You are what you think about

I'm sure many of you have heard some of the hype about the Law of Attraction, perhaps from the book/dvd "The Secret," an article you've read, or perhaps from somebody you know. Though the term "Law of Attraction" is becoming more widespread in our society, there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about how to apply and utilize it in our lives. Though there is much to say and many places to research it, below is a brief synopsis that hopefully will help you understand better how The Law of Attraction works.

The first idea crucial to understanding the Law is that your thoughts are a form of energy. Since energy attracts like energy, every thought that you put out there is attracting like thoughts and/or circumstances. Hence, if you are worried about not having enough money, you will not only be attracting further worries about your finances, but you will attract further circumstances in which you lack money. Thought of lack leads to more lack, you see.
If conversely, you are focused on abundance and wealth, you will attract further thoughts of this nature, and you will be attracting more abundance and wealth into your life experience. Thoughts of plentitude lead to more plentitude and ultimately more of what you want.

Whenever possible, you want to focus on what you do want rather than what you do not want. The Universe does not respond to the word "no" or "not," instead it responds to your thoughts with more of what you are thinking about, regardless of whether you actually want the thought/circumstance or not. So if you're thinking, "I don't want to be late again," you're going to attract more of being late in your life; if you are thinking, "I want to be healthy," you are attracting more well-being into your life. Also, the stronger your emotions are when thinking any given thought, the more powerfully you set the Law of Attraction into motion. Many of our thoughts are neutral with little or no attracting power, like when we think about what we want for dinner or are choosing an outfit to wear.

An important note here is that it doesn't matter where you currently stand in your life; you can begin to utilize the Law of Attraction from whatever situation or standpoint you are coming from. If you're coming from a place of extreme dissatisfaction with your life, that's okay, but the key to success here is to overlook your current negative feelings and replace them with more positive feelings whenever possible.

You see, your feelings are a guide post for what kinds of thoughts you are thinking; if you are feeling positive emotions, such as peacefulness, joy, or love, then your thoughts are in line with who you are and who you want to become; in this state, you will be able to use the Law of Attraction with great success.
If, on the other hand, you are feeling any sort of negative emotion, for example jealousy, anger, or despair, this is a sign that your thoughts are not in line with who you are or with what you desire. Knowing this, you can become more aware of your thoughts and thus shift your thoughts to feelings of relief when you become aware of feeling any sort of negative emotion.

So, in order to successfully attract what you want into your life, it's not only necessary to focus on those things which you like and those things you want, but you must also do it from a place of good feeling emotion. If your thoughts do not align with your emotions, then you will not be sending the desired signal to the universe to align with you and your wants.

When focusing on that which you want, you must simultaneously be feeling positive emotions in order to manifest your desire. Additionally, you must remove all doubt from your mind of whether your desire will be realized. After you focus on that which you want and conjure up good feelings about it, you must expect that this desire will be fulfilled. Leave aside all judgments and fears about that which you want and just focus on the good feeling emotions that accompany realizing your desire.

The Universe is always responding to your thoughts and feelings, you see. So when you are focusing on that which you do not want or feeling any sort of negative emotion, the Universe brings forth more of the same; that which you do not want and that which does not feel good.

To get this whole process of manifesting your desires started, you must find a way to feel good about your life. Even if you wish to change your life situation, you must find a way to accept your life the way it is currently, while also feeling joy in regards to what you wish to bring forth in your life experience. A great way to do this is to make a list of everything you are grateful for in your present life. This list can include anything including friends, family, your talents or abilties, your hobbies or passions, whatever. Once you have made the list, read this list often, whenever you have a few spare minutes, whenever you feel yourself starting to worry or think negative thoughts, and most effectively, first thing in the morning when you wake up (this will set your day off to a great start, increasing your likelihood to attract positive thoughts and experiences).

Just by becoming more grateful for your current life, you become more aligned with Source energy/the Universe, and thus you enable yourself to attract the life you want. By starting off with good feeling emotions, you enter into a positive state of being and thus a positive state of creating, so whatever you create from this state will be in alignment with who you are and what you desire.

So, to sum it up:
Feel good, focus on that which you want, and believe that your desires are on their way.

An important note here is that you do not want to think of your desires as being separate from you, far removed in the future, but you want to think of them as already in motion, part of who you are, waiting to be expressed in your life at the perfect moment.
A word of caution: Keep an open mind about how and when your desires will come to manifest in your life. The Universe often has different ideas than you about how to bring something into your life and when to do so, and always for the better. If you worry your desire will not come for any reason, you are once again focused on lack. Become aware of your thought process so you can shift your thinking back to thoughts of gratitude and abundance any time you are feeling unease, doubts, or fear.

Another thing to avoid: The whole purpose of this Law is to bring forth what you desire into your life with ease and very little effort, so you don't want to worry yourself about what actions you should take.
If you are staying true to the process I have outlined, the Universe is aligning itself with your desires and if it is necessary for you to take any sort of action, you will intuitively know what to do. Following the steps automatically makes you much more aware of opportunities, people, and circumstances that will aide you in realizing your desires. Just trust the process and let your inner guidance/intuition guide you. Doing these things, you can't go wrong!

If you follow the three steps I mentioned above, your desires are sure to come to you: it's Law.

Though it can be tough in the beginning to have faith in the process, it will get easier and easier for you as you go on, as the more success you experience, the more faith you will have, and thus the even greater the success you will experience.
For beginners, I recommend starting with small requests and desires; that way, you won't be bogged down by feelings of doubt or disbelief. Then, gradually, as you begin to understand the process a bit better and you have built up more faith in the Law of Attraction and its power to aide you in your life experience, focus on bigger and better wants and desires, and one day, you'll truly understand that there is no limit to this process. If you can hold an idea or desire in your mind, then it is possible to achieve; it's just a matter of being able to focus on your vision, feeling good about your vision, and knowing from within that your vision is on its way to entering your physical existence.

Personally, it has taken me lots of reading, talking with others, and personal experimentation to truly understand this Law and utilize it with great success in my life. It sounds a little tricky at first, but the more you work with it, the more it will sink in, I promise!

For more information about The Law of Attraction and related material, I highly recommend the following books:

The Law of Attraction by Ester and Jerry Hicks (Teachings of Abraham)

Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain

Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling by Dr. Wayne Dyer

Also, feel free to drop me an e-mail with your questions or comments!

Thanks for reading! May you attract only goodness and beauty into your life experience!