I’m a big believer of the Law of Attraction. This is a basic law of the universe, which is: “You get what you think about”. I would also say that this Law is also “You get what you feel about”. Some might call it karma or ‘reaping what you sow’ or just plain common sense. When you focus on positive things, positive things happen to you; when you complain all the time you just get more to complain about. Some people might wave this off as too new agey or just a product of psychology, but leading edge thought in physics (yes, its science!) shows that the power of the observer can completely change the outcome of an experiment based on what the experimenter expects the outcome to be.

For a long time, scientists assumed that this observer effect was restricted solely to the realm of weird experiments in the basement of the science wing of universities. This restriction of the fundamental laws of the universe to dusty philosophical discussions, conducted mostly in the language of mathematics, was likely because it was all too weird to grasp at the time and requires a fundamental shift in how we live in our world.

The Buddha says “ With our thoughts, we create the world”. This statement is not just a point of philosophy or psychology, it is truth. Scientific truth. You just can’t get truthier than that. 🙂

Now there are two parts to this Law of Attraction, the first is desire, or wanting, and the second is attracting. This is a simple version, but that is basically it. The desire, say for a new bike, could have come from almost anywhere, maybe it was an ad you saw in a magazine, or your old bike is slow, or your friend has a new bike and you admire it, or your old bike was stolen, or you read an article about how riding a bike 10 minutes a day keeps you young. Wherever the desire came from, it is there, in the universe, and out there, in the universe, an instantaneous response is formed. It is like a wave through time. It ripples out in all directions, without bounds or limits and your new bike begins its journey on its way to you.

So why is there no new bike? Why isn’t every day like Christmas? Because every, absolutely every, thought, feeling and impulse you have is also, instantaneously registered by the universe. So the more you can keep your thoughts and feelings focused in a positive direction, even if it is not about the bike, the faster your desires will be attracted. Since life is one grand experiment, you don’t need to take my word for it, test this out in your life.

I am actually in a very blessed place in my life. As I look around, I see evidence of all of my previous desires right here in physical form, part of my day to day experience. What I am realizing is that the desire, for things to change, be more, be less, be sunnier, be easier, has not lessened when I get my latest manifested desire. This is not to say that I am in the “I’ll be happy someday” mentality, or that I am particularly driven by having ‘stuff’. It is more that I keep dreaming. I dream of many wonderful things, like peace and love and locally grown vegetables. It is a little like mountain climbing, you get to the top, you get your desire, and from the top you set your sights on the next one.

And today it hit me, it is so clear, so simple. The point of all of it is never to get to the next thing, the next goal, the next mountain. It is always to love where you are, love your life. Taking steps, as they present themselves, toward your next dream, but always, always relishing the dream you are living right now. Right now. Now. Just as it is, just as you are, even if you are not where you want to be. This time is so precious, this life is so precious. This moment only comes once, be it good or bad, you won’t have to repeat this one. And if all it took to really change your life, was to shift focus, to the things you love, rather than the thing you fear. To choose again each moment, to renew the focus, to be grateful, to be hopeful, to choose happy. What great things we all could do if we just did this.