When Jim Carrey was a
struggling actor, he wrote himself a cheque for $10 million for “acting
services rendered”, dating it 10 years from that date. He did this because,
despite growing up in poverty (his family lived in a car at one point), he
believed he could hit the big time as an actor. And he did. Within 10 years he
was earning millions for films such as Ace Ventura and The Mask.
This story is a
wonderful illustration of how much power we have to manifest what we want.
That’s a message that comes up in angel card readings all the time, and a
concept that I’ve used in my own life to get what I had my heart set on.
Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. Alas, this approach is not guaranteed – which can be disappointing. Here are my thoughts on why.
If you read The
Secret when it came out a decade ago, you’re probably familiar with
the law of attraction (I didn’t; I found it too gimmicky). Here’s the concept in a nutshell: whatever you
want, you can attract through your thoughts. If you focus on what you don’t
want, you’ll block what you want, and probably attract what you don’t.
Here’s how I’ve used
the law of attraction to manifest specific things:
* When I needed a car
in 2010, I was fearful of buying a car that would break down on me, so I asked the Universe to find me a
car like my friend owned, which was cheap to run and super reliable. Within a
few days I had spotted that model of car on the side of the road near my house
with a ‘for sale’ sign in the window. My dad checked it out and said it was a good buy, so I put
in a low offer and got it. Too easy! That car is now owned by my brother and
despite being more than 20 years old, it has yet to fail a warrant of fitness.
* When I moved back to
Sydney last year I was nervous about making friends. As an introvert, social situations are challenging for me. I visualised myself
encircled by a group of friends and laughing – and I returned my thoughts to this vision
time and time again. A month after I arrived, the angels drew my attention to a
newspaper story about a new social group that had started. I joined the group and within
two months I had found myself part of a group of friends who are awesome, and
have made me feel like I belong here.
On the other hand,
sometimes the law of attraction has not delivered. This
can happen because sometimes things that we think we need are actually not right for
us. I wouldn’t, for example, recommend focusing on manifesting a winning
lottery ticket. Even though you might think a truckload of money is exactly
what you need for a better life, the Universe knows better. (Yes, it worked for
Jim Carrey, but his goal was more about career success than the financial
payoff.)
I have focused on
attracting a wonderful man into my life for about four years now, without success.
However I can see now that the timing was wrong – I wasn’t ready for a healthy relationship, even though I thought I was. I had so much
work to do on myself, in particular, bolstering my woefully low self-esteem (my neediness was hardly an attractive quality). If I’d been in a long-term relationship,
I would never have embarked on the journey of personal development that has
brought me to where I am now. Not only am I now a more independent, resourceful
person who knows that happiness and love are derived from within me rather than
in a relationship, I’ve also forged a more fulfilling career in the spiritual realm. I would never have taken this direction I hadn’t delved within to find
answers to my own discontentment.
And that’s the thing
about the law of attraction – while we do have the power to attract what we
want, what we want might not be in our
best interests. And we don’t have any say in the timing.
This is why I’m wary of self-help books and wellness bloggers that promise you can have anything you want if you just think positive. This philosophy can lead to disappointment and disillusionment. (I’ve written about the inflated promises dolled out by some sectors of the self-help industry before, read my blog post here.)
This is why I’m wary of self-help books and wellness bloggers that promise you can have anything you want if you just think positive. This philosophy can lead to disappointment and disillusionment. (I’ve written about the inflated promises dolled out by some sectors of the self-help industry before, read my blog post here.)
Keep believing,
people. The law of attraction isn’t a perfect mail order system but it
*does* work. (Eventually.)
I’d love to hear how the law of attraction has
worked for you. Email me if you’d like to share your story.