Have you heard about the Law of Attraction? You might have done, as it was popularised in the movie called The Secret. The secret of The Secret is that people get what they focus on. In short (and I do recommend watching the movie), it says that when you see a picture of what you want and strongly visualise it coming into being, it’s more likely to happen.
Of course, the movie when a bit mass appeal and made it seem as though that was all there was to it. Put a picture on your wall of a Ferrari, see it enough and it will appear for you. That’s not my experience, or interpretation of the Law of Attraction.
It’s true however, that things are more likely to come to pass if we hold them in our attention more often and with more feeling. But there is another component, (well, quite a few, but this one’s key), and it’s actually given in the word “attraction”. Yes, part of the word “attraction” is action. It’s the law of attraction, after all! You have to do something – usually anyway. Mostly, in fact.
I like to think of it like this:
ATTRACTION = Always Take Tremendous Repeated ACTION
We have to take action. And not just once. Usually it’s bold, big actions that we need to take. Or repeated action. Want that 6-pack body? It’s not going to happen by just looking at pictures of 6-pack abs. There are no six pack shortcuts here. You have to consistently do the work. But, that being said, the picture will help both motivate you and also form an image in your mind about how you will be. You will train you mind to see yourself with this new identity. But you must still do the work.
The movie made it sound like there is some mysterious force at play when it comes to attracting things into your life. And that might quite possibly be the case. Everything is energy. At it’s base level. E=mc2 if you know Einstein’s famous equation. Thoughts are things. Thoughts are ripples of electromagnetic impulses in the brain. Energy dissipating throughout the universe. I get that. Although some might argue with that, and that’s fine too.
What I find interesting and relevant to the LAW OF ATTRACTION in this instance is a physics phenomenon called QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT. What Einstein used to call “spooky action at a distance”.
Quantum Entanglement says that when two particles were once part of the same system and are then separated, they behave as if they are still connected. (Watch the video as it explains it better than with words here). Essentially, when you separate two atoms (let’s say for simplicity) and then do something to one of them, the other responds in kind.
Now nothing unusual perhaps so far. Perhaps the first atom told the second one what to do. It’s a bit like saying, imagine there are a pair of twins, and we place one on one hill, and then the second one on a hill two miles away.
The first twin jumps up in the air, and the second one see’s this and then does the same. The second twin jumped because they saw the first do so. But there’s a slight delay here. Forgetting reaction times for a second, i.e. imagine that as soon as the second twin sees the first one jump he/she jumps, the restriction is how fast the information can travel from twin 1 to twin 2.
That is based on the speed of light (186,000 miles per second!). Twin 2 must see the jump and then respond. There’s a delay. However slight.
But what is found is that the “twin” particle responds much quicker than information can travel from “twin” 1 to “twin” 2. That’s it’s instantaneous. In other words, these systems are intrinsically linked and behave as one system.
How does this relate to the Law of Attraction? Well, if you subscribe to the Big Bang theory, it says that the universe started as a “big bang” explosion where all matter came out off. I.e. everything in the observable universe once came from one system! Everything was once part of the same thing. If that’s the case, we are connected to everything in the universe. Including that Ferrari! It’s all made up of the atoms that spewed forth in the Big Bang.
OK, this might be a stretch for you to believe. It’s similar to what Eastern philosophies have been saying for eons, which is we are all connected and all the same. So if we are all connected, and we can influence what happens to other particles on the other side of the universe, could we bring our ambitions into reality just by thinking about them?
Mmmmm….? Don’t know about that. Maybe, I guess. I’m open to it. That’s one way the law of attraction could work.
Here’s another way.
When you put your focus on something, there’s a part of the brain called the reticular activating system (RAS) which comes into play. It’s the part of the brain that tells you that something is important to you.
By focussing on a picture of what you want, you are telling your subconscious to pay attention to things that will help bring that into being. It’s a bit like when you might buy a new car, dress, handbag or anything, and then suddenly see that new item everywhere. It’s not that there are more of them around, it’s just you are now paying more attention (subconsciously mainly).
So if you really wanted to open up a shop, then suddenly you might notice a few more “to let” signs on the high street.
There are billions of bits of information that we could pay attention to in each moment. The mind filters out much of what gets through our five senses, so we’re not overloaded. We can’t take it in. But when you visualise and imagine the life, and things you want, you are telling your brain that this is important to you and the mind pays attention.
That’s how I think about the law of attraction mostly. Yes, there may be some mystical force bringing those things into being. I do think that’s a distinct possibility, but for the skeptics out there, then the RAS explanation should also suffice. For the real skeptics out there, then remember that it’s not the Law of Attraction, it’s the Law of AttrACTION.
What do you think? Watch the video for a visual explanation on this. Comment below!
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