The Law of Attraction has become very popular; we hear about it often. We watch videos on YouTube that teach us how to apply this principle into our own life, so we too can experience abundance.

We see people publicly identify with this principle on social media as the source of their happiness, wealth, and success.

The Law of Attraction is a principle that states if you focus on positive thoughts and the abundance of good things in your life, you will attract more positive things.

So I cannot help but to wonder: if The Law of Attraction is so widely publicized and identified with, does this actually mean that we live in a world in which most people feel abundant in regard to what they currently have; with no mental attachment to the “lack” that they perceive in their life?

And furthermore, is the number of people who have actually accomplished this equivalent to the number of people who so openly identify with it?

Because it is not easy.

And because it is not easy and we are trying our best, many of us adopt the “fake it until you make it” mentality; hoping that one day these forced thoughts will soon become truly ours purely as a result of habit formation.

This “fake it until you make it” method can be initially disheartening as it adds to our cognitive dissonance. It can also give us a false impression of others and, because of this, we are left feeling as if something is wrong with us.

Why can so many people do this, but I can’t?

But there is a flip side to this. The Law of Attraction also states that if you focus on negative thoughts and what you lack, you will attract negativity and more lack.

So maybe it does not matter whether or not we believe in The Law of Attraction because we are all – in essence – already living it. Maybe, just maybe, we are only viewing this principle from one side of the coin; ignoring the side that we wish not to identify with.

So now when we go outside and interact with others, we are witnessing The Law of Attraction in everyone; not just the people who openly identify with it.

(This does not act as an explanation nor a justification for unprecedented tragedy. No one deserves tragedy. Some things cannot be explained.).

Although I support watching videos and listening to others discuss how they are able to apply The Law of Attraction – and other Universal Principles – into their lives in a way that benefits them for sake of learning, I also think we should be careful not to place these people on a pedestal. This can create a discouraging mentality that we are so far behind from where they are; which is where we so desperately want to be. And ironically, this feeling of discouragement focuses on lack…

…Not a great way to start.

These videos can also create feelings of profound empowerment as we are watching it, but not too long after the video has ended we revert back to our familiar – automatic – thought patterns.

There is a lot of information out there and many of us get lost in it. We spend a lot of time watching more and more videos, gaining multiple perspectives on these concepts and various techniques used. We become obsessed with the process of learning about it (and the enjoyment we receive from the mere act of watching YouTube videos) that we procrastinate when it comes to applying it.

Since applying these principles into your own life requires moments of privacy, some of us tend to procrastinate this part of the process because it takes away from our familiar – automatic – downtime activities, such as looking through our phones and watching television.

And we now find ourselves viewing money as a source of stress. We remind ourselves of the past. We worry about the future. We think about what he said, and what she said. We do not live in the present moment. We are there physically, but not mentally nor emotionally. We do not focus all of our energy on what is right in front of us and, instead, we focus our energy on stressors.

We logically know that we are lucky for some things that we currently have (like certain people in our life, for example) but we unintentionally place that active gratitude on the back burner so we can focus our energy on what we want that we currently do not have and what is going wrong as opposed to what is right.

We watch and listen to people who say they have attracted abundance into their lives through the utilization of these Universal Principles. They tell us that an emotional state of abundance deep within ourselves is required prior to attracting more abundance into our lives; not the other way around. But most people are convinced of the exact opposite order. Most of us believe that we will begin to feel abundant and happy after we receive what we want.

Additionally, many spiritual life coaches that we watch on YouTube are financially wealthy and experience a lot of freedom in their lives. Because of this, a lot of people think: it’s easy for them to say all of this because they are already rich. However, these same viewers would not be inspired by a poor person teaching the same principles and techniques.

So what gives?

For starters, we should not feel envious nor jealous of the financially wealthy spiritual life coach. We should feel happy for them. We should be proud of them. We should feel inspired by them in knowing that we are, in essence, no different from them.

Since like attracts like, placing them on a pedestal would consequently send out the vibration that their successes are natural for them, but not natural for you; a disbelief that this could be your life story too.

So how do we begin? How do we start to feel deeply abundant on just any ordinary day?

Well, abundance itself is an indescribable feeling. It cannot be fabricated. It is much more profound than the mere “knowing” that you are lucky in certain aspects of your life but remain unconscious of it throughout the day. It is an essence that guides you.

The key is to get a taste of it. Because once you do, you will naturally feel motivated to expand on it.

For example, it is unfortunately common in the human experience to have regrets after a loved one dies. The moment certain people in our life die, we begin to drown ourselves in thoughts of what we wish we would have done differently and how we so desperately want one more chance to “do it right”.

After a loved one dies, we are immediately convinced of a new mindset; a mindset that is in some ways opposite to the mindset we held so tightly to prior to their death.

When our loved ones are alive, we are heavily attached to thought patterns that instantly become meaningless to us immediately after their passing.

Following their death, it instantly becomes effortless for us to realize what is actually important and meaningful to us, and what is not. As a result of this newly heightened awareness, we now wish we could have a second chance so we can do things differently.

When we are experiencing this profound perception shift, suddenly everything that we thought was so important to us – all of the reasons why we were thinking so much – suddenly loses its significance.

So try it out.

Think about this carefully. Who is the one person (or people) in your life that deep down you know that you would experience these waves of emotions – emotions of regret and missed opportunity – surrounding their untimely death.

Openly accept and allow yourself to feel these rush of difficult emotions with the comfort of knowing that they are still present in your life.

Now shift your mindset to the essence of this “second chance”. Look at them as if you had already lost them, and now they have re-entered your life solely because you have been granted that second chance. Feel it.

Practice looking at them through these lens. Allow your emotions, thoughts, and actions to be guided by this essence.

This is active gratitude. This is abundance.

Once you’re there, the moment you’re in this space, stop thinking so much.

Think about your fondest memory; a time in which you felt an abundance of joy. Use your imagination to put yourself back in that space. Now reflect on what you were thinking about as you were experiencing this moment.

Chances are you weren’t thinking at all. Instead, you were fully active in the present moment. And, because you were fully engaged in the present moment, you felt joy and abundance. You weren’t focused on wants. You weren’t focused on lack. You weren’t focused on what he said, and what she said.

Thinking is an interesting phenomenon. We are very attached to thinking. This attachment to thinking prevents us from truly being present. The mere fact that we often see people staring at their phones is proof in itself that many of us struggle heavily with being present.

And although thinking can be useful for reasons of problem solving, many of us overuse it and, as a result, we convince ourselves that we are problem solving when – in actuality – we are engaging in anxiety.

Ruminating is not problem solving. Thinking about the past is not problem solving. Feeling anxious about the future is not problem solving.

Furthermore, some of us make the mistake of believing that our thoughts represent who we are. As a result, we tend to identity with our thoughts; as if we are our thoughts.

But a problem exists when people have limiting beliefs about themselves solely due to their automatic thought patterns that originated from their childhood experiences. And unfortunately they embody their negative self-talk as opposed to realizing that these thoughts do not define their authentic self; they only exist as a result of learned emotions and behaviors from our childhood.

This is why it is crucial to act as a neutral observer to your thoughts. This way you can treat your thoughts as a means to learn more about yourself; a means to connect with your inner child.

When we had a bad experience as a child, especially if it involved our caregiver, we naturally believed that it was our fault. We believed that our caregiver was acting in such a way because something was wrong with us. We internalized it.

But now, as adults, we have the opportunity to shift our perception of the negative childhood experiences that we have endured. We can now understand that our caregiver(s) was not acting in such a way because we were unlovable or unworthy. We can now understand that it had absolutely nothing to do with us, and everything to do with them.

This is exactly why we should never attach our automatic thought patterns to our identity.

Think about it for a moment. In public, have you ever witnessed an adult treat their child in a way that is verbally and emotionally abusive? Have you ever witnessed a child with a parent who clearly has a substance abuse addiction? What are your beliefs surrounding this? Do you believe that the adult is this way because the child is unlovable or unworthy? Do you believe that it is the child’s fault?

Of course not.

So why should the script be any different in regard to your own childhood?

There is a fine balance in the art of thinking. Although it is important to observe and reflect on our negative thought patterns as it relates to our childhood, we are doing so as a means to an end. We are doing so with the intention of releasing any blockages that we have held on to for too long; blockages that were formed in our childhood. This way we can eventually become emotionally free and ultimately re-write our own identity so it is defined by you, as opposed to outdated external factors. So we can begin to think less, because we feel less attached.

When we are not thinking, we are active in the present moment. When we are not thinking, we vibrate at a much higher frequency. When our vibrational frequency is elevated, we begin to play out the side of The Law of Attraction that we wish to identify with.

As we continue to practice and improve on this, we will begin to feel a dimensional shift in which life itself begins to feel more dreamlike; the present moment will begin to feel nostalgic as if you’re presently experiencing an active memory in the making.

This topic of discussion might make some people feel very uncomfortable. Many people may feel triggered by it. For this reason, many of us avoid such conversations; even if the conversation is with ourselves.

We are so attached to the “familiar” because it is comfortable, even if the “familiar” does not serve us well. But we cannot experience any breakthroughs toward positive change if we continue to avoid these temporary feelings of discomfort.

There is just so much to say. I will continue later. Thank you for reading.