Does the Law of Attraction Really Work?

     After reading The Secret and then watching the movie by the same name I wonder, does the Law of Attraction really work? If, as the book and movie say, this is an actual law of nature the same as the Law of Gravity, then when a person thinks and believes he/she will receive whatever they ask for, they should get it. As an example; John Q. Public sees that the lottery is at an all-time record high and thinks, “Man, I really want to win that. I believe that I have won it and all I have to do is wait till the numbers are drawn to receive that huge check from the Lottery Commission.” They go buy that ticket, go into work and tell their boss to get screwed and quit then sit at home and wait for the drawing, knowing in their heart of hearts that they are going to win that money. What happens? I would say that 99.9999999999% of the time they just screwed up their life because they need to go to work the day after the drawing after they take down the tent they lived in while waiting for the office to give them that check.

     Meanwhile, back on the freeway, you’re driving down the road and traffic is coming to a complete stop. You got up on time, everything went as usual with no mishaps and your mood is better than on most days because you are getting a promotion at work. Its 7:45 and you need to be at work by 8:00 or you’re late and this traffic jam has the potential to make you late. No problem, it can’t last that long, right? Well, you sit there for over an hour because some idiot in a Ford Taurus was talking on the phone, reading the Wall Street Journal, drinking coffee and checking out the girl in the Corvette next to him and didn’t see that semi-truck going uphill much slower than the ten over the limit he was going and he put his hood under the ICC bumper of the trailer. You walk into work and the boss is standing there with a scowl. “You’re late. You can kiss your promotion good-bye.” Did the Law of Attraction work for you? Did you really think this into reality?

Then, of course, there is the ultimate wish, for some ailment to be cured. Let’s take poor eyesight. You just know that you will no longer need those Coke bottle glasses that you need to see farther then the end of your nose. You say your mantra every day, day after day, that your eyes are normal with 20/20 vision for months and your eye appointment comes around and, guess what, you need a new, stronger prescription. Yep, the Law of Attraction really worked there didn’t it?

     There are as many examples as there are people. Some will actually say that the Law works and they get everything they want from a parking spot to millions of dollars. So, let me ask the $64,000 question: does the Law of Attraction actually work or is life just the luck of the draw and is sold as just a way to make a person feel good about the sorry state of affairs of their pitiful life? I have heard it from therapists and psychiatrists over and over that it is not a good thing to get angry over anything and that a person has to always be happy no matter what happens to them. This would be a good way to seduce people into always being happy by thinking that they need to always have a positive attitude no matter what or they won’t get the Law to work for them.

     I have tried the positive thinking thing several times over the years. I’ve believed in my very soul that I would get what I asked for and kept the good vibes going for months without fail and never got a damn thing that I wanted. Did I feel better about life during that time? Yes, for a while but when the debt collectors are calling you at your work and the utilities are shut off, the wife leaves and takes the kids while you get child support and food stamps, when your dog dies and your family disowns you because you can’t even make a living the good attitude tends to dissipate pretty fast. Poverty and loneliness tend to make a good attitude a hard thing to keep. Positive thinking takes you only so far in life in an area that you can’t leave because you can’t even afford enough gas to get to work every day and still pay bills and feed yourself.

     Don’t get me wrong; I have a lot to be thankful for. I still have my kids with me, the kids and I have pretty good health, I have a job that I love even though the pay isn’t the best, I have several very good friends, my home is paid for and we survive without too much suffering, well, the kids think they suffer a lot more than they do. There is a lot of love in our home and that makes it about as happy as any home can be. Life isn’t perfect for us but I don’t think that perfection is what the Law of Attraction means. But, will it make me rich, get me the relationship I want, make my eyesight normal and make me look like Brad Pitt? So far it has not, no matter how much I believe it can.

     There are those that will say that I don’t believe it fully enough, that the time isn’t right, that this isn’t good enough or that got in the way. One negative thought such as – Damn the bills that keep coming - will negate all the positive thinking and believing that has gone one for weeks or months. Really, is it that easy to make the Law go the bad way and leave the good to someone else? I do know that while I am driving through this town or that I will think something along the lines of, “Wow, haven’t been to that store for a while but I really don’t want to, either,” and within a couple of weeks that is exactly where I will go but that is the only time that I can honestly say that the Law works the way The Secret says it will. Hell, I’ve even had it all planned out how I would spread the love around when I win the lottery, every week whether that sucker is 20M or 400M dollars. I haven’t even gotten one number for over three years and since the Powerball was allowed in Iowa as Lotto-America a million years ago I have only won a total of about $40 and I’ve spent many hundreds of dollars playing that thing once or twice a week for all those years in different states.

     Will I say that the Law of Attraction is a farce and doesn’t work? Nope. I cannot disclaim something just because it doesn’t work for me. I refuse to disbelieve in anyone’s faith or belief system. Everyone has the choice to think, do and believe the way they want. All I am saying here is that it has not worked for me. I still have the belief that I am a lottery winner, that I will have the relationship that I want and my lot in life will become much better. When it all comes true then I will say that the Law of Attraction is probably more coincidence than anything else. On the up side-if I jump off a building I know I will hit the ground.