Is the Law of Attraction Real?
A few weeks ago I was talking to a friend and I told him that whenever someone told me to practice the law of attraction, I felt a bit uneasy. I couldn’t place my finger on it, but the whole idea of it bothered me. Here is a definition of it:
The law of attraction is the belief that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts a person brings positive or negative experiences into their life.
Now I know you are reading that and you are like “Marquita, what could possibly be your issue with this?” If you look at this idea from the surface, which is what I think the law of attraction is, a very surface level idea, it makes complete sense. Think positive things and positive things will come to you. Think negative things and negative things will come to you! Duh! It is quite simple.
So, when I told my friend a few weeks ago that the idea rubbed me the wrong way and seemed too simple, he said just try it! I laughed because there is no doubt in my mind that I have thought positive thoughts. And sometimes those thoughts came to fruition and other times they did not. But not one positive thought in my life came to fruition due to me just thinking it. There were a set of actions, circumstances, and things in and out of my control that happened to make that occur. No thought comes to life without a complex set of occurrences. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely believe that how you think and frame life can change the course of your life, but I do not believe that only positive thoughts will bring good to my life.
Negative thoughts have the ability to change our lives just as much as positive ones do and in fact I think examining your negative thoughts can help you. Why does something bother you? Why does that person unnerve you? Why do you feel like you want more in a job, a relationship, or life? If those negative thoughts come to me and I just push them away, well it is only a matter of time before I am forced to deal with them. Negative thoughts show you parts of yourself that positive emotions do not show you and it is often times through my setbacks, my anger, and my disappointment that I learn how to think positively. It takes work to be positive and to reach achievements. My thoughts are just the first step in reaching success. Both positive and negative thoughts aid me in my quest to be myself.
Another major reason the law of attraction bothers me is because when people mention its great affects, it only seems to benefit themselves. Yet I can think of many reasons why the law of attraction is too simple. Think of the migrant crisis in America, there are children and adults being held in detention centers. You don’t think they are thinking positive thoughts? Yet there are in a perilous situation. What about people who are actively doing things to catch a break in life like get a job or find love, but nothing is happening. Truth be told, our individual thoughts don’t always have the power to break larger systems at hand. And if the law of attraction is correct in saying positive thoughts= positive experiences and negative thoughts = negative experiences, then does that mean people are attracting the terrible tragedies that occur to them? No way...that doesn’t feel right. It almost feels like victim blaming. But yet everywhere I go online, especially on social media people are constantly saying believe in the law of attraction! Believe in only positive thoughts! Negativity only wastes time! It feels fake to me and seems to lack nuance. It is also dangerous rhetoric on social media because all you see online are positive images.
One of my favorite movies is a pixar movie called Inside Out and the entire premise is based on emotions. I actually cried the first time I watched it and I am not ashamed to admit that. I HIGHLY recommend it and I won’t ruin it, but one of major takeaways is that both good and bad experiences make a fulfilled life.
The law of attraction is a great idea that doesn’t translate to real life, because life is a set of complexities that cannot be simplified to an easy equation. I would rather allow myself to work and feel life through both the good and bad. After all the best stories always have a little good and bad in them.
