The law of attraction is just the theory that there is an ultimate law in the universe that like attracts like.
Essentially, law of attraction says that everything (people, animals, events) exist on what is called a “vibrational level”, of what we might call “the way they feel” or “the emotions they bring”.
The law of attraction basically boasts being the practice of turning thoughts into things, thoughts into things, again and again at every moment of every day.
Simplified, the teaching is that you want to think about what you want and not what you don’t (optimism), and not just think about it but focus on it relentlessly. If you are able to do this, it will become yours.
Why should we believe this crazy thing?
People who teach the law of attraction would argue that it doesn’t matter if you think it’s true. The law of attraction works whether you believe in it or not. But where is the evidence for it?
It’s easy enough to understand that if you want something it would do you some good to think about it beforehand. To plan it, make your decision and so on and so forth.
And it’s observable that people who expect to get what they want tend to get it more often. These are the people who don’t think thoughts that get in their way of having what they desire. You may call them entitled, they might call themselves positive of the outcome.
Not only that, but we tend to get what we think we deserve. People tend to find themselves recreating their childhood issues wherever they go, and children of poor parents tend to grow up and stay poor all their lives.
We keep thinking the same thoughts day in and day out, so we keep creating the same circumstances. Most people’s lives, on average, don’t change very much from day to day, unless they are working to change themselves. What you think, you will create.
So the universe is like a big genie?
The law of attraction can bring forth some pretty materialistic sides of people that they may not even be aware they had. Someone who’s poor may find themselves trying to manifest a million dollars, for example, even though they previously said that money isn’t important.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting things, and it’s natural to want to be more comfortable. If you’re only focusing on manifesting material things though, you’re kind of missing the point with this theory.
When done right, practicing the law of attraction is transformative work. You realize you have to change and grow to become a match to your desires, and that can spur you on to make numerous massive improvements in your habits and decisions.
Why isn’t it working for me?
A sticking point for many people is, “I just don’t believe in this stuff. It’s not working for me, and if it isn’t working then it’s not real.” And that makes sense.
There is, however, a big misconception in the practice of law of attraction that the thoughts we think turn into things. This is true. But it’s not all.
No, in fact it is thoughts that turn into feelings that turn into things. The middle step, “feelings”, is the most important step if you’re trying to manifest things.
You can think of it like this. Everything is made of a mishmash of feelings; feelings are the building blocks of everyone, and everything.
You can think positive thoughts all day long but if you don’t find the ones that make you feel good, your makeup won’t change.
So, can I get stuff or not?
If you want a great new job, you have to first learn how to feel like someone who deserves a great new job, someone who will soon get a great new job, and then finally, feel like someone who has gotten a great new job.
This is the work of manifestation. Changing yourself primarily, and then watching your life change as a result.
So yes, you can manifest material things that will make you more comfortable, but not without doing the inner work first.
What happens if I skip feelings?
You may wonder why you have been able to use thoughts and visualization only to manifest things in the past.
Indeed, this is a viable option for people who have no blocks (emotional/psychological) to their goals. If you know that your desire is as good as yours, then your simple focus will be all you need to manifest what you desire.
If in fact you have emotional blocks to your desires, you will need to do the emotional work. Deciding not to do it could lead to one of a couple things.
Not manifesting
The first risk is the most obvious, which is that you won’t get what you want. No matter how hard you focus and work hard for your goal, it will not be yours.
This will be frustrating, but obvious enough. You may not manifest because you don’t believe in miracles, or you think the universe would never grant such a selfish request. These begrudging thoughts and feelings are emotional problems to work through.
Manifesting but not realizing
Another unfortunate outcome of refusing to do your inner work is getting what you want but not seeing it.
We think of our desires as tangible things a lot of the time, but what we seldom realize is that we are really looking for is a feeling.
We may begin to feel better, and actually get what we want that way, but we don’t believe that it’s enough because we’ve been told that money and success (and so on and so forth) are very important.
Also, we may get what we want but still not understand that we have it. Imagine someone wishes to become loved by another individual. They may be able to manifest it, but if they don’t believe they are deserving of this person’s love, they will not be able to see that they have it. There will be constant rationalizations and disbelief around something that is a legitimate reality.
We need to get to the root of our issues. You are not unloved, the problem in this case is that you are convinced you are unloveable.
It comes, but not to stay
You may also get what you want briefly but not be able to keep it. Many people have this issue, they may be able to find a mate, but pick fights until they’re driven away. Or end up betraying the very friend they manifested.
This self-sabotage mostly comes from a place of not feeling you deserve what you desire. And as was mentioned before, this is feelings work.
It is imperative that you become the sort of person who deserves what you wish for yourself, whatever that person looks like to you.
Again, you must follow your real thoughts and emotions and seek to transform them, not to police them. Not to try and suck your thoughts back in before the universe gets ahold of them because you realize they are negative.
Manifested, but left unhappy
The saddest outcome by far is that you may get what you desired by all accounts, but not be able to enjoy it.
It is human nature to get what we want and yet never be satisfied. We are always learning, growing and changing, so it makes sense for us to never remain satisfied with one thing for eternity. We like variety, novelty. It’s what keeps us moving forward.
Yet this phenomenon is different from what I’m addressing. Not doing your emotional work can lead to getting what you wanted, and then not even liking it in the first place!
Similar to a depression, sometimes you get exactly what you always wanted, only to realize you don’t like it in the first place. You may feel no connection with this state of being, or even dislike what you imagined would make you glow from the inside out.
You may wonder what would be the reason for this. If you don’t do the inner emotional work, you don’t know why you want something.
Sometimes, why you want something can be more important than what you want. If you know why you want what you want, you know which aspects will be satisfying and you know just how to settle yourself into it and you know exactly the best way to incorporate it into your life.
If you don’t connect it to your feelings, it’s got nothing to really stick to.
Ultimately, the law of attraction goes so much further than thoughts turning into things. We turn our thoughts into things with our emotions, and we must learn the process of transformation.
We become, again and again, a better version of ourselves. This is the manifesting journey. There will be things, but more than that along the way, there will be your constant, joyous transformation. Even amidst the pain and confusion, you will find this.
