Like Attracts Like

I’m sure many of you have heard of “The Secret”. If you’ve seen the movie, you might be thinking, “oh, yeah, the hokey movie where the kids wants a new bike, and draws pictures of it, dreams about it, focuses thoughts on it, and low and behold, the kid opens the door one day to find THE new bike, pink tassels and all” (As soon as Walker reads this, he’s going to be thinking “where can I get a copy of this brilliance!?”)

So I’m not going to argue that the book, the movie, the CD box set, the posters, etc, etc have some serious materialistic issues here; you have to look past quotes such as, “…I live in a 4-million-dollar house, have a wife to die for...because I’ve learned The Secret” or “you have to visualize your hands wrapping themselves around the steering wheel of your new sports car.” I’m not kidding – these are actual quotes. But what I am going to tell you about is the underlying principle: the law of attraction, conscious desire, or more simply, “like attracts like.”

Without getting all metaphysical here, let me tell you that this principle has its roots in quantum physics and I am a strong believer. As Wikipedia explains, the idea is that a person’s thoughts, emotions, and beliefs (both conscious and unconscious) cause an actual change in the physical world that attracts positive and negative experiences that correspond to these thoughts. For example, you apply for a new job, and you think “no way can I land this,” your interviewer consciously or unconsciously picks this up, and you’re back to pouring over the classifieds. On the other hand, if you spend some time visualizing your self in your new office, succeeding at the job, your new co-workers laughing at your every joke, high-fiving you at the water cooler, your body will be giving off positive vibrations and you’ll get the job.

You’re thoughts are powerful and we’ve barely even tapped into our potential human brain power. Erase the word “don’t” and “can’t” from your vocabulary!!! Your brain focuses on these negative words and muddles the picture of your goals. “Don’t eat to many sweets” translates in your brain to “eat sweets” (Remember this, Walker).

The idea is to live your life with gratitude for the things we do have in our lives and not dwell on what we don’t have. If you say, “I could never do that / have that / be that,” you’re right; you won’t. We attract what we think about. To give you some quotes that I am more in line with, “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions,” and “All that we are is a result of what we have thought,” from Einstein and Buddha, respectively. So take a bike ride on your favorite trail, keep a list of things you are grateful for, and visualize what you want to achieve, expect great things, and understand that every possibility already exists. Laugh a lot, live generously, breathe deeply, and BELIEVE!