Also known as “manifestation”.
I have known a few people over the past few years that actively practice these “principles”. Most of them appear to be doing just what they want and are wildly successful. You may have seen accounts on the internet about people like this that seem to have everything they want with little or no real effort. Of course that is their take on their situations so it’s a bit difficult to determine what may be reality vs. simply their perception. I mean, I have also known people that dug up and fixed broken sewer pipes for a living and that were happy and content.
I have two questions for anyone that cares to respond:
1. Other than talking oneself into changing or behaving in ways conducive to success, do you think there is any real basis for this “Law of Attraction” thing?
2. Have you ever looked into “manifestation” and tried to follow some course of action to make something happen in your life simply by “willing” it to happen? If so, what was the result?
I know I am speaking to people like me and that I couldn’t “will” the sun to come up in the east tomorrow. In fact if I tried, something would get fucked up and we’d all freeze to death. But I am curious about what others think about this, silly as it may be.
– peace
5 comments
1) If you mean the laws of attraction for relationships between people, yeah. People have different priorities. When you see a couple and one of them is hideously less aesthetically appealing than the other their personality is rarely the trade-off. It’s always money and stability. If they are evenly matched or if they aren’t but still above average then personality comes into play. There is an exception of course which is…. you guessed it Suicide Sites. People here just take what they can get, you know?
2) If you mean using the force? No that didn’t work nor did praying to Buddha. Psychologically if you are competing for something that is performance related and approach it in a positive frame of mind then you are more likely to succeed. If you don’t have any control over the outcome at all then don’t bother psyching yourself up because it’s forlorn. I’ll try it as I don’t have any income at all now and as a result need to find another job within 2 weeks or I’m in serious shit. Hopefully the pressure will bring about results and then I can report my findings here.
“Willing” can have an impact on yourself, but not directly on the rest of the world through some metaphysical process. Willing is part of the placebo effect and it plays a great role in the fighting of illnesses. A patient who has lost the will to fight will most likely lose sooner than later and a patient who has the right attitude to fight will have a way bigger chance of winning; this is especially true when talking about depression and mental illness. Examples could be elderly couples who die within days of each other because the surviving partner loses the will to live or wants to be where their partner is.
Most evidence we have for this is purely empirical since we lack the necessary understanding of brain and consciousness to be able to explain the true causes of placebo and similar effects. Often spiritual factors have an influence as well; i.e. praying can help through psychological processes if you believe in it.
My personal experience would probably be some months ago when I started doing something about my depression. I went jogging regularly and really “wanted” to get better which imo played a great role. I got to know a girl in the jogging group and deluded myself into thinking she’s actually interested in me, which I realized by now but at the time it kinda gave me a perspective. The initiating factor though was my will to start changing something which led to joining the jogging group etc. It was especially important since I wrote exams some time later which I’ve luckily passed by now, don’t know how that would’ve ended if I had been in the same mood I was before. Unfortunately I’ve lost some of the momentum I gained in those weeks/ months and I’m noticing the same symptoms I noticed a year ago when all this started. It’s luckily not as bad though and I know now how to cope better.
Don’t know why that went to moderation -.- They should really limit this feature to links and caps-only posts.
I think the laws of attraction are only valid in the sense that your perception dictates how you’ll respond to failures / success, and how you’ll perceive potential opportunities to further your own goals. But it’s also a great recipe for fostering a nasty case of narcissistic stupidity, forcing you to lie a lot to impress people while also lying to yourself so it sounds more honest. Thoughts are thoughts. Reality is reality. Thoughts don’t make reality any different than what it is, but they allow you to change it according to your ability and desire.
I’ve got a friend who believes that we can create our own destiny through the power of positive thinking. We’ve had numerous debates on the subject. He’s currently working the dream job he’s always wanted. (Works from home, sets his own hours, earns $120k/year). Me? I’m leaving a comment on a suicide site.
Idk. A positive outlook, hard work, a few brains and a little bit of luck does seem to help more than being gloomy, unmotivated, not-too-bright and unlucky. I realize we can’t control the weather, the economy, societal attitudes, etc., but we can control how we react and hopefully find a way to make the necessary adjustments. “Adapt, Improvise, Overcome”.