Written by Nandini Sethi
The Law of Attraction states that whatever you attract is in your hands. If you think positive, you experience more positive outcomes and if you’re a pessimist, you are riddled with negative experiences. The law has 3 universal principles that help give it a more complete definition.
Firstly, the law suggest that people attract like-minded people, in the sense that optimists are more like to attract fellow optimists. And consequentially, optimists attract more positive experiences
Secondly, the law implies that it is impossible for a vacuum to be present in your mind, i.e, you can never have an empty mind. And since you can never have an empty mind, what you choose to fill this space with (whether with positive or negative thoughts) is completely in your power
And lastly, the law focuses on the idea that while you may feel like your present is somehow flawed in one way or another, it is up to you to make the best of it rather than feeling victimized
While this does sound well thought-out and somewhat reasonable, sometimes, it doesn’t make sense to me. Don’t get me wrong- I’m all for positive thinking and preaching happiness, but doesn’t this all sound a bit idealistic?
I do believe that bad things happen to good people, and I also believe that sometimes some things that do happen to us are unfair or unjustified. The only plausible justification I can think of is perhaps this is karma. We’re paying for our wrongdoings that happened in a past life, that are coming back to haunt us.
But what even is karma? Does it really count for the little things? A little while ago, my long-distance best friend and I planned an elaborate, kind of luxurious little holiday to celebrate her 21st birthday. For more than a month we micromanaged every little detail and envisaged any scenario where something could go wrong and formulated a solution for the problem that didn’t even exist. We shopped, packed, and even took a COVID test for this trip. Two days before we were set to fly, I came down with a viral infection that lasted exactly the duration of the holiday. We had to cancel.
I understand when people say, ‘this is hell and we’re currently living in it’, and I believe it too. I comply with the logic that people suffer here, on earth for the actions of their past. But isn’t that for the bigger things? Like murders and rape and other cruel acts? Did I murder someone in one of my previous lives to deserve this? Or was it just a random occurrence, what some would call ‘bad luck’? But is anything ever random?
Everything happens for a reason. So how do I, without knowing the reason behind why this annoying, heartbreaking happened to me, think only positive thoughts? I don’t think it’s possible for me to find reasons to be happy in the face of struggle, while the struggle is at its peak. To be honest, I think that’s a little toxic, because instead of dealing with our real, human emotions, we’re suppressing and trying to overcome them. Who knows, years later these repressed memories become the cause of some untraceable trauma?
Don’t get me wrong- I do believe positive thinking is important, in fact, it’s one of the key elements in mental health promotion. But the law of attraction? Sure, the definition would make sense if it only suggested that we try to think positively despite hardships, for mental health reasons or to help keep our head above the water. But do we really attract positivity by thinking positive thoughts? Doesn’t that contradict the concept of karma- because we have to inevitably repent for our actions anyway? Am I just overthinking this whole thing? Let me know what you think.
