effect the law of attraction. It is necessary for belief to enter the subconscious as well.

The mind is always operating on two levels, the subconscious and the conscious. The conscious mind is being given hundreds of tidbits of information at any given time from all five senses. This is an incredible amount of information to process, even from such an advanced tool as the human brain. The mind would slowly go crazy if it had to deal with all of that information all of the time.

Instead, the mind developed the conscious mind, which serves as a filter to review the information sent to it by the senses and retain anything that it deems important. Anything that it does not deem important is passed along to the subconscious. It is the subconscious which will retain this information, acting as the guardian of repressed memories until such time as those memories are needed again.

It has long been held that the subconscious has a direct effect on the actions and beliefs of the conscious mind, a topic which will be discussed in greater detail a bit later on, but for now it is sufficient to say that if the conscious mind is attempting to think positive thoughts while the subconscious retains a negative energy the two will cancel each other out, and the desired effect will not be achieved.

2)      Becoming impatient

The universe works at its own speed; remember, every action carries with it an equal and opposite reaction. It is essential that the other environmental conditions be right in order for an event to occur just as it should.

This means that the law of attraction may take weeks, months or even years to effect a fruitful reaction to the desires of a single individual. People of today’s society are spoiled; they want what they want and they want it now. A new theory that does not produce instant results is not going to be received with a great deal of favor.

In addition to that, disbelieving in the law of attraction because it does not meet your established timetables (after all, it never says precisely when all of these wonderful rewards will be reaped, only that they will) is a direct violation of the guidelines required to see positive results in and of itself. You were merely testing the law in order to see if it will produce results; if you were confident in its ability to effect the desired results you would be content to sit and wait, knowing that what you want most will come to you in time.

On the other hand, the fact that you are not indicates that you do not have confidence in its ability to bring about the desired results. This means that somewhere in your being is a small kernel of negative energy, sufficient to throw a monkey wrench into the whole process of positive attraction. Remember, if you are vibrating negative energy you will attract negative energy back onto yourself.

3)      Determining ahead of time how and when you will attract what you want

Let the universe work! It is possible to become so focused on what you think is going to happen that you manage to totally miss the event when it occurs if it does not occur in precisely the manner you pictured it would.

As we said before, the universe will choose its own time and place for all thins to occur, and these events may take place through rather unusual means. By predetermining exactly how you will receive the rewards which you are seeking you are taking away the choice from the hands of nature, which direct the ebb and flow of the energies of life, and setting yourself up for a hard fall.

By taking the ability to choose upon yourself you are essentially saying that you do not have faith in the ability of the law of attraction to effect the desired results in time; again, by setting your own timeline for events to occur you will eventually come to disbelieve in the law of attraction (after all, it didn’t do what it was supposed to, did it?), which will cause your subconscious to radiate the negative energy which will drive the positive energy away.

 Photo taken by Google Images

4)      Allowing your emotions to be led by external evidence

In order to reap the full benefits of the law of attraction you need to believe that what you see now is a result of what you have been attracting to this point; again, it is essential that you realize that what has occurred in your life to this date and what will happen later on is determined by you. Whatever successes or failures you have experienced have been the result of the energies that your mind and body have released out into the universe.

It is very easy to look at the events of your life and think, “I certainly didn’t want that to happen; the law of attraction must be untrue because I would never wish for something so awful.” What you have to realize is that it is not always what your conscious mind wishes for that influences what your subconscious mind is projecting.

Which leads us to the fifth most common mistake

5)      Not removing limiting beliefs

There are many occasions in which people fall into a self defeating cycle because they are unable to control the thoughts and attitudes of their subconscious. A common argument against the law of attraction is, “Why is there so much suffering in the world if people have the ability to determine the events of their life?” No, these people have not chosen a life of starvation and servitude; however, due to their history many of them do not truly believe that they have any choice.

This disbelief in their ability to change their circumstances because “it is the way that it’s always been” means that they will continue to live this way. Their subconscious continues to project that disbelief and negative energy out into the universe, drawing back negative energy which will cause them to continue to live in this self destructive cycle of events.

It is those who have dared to dream, and believe in the possibilities presented by these dreams, who have effected the greatest changes in the world. Do you think that if the colonists had really believed that they would never be free of the British they would have been able to win the revolutionary war? If Henry Ford had not truly believed that man could ride in a car, do you think that the Model T could have been invented? If women really believed that they were destined to live the rest of their life under the thumb of their fathers and husbands, with no say in the lives they would leave, that women’s liberation would have occurred?

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Model_T_Ford

The removal of limiting beliefs such as these is absolutely vital to the ability of the law of attraction to work as it is intended to. If you truly feel that the law of attraction is not working for you, take a moment to consider the things that you are wishing for. Do you truly believe that these events can take place, or are you merely making idle wishes? Do you secretly believe that you have a “one in a million” chance of any of those things actually taking place for one thing or another?

In order to project the positive vibes which are necessary to draw the energies of the universe to you it is essential that you be one hundred percent confidant in your ability to effect a change and willing to believe that all of the events occurring up to that point have been a necessary prerequisite to bringing these events to be.

The key to the Law of Attraction is the ACCEPTANCE of YOUR responsibility.

“…When the voice and the vision on the inside become more profound, more clear and loud, than the opinions on the outside, you’ve mastered you life”

Dr. John F. Demartini

Arguments Against the Law of Attraction

      While the law of attraction can be universally applied this should not be misconstrued to meant hat it has not been the recipient of its fair share of criticism following the revelation of its potential to the general public. Numerous scientific and theological societies have gone to great lengths to voice their disapproval of this upstart new theory.

Science

      Among the most fervent of the protestors are those who whose to poke holes in the scientific foundation upon which the law of attraction is built. This scientific theory is best explained by Michael J. Losier in a segment of his recently published novel Law of Attraction.

      “There is a physiological foundation for positive thinking and its effect in creating the law of attraction.

      As you may recall from your high school science classes, there are many forms of energy: atomic, thermal, electromotive, kinetic and potential. Energy can never be destroyed.

      You may also recall that all matter is made up of atoms, and each atom has a nucleus (made up of protons and electrons) around which orbit electrons.

      Electrons in atoms always orbit the nucleus in prescribed “orbitals” or energy levels that ensure the stability of the atom. Electrons may be compelled to assume “higher” orbits by the addition of energy, or may give off energy when they drop to a “lower” orbit. When it comes to “vibrations,” if atoms are “aligned,” they create a motive force, all pulling together in the same direction, in much the same way as metals can be magnetized by aligning their molecules in the same direction. This creation of positive (+) and negative (-) poles is a fact of nature and science. Suffice to say, science has shown that if there are physical laws that can be observed and quantified in one arena, there are most probably similar laws in other arenas, even if they cannot at this time be quantified.

Oxygen atom http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/atom/atom.html

      So you see, the law of attraction isn’t a fancy term or new age magic; it is a law of nature that every atom of your body is constantly responding to whether you know it or not.”

      The ideas contained within this explanation were briefly touched on in previous explanations concerning the foundations of the law of attraction; however, in order to understand the controversy surrounding these assumptions it is important that you first understand what these assumptions are.

      Supporters of the theory claim that the effectiveness of the law of attractions stems from its origin in the filed of physics and its supporting facts in the field of quantum mechanics; after all, the primary argument against many metaphysical occurrences is that while their origins may be speculated on, these origins very rarely have more than a small amount of circumstantial physical evidence to back them up. Who is going to argue about the validity of a theory which, although assumed to actually be manifesting itself on a higher plane, has its roots planted firmly in the grounds of modern science.

      Unfortunately, much of the “scientific evidence” which has been brought forward to date in support of the law of attraction has not been conclusively proven with sufficient reproducibility to allow it to be considered an actual law of nature. The entire axis upon which the scientific world revolves was best described by Richard Feynman, one of the finest physicists of his time and a man whose writings and teachings can still be found in almost every bookstore and college campus in the country.

      In his book Six Easy Pieces Feynman states:

      “…nature, as we understand it today, behaves in such a way that it is fundamentally impossible to make a precise prediction of exactly what will happen in a given experiment. This is a horrible thing; in fact, philosophers have said before that one of the fundamental requisites of science is that whenever you set up the same conditions the same thing must happen. This is simply not true, it is not a fundamental condition of science…We stated…the sole test of the validity of any idea is experiment. If it turns out that most experiments work out the same in Quito as the do in Stockholm, the those “most experiments” will be used to formulate some general law…We will invent some way o summarize the results of the experiment, and we do not have to be told ahead of time what this way will look like. If we are told that the same experiments will always produce the same result, that is all very well, but if when we try it, it does not, then it does not.”

      That’s right, straight from the mouth of one of the most revered names in science to your eyes. Contrary to what your teachers told you in grade school it is not necessary for an experiment to reproduce itself in order to be considered both valid and significant. This is an important lesson to remember throughout life; however, with respect to the process of a theory becoming established as a law it is important that any experiment conducted with that theory as its fundamental backbone be reproducible under most circumstances.

      The experimental trials of the law of attraction which have been performed with the use of test subjects have left a great deal of grey in the decision as to whether or not the law is actually a law at all. Since researchers are dealing with the human psyche rather than a physical object which can be manipulated and controlled it is all but impossible to establish proper testing conditions which will guarantee a high level of accuracy and completely unbiased results.

      In order for a trial of the law of attraction to be considered conclusive it is necessary that the test subject follow the guidelines meticulously. This means that they must remove all of the negative energy from the subconscious portion of their psyche. This is a condition that is considered to be “mission critical” in an experiment yet is impossible for researchers to control.

A test subject cannot be forced through any artificial means to remove negative thoughts from their subconscious; they may not even know that these negative thoughts are there (after all, there is a reason that it is called the subconscious). Since  the key element to finding success with the law of attraction is to allow positive energy to dominate your thought processes any negative energy remaining, even deeply buried away from the conscious mind, will have an adverse reaction on the results of the experiment.

In addition, since researchers are dealing with the human psyche there is another factor which has never been officially proven through scientific means but which is accepted as fact all around the world: the power of the human mind. You may be looking at this in confusion, asking yourself why the power of the human mind would be a problem when it is the power of the human mind which you are attempting to harness in order to find success with the law of attraction.

The reasons are simple. There are three main factors which stand in the way of a person achieving their goals. One of these is the body, the other is the environment. Each of these plays a small role in a person’s ability to carry out a task which they have chosen for themselves; however, they are not the key factor responsible for the success or failure of a person’s appointed mission. The human mind is the primary obstacle standing in the way of a person and their dreams. If they do not believe that they will be able to overcome the other environmental and social obstacles standing in the way of achieving their goal then they will not be able to. On the other hand, if they believe that they will be able to triumph over these adversities they are almost guaranteed success. This is not always due to some form of cosmic influence, however.

Let us look at this dilemma through the eyes of a young adult who is straight out of college and attempting to start his career. If he has a great deal of doubt in his ability to succeed in his chosen field and land a job he will be happy for his mind will recognize that negativity and make it fact. He will not be as aggressive as he needs to be in hunting down jobs, and when he does find a job he will almost inevitably crash and burn in the very first interview because he will be so sure of his failure that he will not be able to put his best foot forward. On the other side of the coin, if he is confident that he will be able to succeed he will portray that confidence in everything that he does, allowing him to get through his interview with flying colors and land the job of his dreams.

There was no cosmic influence here, merely a readjustment in attitude that led to a readjustment in presentation. It is impossible to look at the results of an experiment relating to the law of attraction and be able to say with one hundred percent surety that the positive results of these trials were a result of some form of cosmic influence rather than sheer human determination.

Experimental results are not the only issues causing contention among the scientific community. A large portion of the theory has fallen under fire as well. The simple truth of the matter is that from a scientific standpoint the cold, hard evidence supporting the physical existence of the law of attraction in nature is weak indeed. Unlike many other experiments dealing with non-metaphysical properties of science it is virtually impossible for scientists to actually examine the individual components which make the law of attraction.

Vibrations being emitted from the body with respect to moods and emotions are still largely a conceptual idea, and while scientists may be able to pinpoint the precise energy signatures being emitted by the body the technology to recognize whether it is good or bad, stemming solely from the body’s physical self or having some foundation in the body’s emotional channels simply does not exist.

In addition to these difficulties scientists do not yet have a means with which to identify the specific energy waves which comprise an event. For every change dealt to the status quo in nature there is both a waterfall of precursor events which must occur in order for events to proceed as needed for a specific outcome and a “ripple effect” of changes which will occur as a result of this change. It is impossible to determine whether or not there is, in fact, an energy based reason for each of these events, and how the various forms of energy which must collaborate to bring circumstances to these ends work together is still a mystery.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripple_%28physics%29

Are you confused yet? Probably, which is precisely the point upon which a great deal of the controversy surrounding this law is founded. The theory simply does not make sense in any manner that can be specifically addressed by a scientific team and proven using scientific methods. Where does that leave the scientific community? Still turning its wheels looking for answers.

Religion

            As we mentioned before, scientists are not the only ones with a bone to pick with regards to the law of attraction. Various religious sectors have taken great offense to the concept of a person being able to decide their own fate based entirely on the power of their mind. Why is that? After all, one would think that if anyone would appreciate the potential of a person being able to direct their own course in life it would be those who have a deeper understanding of all things unseen.

            The reason for their opposition is the fact that if people are able to control the  course of their own lives it more or less usurps the position of a God in this lifetime. The theory of the role of a deity in most religions is that it is prayer and sacrifice to this deity which will determine your lot in life, as well as in the afterlife. The ultimate decision with regards to your ultimate fate rests entirely on their shoulders, and if you are fortunate your deity will be a forgiving one and grant you much prosperity in life.

 If you choose to follow a path that you believe will allow you to take control of your life out of the all knowing hands of your deity what does that say regarding your faith? It is argued that belief in the law of attraction means that the believer doubts the power of their deity, an action which not only sacrifices the fundamental principles of any religion (the ultimate, unquestioning belief that is the platform upon which any deity rests; after all, what is a god but someone who has found someone to worship them?) but could cause doubt to fall upon the entire religious caste, an event which most societies are simply not ready to deal with.

 http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/symbols/bldefslatincross.htm

            Another belief that has suffered a hard hit in the presence of the belief in the law of attraction is that which states that the universe exists in a delicate balance, and all events which occur are a result of the universe attempting to maintain that balance. The possibility that man can decree the events that happen in his own life is a slap in the face to the belief in that balance; after all, if man can decide the events of the future what is there to ensure that that balance remains? How can humans live comfortably knowing that at any time their entire way of life as they know it could come to an end as the power of the law of attraction could cause the play of events in the world to be changed entirely?
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang


How Does the Law of Attraction Compare with Other Subliminal Programs on the Market?
            As the power of positive thinking has grown there have been many which have attempted to make a profit from this incredible discovery. This has spawned a new era of “subliminal products”, which retailers then proceed to sell on the market for a ridiculous price and reap the profits.
            The difference between other subliminal messaging products and the law of attraction is the profit margin. Quite simply, there isn’t one. You don’t need to have any special equipment to maximize the power of the law of attraction; it is all there in your own mind. Neither do you need a teacher to teach you how to use it; once you have mastered the fundamentals upon which the law of attraction is built you are ready to put it into practice.
            These same sentiments cannot be expressed with regards to many of the other subliminal programs on the market. These programs claim to be able to help their users lose weight, stop smoking, become smarter, get a new job, move past their shyness, improve their relationships, etc. Do they work? Not always. The law of attraction is the only subconscious means by which to ensure success in whatever endeavor you choose to undertake.
Various Other Subliminal Programs
            It is only fair that if you are studying the law of attraction you learn a little bit about the various other subliminal programs available on the market. This will allow you to compare them all and understand why the law of attraction is the only one which has been proven time and time again (regardless of what the researchers would have you hear).

1)      Subliminal Messaging

Subliminal messaging is one of the oldest forms of subliminal manipulation, and has been the one to face the greatest amount of controversy. The belief held by the believers in subliminal messaging is that since memories can often be pulled forth from the subconscious to the conscious mind, the subconscious must continue to have some effect on the conscious, whether the owner of said consciousness is aware of it or not.

Those who use subliminal messaging attempt to use various methods to introduce an idea to the subconscious, which will then transmit that idea to the conscious when the proper occasion arises. This is done through the introduction of a brief (often a thousandth of a second) to the audio and/or visual senses. This message will be so short that the conscious mind will immediately disregard it as being unimportant, while the subconscious will take the information and store it away.

Subliminal messaging was first introduced in the late 19^th century and was introduced in the 1950s as a possible marketing tool. Mr. James Vicary claimed that during a film shown in his New Jersey theater he had used a tachistoscope  to broadcast the words “Drink Coca-Cola” and “Hungry? Eat popcorn” for 1/3000 of a second at five second intervals, and that during the time of these broadcasts sales of both increased dramatically.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca_cola

This sparked a huge debate among the people of the United States, who were afraid that the government would now use subliminal messaging to attempt to control the things they thought and did; they would not be able to do anything about it because they would never know. This controversy led to the banning of subliminal messaging for any type of marketing purpose.

Although Mr. Vicary later admitted that the experiment had been a fraud the concept of subliminal messaging had been brought out into the open, and its possible benefits were explored at length; however, to date no study has definitively shown subliminal messaging to be an effective way to control behavior.

2)      Affirmation

Affirmation is the firm declaration of something to be true, and is intended to convince the mind that what it wants to happen will. For example, stating over and over again, “I can get any job I want” is intended to instill in the mind the confidence to go out and get any job that it wants. This resembles the law of attraction, but is not sufficient to sway the subconscious until other methods are employed as well.

Wikipedia describes affirmation as so (this was interesting, showing very well how affirmation and the law of attraction are joined together, and would not have been the same if it was altered in any way).

“In spirituality and personal development, an affirmation is a form of autosuggestion in which a statement of a desirable intention or condition of the world or the mind is deliberately meditated on and/or repeated in order to implant it in the mind. Many believers recommend accompanying recitations with mental visualization of a desired outcome. Affirmation could be viewed positively as a mobilization of one's inner resources, or negatively as a kind of self-induced brainwashing, depending on the psychological depth and wisdom of the affirmation. For example, believers would consider "I am making more room in my life for success every day" a much wiser affirmation than "I will win the lottery today!" Affirmations are always phrased in the first person and usually in a present tense ("I am") rather than a future tense ("I will") in order to increase the realization of the statement for the affirmee.

Affirmations are believed to be a very powerful means of reprogramming the unconscious mind. They appear to be most effective when repeated in a quiet and restful state of mind and body, and when the desired outcome is vividly experienced in one's mind and resulting emotions are felt. They are an intrinsic part of many New Age groups including I AM Activity and the Church Universal and Triumphant of Elizabeth Clare Prophet. However, in these groups affirmations are generally recited in flat, mechanical voices at top speed and volume, in order to elevate particpants' "vibratory levels".

Perhaps the most often used and well-known affirmation is the word "Amen," which can be translated simply as "so be it" or "and so it is," affirming the truth of whatever was written or said immediately prior. While often used to conclude prayer, the word itself is neutral as to its context and exemplifies a logical affirmation more than a spiritual one.

3)   Visualization

Visualization works in much the same way as affirmation; you visualize yourself achieving something and your brain will come to believe it is so; therefore, you will be able to do it. Again, this is closely related to the law of attraction but does not address any underlying issues which could contribute to negative vibes.

In Conclusion
            Although the power of the law of attraction has yet to be supported by any physical means its effects have been proven time and time again. In spite of the opposition which you will surely face, both within your own mind and throughout the rest of your societal acquaintances, if you adhere carefully to the guidelines set forth you too will be able to unlock the power hidden within the depths of your own mind and chart the course for your own destiny.