I'll say this clearly. I am not a Christian (although I respect my Christian friends' and relatives' beliefs as long as they don't "proselytize" all over mine ;-) ).
That said, what is it with "bah-humbugging" all over the greeting "Merry Christmas," anyway? So okay, Christians intend it as a recognition of Jesus' birth (even though the man wasn't really born then), and what of it?
You may call that "proselytizing," too, but you know? Whether or not it's meant that way, you don't have to take it that way. Plenty of other folks (me included) mean it as an innocuous, cheery greeting representative of the holiday itself: good feelings, good food and once-a-year treats, good times with friends and family, Christmas trees, having fun, presents and Santa, Rudolph's brave plight, all that.
So go on; relax already. And oh, yeah: Merry Christmas. :-)
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
"The Law of Attraction Can Give You Instant Results!" Right? Not so Fast
"Change your thinking and change your life!" That's what so much of the hype around the Law of Attraction spouts as gospel, but let's take a deep breath and examine this for a minute.
Oftentimes, because the so-called "experts" make it sound that simple (and often to simply make themselves attractive to you and therefore make money FROM you), it can be really discouraging to those of us who follow LOA, especially if we are new to it, to think that we're somehow doing something wrong because things don't change miraculously overnight. (Trust me; things didn't change overnight for the so-called "experts," either.)
However, if we think LOA is going to bring us instant changes, we're really just taking the wrong approach. Instead, the Law of Attraction is a construct by which you can live your life, not just a superficial "tool" that can make you money, make you prettier, make you skinnier, make that perfect job appear, and so on.
Many of us who start out in the pursuit of LOA start out precisely to fix something that's wrong with our lives -- we don't have enough money, we don't have a loving relationship, we hate our jobs, we don't weigh what we think we should, and so on. However, if you stick with it, you'll find that something happens when you keep at it, over the long haul.
That is, your focus changes. You begin to realize that it isn't just one thing you want to fix with your life. Instead, you want to make your life better in so many ways that go far beyond the superficial. And as you stay with LOA, you begin to see just what those "beyond the superficial" things in your life are, those things that need fixing that you don't know how to fix because you neither have the wisdom nor the experience to do so.
Simply sitting back and asking for help is one way to do this. The universe and LOA in general are great at responding when we ask for help. The thing is, you have to learn to listen and watch, because the answers you get are probably not going to be particularly overt. Instead, they'll be subtle suggestions that will gradually change your life for the better, sometimes so subtly that you won't realize just how much things have improved until you look back over many months' time and see just how much better things are.
So, when it comes to LOA, go for the subtle. Look for the gradual. That's likely how LOA's improvements are really going to come to you.
Oftentimes, because the so-called "experts" make it sound that simple (and often to simply make themselves attractive to you and therefore make money FROM you), it can be really discouraging to those of us who follow LOA, especially if we are new to it, to think that we're somehow doing something wrong because things don't change miraculously overnight. (Trust me; things didn't change overnight for the so-called "experts," either.)
However, if we think LOA is going to bring us instant changes, we're really just taking the wrong approach. Instead, the Law of Attraction is a construct by which you can live your life, not just a superficial "tool" that can make you money, make you prettier, make you skinnier, make that perfect job appear, and so on.
Many of us who start out in the pursuit of LOA start out precisely to fix something that's wrong with our lives -- we don't have enough money, we don't have a loving relationship, we hate our jobs, we don't weigh what we think we should, and so on. However, if you stick with it, you'll find that something happens when you keep at it, over the long haul.
That is, your focus changes. You begin to realize that it isn't just one thing you want to fix with your life. Instead, you want to make your life better in so many ways that go far beyond the superficial. And as you stay with LOA, you begin to see just what those "beyond the superficial" things in your life are, those things that need fixing that you don't know how to fix because you neither have the wisdom nor the experience to do so.
Simply sitting back and asking for help is one way to do this. The universe and LOA in general are great at responding when we ask for help. The thing is, you have to learn to listen and watch, because the answers you get are probably not going to be particularly overt. Instead, they'll be subtle suggestions that will gradually change your life for the better, sometimes so subtly that you won't realize just how much things have improved until you look back over many months' time and see just how much better things are.
So, when it comes to LOA, go for the subtle. Look for the gradual. That's likely how LOA's improvements are really going to come to you.
Monday, December 14, 2009
LOA (Law of Attraction) and Skepticism
Just like any "religion," you've got lots of folks screaming, "You must BELIEVE!" when it comes to LOA. Now, let me tell you, when I first stumbled on LOA, it sure sounded good, to just relax, change your mind, change your vibration, watch things unfold. Presto, life is wonderful and perfect, suddenly!
Yeah, right. Except I'm a very skeptical person, especially when someone wants me to turn off critical thinking, and I think it's a good and healthy thing to be that way. And it's also not that simple, despite what so-called gurus would have you believe.
Here's what I think. You DO have a new and better life unfold, slowly over time, such that the adage, "As you think, so shall you be" really does make sense. But it happens slowly; I'm still working on it years later. And because you "do the work" of changing the way you think over that same time period, you're not the same person when you've been chugging along in this process for awhile that you were when you started.
You're not the same person precisely *because* you did the work of changing. Is that simple? Is that "presto-chango"? Nope. But sometimes, people who want to "sell" you on the Law of Attraction have a vested interest in making you think it's easy, too. "My way is the right way, and I have it all figured out; just listen to me," they might say. Tempting? Sure, but not a particularly wise choice, in my opinion.
Now, that said, it's not simple to pursue LOA, but it is truly meaningful, often fun, and always empowering for me. It makes logical sense to me now, too, so that I'm not so much a skeptic -- but I *am* always aware that I've got to keep skepticism in the mix just to keep things "real."
Yeah, right. Except I'm a very skeptical person, especially when someone wants me to turn off critical thinking, and I think it's a good and healthy thing to be that way. And it's also not that simple, despite what so-called gurus would have you believe.
Here's what I think. You DO have a new and better life unfold, slowly over time, such that the adage, "As you think, so shall you be" really does make sense. But it happens slowly; I'm still working on it years later. And because you "do the work" of changing the way you think over that same time period, you're not the same person when you've been chugging along in this process for awhile that you were when you started.
You're not the same person precisely *because* you did the work of changing. Is that simple? Is that "presto-chango"? Nope. But sometimes, people who want to "sell" you on the Law of Attraction have a vested interest in making you think it's easy, too. "My way is the right way, and I have it all figured out; just listen to me," they might say. Tempting? Sure, but not a particularly wise choice, in my opinion.
Now, that said, it's not simple to pursue LOA, but it is truly meaningful, often fun, and always empowering for me. It makes logical sense to me now, too, so that I'm not so much a skeptic -- but I *am* always aware that I've got to keep skepticism in the mix just to keep things "real."
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Law of Attraction "Foundations," not Fakery
It's no wonder that this recent focus on James Ray and the Sedona sweat lodge tragedy has brought LOA naysayers out in force. The guy is a prime example of the downfalls of falling for fake gurus, in this case for the Law of Attraction-following crowd.
But it doesn't mean LOA itself is fake, and we LOA-ers know that. It *is* an illustration of just what can happen when you give your power over to someone else, and quit thinking for yourself. LOA is all about self-empowerment, about staying focused in the "now" and fully conscious, and not about blindly following someone else.
What is LOA for?
It's a personal interpretation, of course (everything with LOA ultimately is powered by personal interpretation ;-) ).
In my case, LOA is there for me to give me a construct to my life. It helps me focus on what I want and to fix what I don't want. And it gives me permission to ignore what I don't want (but have in my life nonetheless) if it's something I can't fix right now.
That's freedom. Because what happens when I have the freedom to ignore what I don't want and can't fix is that eventually, one of several things happens:
§ Tools "show up" so that I can fix it
§ It just "goes away" of its own accord, or I can leave it behind easily
§ It just changes of its own accord to something I want
§ I grow into it and discover I DO want it, and that I just had to give it (and me) time
It's an ongoing process, too, and I'm still learning my own mastery a decade into this. If that's you, too, that's okay. Give it time. :-)
But it doesn't mean LOA itself is fake, and we LOA-ers know that. It *is* an illustration of just what can happen when you give your power over to someone else, and quit thinking for yourself. LOA is all about self-empowerment, about staying focused in the "now" and fully conscious, and not about blindly following someone else.
What is LOA for?
It's a personal interpretation, of course (everything with LOA ultimately is powered by personal interpretation ;-) ).
In my case, LOA is there for me to give me a construct to my life. It helps me focus on what I want and to fix what I don't want. And it gives me permission to ignore what I don't want (but have in my life nonetheless) if it's something I can't fix right now.
That's freedom. Because what happens when I have the freedom to ignore what I don't want and can't fix is that eventually, one of several things happens:
§ Tools "show up" so that I can fix it
§ It just "goes away" of its own accord, or I can leave it behind easily
§ It just changes of its own accord to something I want
§ I grow into it and discover I DO want it, and that I just had to give it (and me) time
It's an ongoing process, too, and I'm still learning my own mastery a decade into this. If that's you, too, that's okay. Give it time. :-)
Friday, December 11, 2009
The Law of Attraction, James Ray, and Sedona
There's been a lot of press lately about this "The Secret" so-called "guru," James Ray, and the sweat lodge tragedy that happened in Sedona, Arizona under his watch; so far, three people have died from it and many more were injured. I've been following that with interest, because I'm a believer in the Law of Attraction, and of course that incident has given a lot of LOA detractors fuel for their fire. They say that we LOA believers will say that number one, the victims attracted this circumstance to themselves, and that number two, James Ray will simply get off scot free because he can simply ignore what happened and put his attention on "something else," thus making this "unpleasant" incident simply go away.
I think they're wrong. I do NOT believe that these victims "attracted" the situation to themselves so that they could die (and I do not believe the gag worthy statement someone said, that they were just "having so much fun in the nonphysical" that they didn't want to come back).
I DO believe these victims gave their power over to James Ray to such an extreme extent that they wouldn't even listen to their own bodies when their bodies screamed that they had to get out of that sweat lodge or perish. Instead, they listened to James Ray tell them that they had to do what HE said -- so much so that they continued to ignore their own well-being to the point where they died. Why did they give their own personal power up so much that they got themselves into that circumstance in the first place?
James Ray is even more responsible for what happened. If he really DID believe in the Law of Attraction, he would know that it's about personal responsibility and self-empowerment -- and that's what he would be teaching. Instead, he was telling these people that they had to listen to HIM, or be failures. Anybody who really believed in the Law of Attraction would be saying that these people should be listening to themselves first and foremost. (And actually, he does say that in what he writes; apparently, it's not part of his personal behavior, though.) He wouldn't be on an ego trip.
But that's what it was. It was a pure ego trip for him, in my opinion, which means that he's a charlatan. Because if you really believe in the Law of Attraction, you know that you have to be wary of your ego, and you have to keep an eye on it; you don't let it control you. You also know that you can't be a fake. You can't pretend to be one thing, but really be something else. That's because the Law of Attraction draws experiences to you based upon who you really *are*, not on who you "pretend" to be. And James Ray is living that out right now -- which is exactly what he deserves.
I think they're wrong. I do NOT believe that these victims "attracted" the situation to themselves so that they could die (and I do not believe the gag worthy statement someone said, that they were just "having so much fun in the nonphysical" that they didn't want to come back).
I DO believe these victims gave their power over to James Ray to such an extreme extent that they wouldn't even listen to their own bodies when their bodies screamed that they had to get out of that sweat lodge or perish. Instead, they listened to James Ray tell them that they had to do what HE said -- so much so that they continued to ignore their own well-being to the point where they died. Why did they give their own personal power up so much that they got themselves into that circumstance in the first place?
James Ray is even more responsible for what happened. If he really DID believe in the Law of Attraction, he would know that it's about personal responsibility and self-empowerment -- and that's what he would be teaching. Instead, he was telling these people that they had to listen to HIM, or be failures. Anybody who really believed in the Law of Attraction would be saying that these people should be listening to themselves first and foremost. (And actually, he does say that in what he writes; apparently, it's not part of his personal behavior, though.) He wouldn't be on an ego trip.
But that's what it was. It was a pure ego trip for him, in my opinion, which means that he's a charlatan. Because if you really believe in the Law of Attraction, you know that you have to be wary of your ego, and you have to keep an eye on it; you don't let it control you. You also know that you can't be a fake. You can't pretend to be one thing, but really be something else. That's because the Law of Attraction draws experiences to you based upon who you really *are*, not on who you "pretend" to be. And James Ray is living that out right now -- which is exactly what he deserves.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
"Concrete" Law of Attraction
Abraham Hicks was my first introduction to LOA (Law of Attraction) more than 10 years ago now, and it was a whole new way to think. I kind of pooh-poohed it, but was also intrigued. Could it really be that easy? "Float your cork!" said Abe. "Reach for the better thought!"
Um, no. I mean, don't get me wrong, but learning LOA in human terms on this planet has meant, for me, the same kinds of struggle, skepticism, etc., I guess you'd expect when you completely change how you think. NOW I believe that things happen for a reason, that I'm pretty much responsible for what happens to me, and it's very empowering to realize that I'm never a victim of circumstance. But are there things I do differ with vs. Abe. For one, we're humans on this planet in these human bodies, and we must necessarily "filter" our experiences to at least some extent in that context. So sometimes, we can't just "feel better" and have things be miraculously okay. There will be loss, grief and struggle, and that's part of life, of this human experience we're all sharing.
That's where "concrete LOA" kicks in, for me. LOA can't completely protect me from the vagaries of life, but it CAN teach me how to see them and handle them. And it can also teach me to stay empowered, to stay present in the moment, and to sidestep those situations where I do have control and choice, but where I might have unwittingly let myself be a victim of circumstance before I knew about my own power and how to use it.
Um, no. I mean, don't get me wrong, but learning LOA in human terms on this planet has meant, for me, the same kinds of struggle, skepticism, etc., I guess you'd expect when you completely change how you think. NOW I believe that things happen for a reason, that I'm pretty much responsible for what happens to me, and it's very empowering to realize that I'm never a victim of circumstance. But are there things I do differ with vs. Abe. For one, we're humans on this planet in these human bodies, and we must necessarily "filter" our experiences to at least some extent in that context. So sometimes, we can't just "feel better" and have things be miraculously okay. There will be loss, grief and struggle, and that's part of life, of this human experience we're all sharing.
That's where "concrete LOA" kicks in, for me. LOA can't completely protect me from the vagaries of life, but it CAN teach me how to see them and handle them. And it can also teach me to stay empowered, to stay present in the moment, and to sidestep those situations where I do have control and choice, but where I might have unwittingly let myself be a victim of circumstance before I knew about my own power and how to use it.
Friday, December 4, 2009
New Lazy Law of Attraction blog
Hey, folks:
Lazy-law-of-attraction.com is just getting up and running, but I've just started this site (and blog) for folks who are interested in talking about the Law of Attraction in a more "lazy," laid back way. I want this site to be yours as much as it is mine, though this blog will mostly be my own "blathering," at least to start. ;-)
About me? I've studied the Law of Attraction for a long time and my first introduction to it was through Abraham-Hicks. I've loved a lot of Abe's approach, but thought it a bit "ethereal" at times. Not enough "in the physical," constructive advice.
Years on, I've found other resources that have also been helpful, but (just for me) have not wanted to focus as much on hype and "bling," "Look what I got!" and "YOU can be rich, too!," as many of the resources I've found have focused on.
Instead, I've always felt that yes, "enough" material subsistence is certainly necessary, IMO, to experience true freedom (if you're worried about paying rent, can you really relax and simply "be"?). But beyond that, what's with all the hype and all the focus on pretty, shiny things? What about conservation, helping Mother Earth survive, and being respectful of the environment, instead of mass consumption "just because"?
And I know; Abe (Abraham-Hicks) has said that whatever we want, we can have; the Earth will simply have the resources, and will provide, because we believe it can be so and will thus attract that experience.
Maybe that's true. But I would like to know if others feel, as I do, that there should be a certain respect inherent in practicing LOA; that just because we "can" have whatever "self"-based desires we want, maybe we practice some restraint, some compassion, some respect, and take care to honor ourselves, each other, the Earth, as part of LOA too.
I'd really like to know what you think, and that's why I started this blog, forum and website. Hope to get some good discussion going.
Best,
Kim
Lazy-law-of-attraction.com is just getting up and running, but I've just started this site (and blog) for folks who are interested in talking about the Law of Attraction in a more "lazy," laid back way. I want this site to be yours as much as it is mine, though this blog will mostly be my own "blathering," at least to start. ;-)
About me? I've studied the Law of Attraction for a long time and my first introduction to it was through Abraham-Hicks. I've loved a lot of Abe's approach, but thought it a bit "ethereal" at times. Not enough "in the physical," constructive advice.
Years on, I've found other resources that have also been helpful, but (just for me) have not wanted to focus as much on hype and "bling," "Look what I got!" and "YOU can be rich, too!," as many of the resources I've found have focused on.
Instead, I've always felt that yes, "enough" material subsistence is certainly necessary, IMO, to experience true freedom (if you're worried about paying rent, can you really relax and simply "be"?). But beyond that, what's with all the hype and all the focus on pretty, shiny things? What about conservation, helping Mother Earth survive, and being respectful of the environment, instead of mass consumption "just because"?
And I know; Abe (Abraham-Hicks) has said that whatever we want, we can have; the Earth will simply have the resources, and will provide, because we believe it can be so and will thus attract that experience.
Maybe that's true. But I would like to know if others feel, as I do, that there should be a certain respect inherent in practicing LOA; that just because we "can" have whatever "self"-based desires we want, maybe we practice some restraint, some compassion, some respect, and take care to honor ourselves, each other, the Earth, as part of LOA too.
I'd really like to know what you think, and that's why I started this blog, forum and website. Hope to get some good discussion going.
Best,
Kim
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