You Can't Push a String! (The Law of Attraction, Step 1).

I've tried explaining this Law of Attraction thing to a few people and telling them about The Secret and while some say they get it, they still don't REALLY get it. I understand that it is a lot to wrap your brain around. It's a completely different way of thinking. It's hard to find people who actually do think, and it's even harder to find people who actually do think, AND, are willing to change the WAY they think!

I have two sayings that I regularly use on my kids... one is: You Can't Push a String. Which I tell them when one of their friends is being difficult or not wanting to go along with whatever it is they want to do. The other is: White Duck, Smooth Pond. This has become my You need to calm down phrase.

As I've read and learned more about the Law of Attraction, it hit me that these two sayings are really tied to it. When I tell one of the kids You Can't Push a String, I'm really saying that you have to pull something or someone towards you, that you can't make someone change or do something, you can only change yourself. When I tell them White Duck, Smooth Pond, it's the short version of: Take a deep breath, relax, exhale, take another deep breath, now see a pond in the middle of a nice field with some trees around it and a small white duck just floating still in the center. Watch the little circular ripples in the water moving slowly away from the duck; watch the circles getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

You're probably reading this thinking that I've lost my mind. Just keep reading and it'll start to make sense!

The Law of Attraction states that you attract what you think about and what you focus on. (Which is why I read the Victoria Secrets catalog from cover to cover as soon as it arrives in the mail - just kidding... sort of!)

When just introduced to the concept of the Law of Attraction, people have trouble visualizing it. So, think about it this way: the things that you want, desire, and need must be pulled towards you, you can't push them. The way that you pull them to you is by sending out ripples or waves in the form of thoughts and emotions (energy). The more emotion or energy is attached to the thoughts, the bigger the ripples or waves will be. Visualize yourself as that little white duck sitting in the pond of the universe just bobbing up and down. What are you sending out? What are you receiving?

If you constantly focus on things like "I hate my job", or "I'll never get out of debt", or "I'll never find someone to love me", well guess what.... You'll always hate your job, you'll always be alone, and you'll always be in debt. You can't change those things by pushing against them with anger no more than you can push a string; you can only change your situation by changing the way you think. Let me say it one more time: by changing the way you think.

Anger propagates more anger. Frustration fuels more frustration. Self pity is a little inbreeding devil that breeds faster than roaches! Stop and find something that gives you pleasure, that makes you feel, even if only for a moment, that a huge weight has been lifted off of your shoulders. It can be anything: the taste of homemade ice cream, the silence of snow fall, holding your new born child, working in your garden, hang gliding... anything. Focus on that feeling when you feel your thoughts turning toward anger, frustration, self pity, or when you start thinking about the things you want to remove from your life. Focus on that good feeling as hard as you can for a long as you can. Let the negative thoughts pass on by.

Take some time each day to purposely focus on what you do want in your life. If you haven't written those items down, do so. List them out on a sheet of paper, but don't say "I want" or "I wish", say "I have" or "I am": make it the present tense as if it's already occurred. I think it's important to say them out loud too. I try to take a break from work and walk up and down several flights of steps each day. I repeat several of the items from my list out loud as I'm doing this. Luckily the stairwell is usually vacant! I also make up songs when I'm driving (alone) in which I sing about these same items. To those new to the concept of The Law of Attraction, this may seem silly, but think about that duck sitting in the pond... what you have in your life is a direct reflection of what's in the waves you send out around you... change what's in the waves and you will change what's in your life.

For more information, visit Steve Pavlina's blog: "Personal Development for Smart People" - he's in my blog roll in the left column. If you've not watched "The Secret" you should get it and watch it.

I'll end this with a quote from one of my favorite songwriters, Earl Thomas Conley, who had a string of 18 number one hits in a row on the country charts in the 80s: If you don't shoot for the farthest extremes, there's no way you're gonna move more than a little.

Take Care and even though it sounds like hocus pocus, give it a shot!
Fred

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