Basic Principles I

[sabrinamari]

"Every thought that you give your attention to expands and becomes a bigger part of your vibrational mix. Whether it is a thought of something you want or a thought of something you do not want---your attention invites it into your experience.

Since this is an attraction-based Universe, there is no such thing as exclusion. Everything is about inclusion. So, when you see something that you would like to experience and you focus upon it, shouting yes to it, you include it in your experience. But when you see something that you would not want to experience, and you focus upon it, shouting no at it, you also include that in your experience. You do not invite it in with your yes and exclude it with your no, because there is no exclusion in this attraction-based Universe. Your focus is the invitation. Your attention to it is the invitation.

And so, those who are mostly observers thrive in good times but suffer in bad times because what they are observing is already vibrating, and as they observe it, they include it in their vibrational countenance; and as they include it, the Universe accepts that as their point of attraction---and gives them more of the essence of it. So, for an observer, the better it gets, the better it gets; or the worse it gets, the worse it gets. However, one who is a visionary thrives in all times."

"Ask and It Is Given," Esther and Jerry Hicks, pp. 41-42

Comments

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

This point of view is one I tend to view warily. The reason is, it sort of implies that someone who has bad things happen to them must have done something to attract those experiences, even if it's just being afraid they might happen.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

It doesn't imply this, it says this. It says that by fearing something, you feed its vibration, and help create the conditions that make that feared thing more likely to happen.

The idea is this: anytime you pour energy into something, whether by worry, by stressing over it, or by obsessing/ruminating on it, you "feed" it energetically and create a comforting environment in which it can come on over and settle into your life.

Classic examples:

Creating the very thing you fear the most in a relationship by stressing and getting emotionally wobbly and/or intense enough to freak out the other person (I've done this many, many times over).

Planting suggestions about the things I do not want in the minds of my friends, colleagues and lovers by talking about my worries incessantly, only to have these worries entered as possibilities in their minds---possibilities that later come to fruition (ditto).

Putting much more time, energy and planning (since worrying is planning for what you do not want) into possible disaster scenarios than I do into the creation of good things---and then being surprised when I stumble on my path to those good things.

And so on, and so on, and so on.

The problem, as I understand it, is that once I say, "OK, I will most likely get what I focus on the most," I have to take the lion's share of responsibility for what then happens.

And usually, even if I personally did not do that feared Awful Thing, neither did I energetically or physically lay suffiecient ground for the Good Thing that I hoped would happen...and accepting this really smarts!

The reality is that I can only change things that are in my power to change, and if I say, "Oh, I have no power over that", then sure enough, I'm right.

I'm right---because whether you believe you can, or believe you can't, you're usually right-- and I'm also powerless and miserable.

I would rather be wrong, have some responsibility/power to act in the situation, and end up happy.

Anyway, you may see things differently. This is simply my own experience of things.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

So, if a woman who's walking by herself alone at night is a bit worried about that situation, and focuses on maintaining awareness of her surroundings and of the other people around her, but still gets mugged or rape, that's HER fault because she was worried?

If someone's department is laying people off and they are thinking, "gosh, I hope I keep my job" but are also focusing on, "what's my emergency financial plan if I DO lose my job? How will I handle it?" it's their fault if they lose their job?

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

My answer to #1 was just posted---you can see it if you run your eyes over the comment section again.

As for #2: In my opinion, it works like this:

If you think you might lose your job, you brainstorm an emergency plan and then set it up.

THEN you stop worrying and obsessing about it. Instead, you either: A) start focusing on how to give a stronger, better performance at work or B) start focusing on how build a better career that fulfills you more deeply than what you currently have. It is even possible to split your energy between the two.

In either case, you are pouring the bulk of your energy into brainstorming, planning and executing what you do want, rather than into worrying about/feeding the energy of what you don't want.

Fearing, obsessing and freaking out are guaranteed to make you more passive and more vulnerable. Fear also makes you much more apt to make bad decisions. I rarely make good decisions when I am afraid.

Planning and putting in place concrete steps for success are guaranteed to get you closer and closer to what you do want, no matter what the goal.

My wise friend friend Phyllis says that no matter what, you need to visualize what you want as if it is just outside a door that's across the room from you. No matter what, keep walking toeards that door!

Eventually, you will reach it---or something even better.

But if you stop walking, sit down and start crying, you will never reach it.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I just get so tired of those people who, any time something bad happens to someone else, say (with that superior, snotty voice), "Well, you just weren't thinking positively!" Or, who when something good FAILS to happen, say, "You must not have wanted it enough." Then they quote philosophies like this one at the poor disappointed person. I fully agree that putting energy into what you want and not borrowing trouble is the best way to live your life, but some people take that attitude way too far.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

I understand that this is a problem. I also think there are many useful and true principles that appear contradictory when invoked in extreme form as opposites of each other, and this makes things even more difficult.

My favorite example of this is the tension between structural violence and personal agency (a version of what you are pointing out here).

Poverty, violence and oppression really exist, and they clearly limit the freedom and quality of life of those whom they impact.

But agency, personal power and the ability of individuals to recreate themselves also exists, even among the disempowered and oppressed.

Each exists in tension with the other, and sometimes one dominates a situation more than its counterpart, but it's not always simple to gauge the balance.

To embrace one and deny the other is clearly a dead end, but assessing the exact balance between the two in any particular situation can be very difficult!

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

The other issue here is that people see this principle and say, "Well, this thinking implies that people who are murdered or abused invited that abuse."

My answer is that any idea or principle taken to its logical extreme becomes false, a caricature of itself.

Any truth, stretched far enough, becomes ridiculous. But if principles like these are applied appropriately, in reasonable measure, they yield valuable insights, like "Your intent is as important as your choice of action," and "You mostly get what you focus on the most".

These are useful principles that sit at the core of most magical and religious systems.

For me, the trick is to know when to apply them.

[ramchild67.livejournal.com]

This all makes good sense to me.

[sirjames.livejournal.com]

Good post, and perhaps timing for me - thank you.

Do you have any suggestions for staying on track with that kind of thinking, and how do you keep yourself from just observing.

I am now focusing, more and more, on an image of my perfect health. :)

*hugs*
- James

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do. Pick up a copy of the book I quoted above.

It's useful in a couple of ways: it provides a good reminder of the basic principles at work here (although it does, at times, take the core principle to an extreme perspective that badseed1980 rightly identifies as ridiculous).

However, if you ignore the chaff and pull out the wheat, the whole second half of the book is a list of 20 concrete strategies for altering your thought processes for the better----basically, for focusing most of your energy on how to get what you want.

And this is REALLY cool: it comes with a diagnostic tool that helps you figure out which strategies will work best for you at any given moment based on your starting state of mind.

So, if you're really and truly bummed and full of blame and rage (like I was early last week and the week before) some of the strategies are almost useless. These are noted as such. For those really pissed off times, you need other, clearly labeled strategies.

But say you're actually not so angry and bummed, just obsessing a little too much on negative attitudes that won't help you get what you want. In that case, another set of strategies will work best. these are noted as such, too.

As long as you are comfortable sifting through New Age jargon and you can steer clear of the occasional extreme statement, the book is very helpful.

[jeneralist.livejournal.com]

I find that this works to a certain extent, but (as others have pointed out) it can easily be justification (deserved or not) for not planning and for victim-blaming.

In my day job, I think a lot about preventing problems, or detecting them when they're still manageable. Vaccinations to prevent disease; handwashing; smoking cessation programs; mammography; stuff like that. The "you attract what you think about" idea, taken to somewhere between an extreme and a logical conclusion, would suggest that vaccinations invite disease -- and that if someone was worried about a cancer risk (say the disease ran in the family) and then they got it, they brought it on themselves.

That said, I do concur with the observation that's sometimes phrased, "The inner child doesn't hear 'no' or 'not'." If you're doing magic, work for health, not for "no cancer." When I was trying to make sure that my school didn't move from central NJ to Camden for two years, I started looking at housing near Camden -- then stopped myself, because I didn't want to add energy to that outcome. And, of course, when I read Fast Food Nation ("McDonald's is bad. McDonald's food is bad for you. McDonald's exploits its workers....") I had the strongest craving for a Quarter Pounder with Fries I'd ever had.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Excellent points. As badseed1980 noted, this idea can be carried to an illogical extreme.

On the other hand, that McDonald's example is painfully funny and familiar...

[zammis.livejournal.com]

I'm with you- toss out the extreme statements, and take what's useful, esp the 20 strategies. "Wouldn't it be nice if" is one of my favorites when I'm having trouble letting myself receive good things.