photo by: chococreme26

“You get what you think about; your thoughts determine your destiny.” – the silly Law of Attraction

The above quote is the only official(ish) definition for the Law of Attraction that I could find. And it is seriously flawed…

“You get what you think about”

This is only partially true. It would have been completely true if it would have said something like this: “You generally get what you think about, but sometimes you may also get what you don’t think about.”

Now I don’t want to offend anyone who’s reading this, but the ones who resurrected this 100+ years old concept indeed *got* (attracted if you’d like) what they thought about – stupid people (been there myself for a short while). If you’re feeling a bit offended by what I just said, don’t worry, it’ll pass. Just think of something beautiful.

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“Your thoughts determine your destiny“

This is the funny part, as this statement contradicts itself and the general Law of Attraction concept and ideology. Not a wise thing coming from the only official definition around.

destiny: a predetermined course of events that will inevitably happen in the future

The Law of Attraction wants to be an empowering idea, one that lifts the individual from a state in which he merely accepts all that happens to him to a state in which he has absolute control over his life.

However, if there would be such a thing as destiny, one’s life would be unchangeable. The destiny, by definition, would simply be; carved in granite, in a galaxy far far away. Changing it would be out of anyone’s reach.

Being or becoming aware that you have control over your actions implies responsibility, but the idea of taking responsibility for your actions is not compatible with the concept of destiny. You can’t be responsible for something that’s not of your making.

In order to believe in the LOA definition (thus in the law itself), one has to regard two diametrically opposed concepts that cancel each other as being true and valid.

Here’s a slightly “tweaked” version of the definition:

You generally get what you think about, but sometimes you may also get what you don’t think about. Your thoughts determine a predetermined course of events that will inevitably happen in the future.

The first sentence is a “doh” one. The second sentence …well, it doesn’t make too much sense, but if we scrap it we’re left with nothing but a “doh” moment. Oh but wait, it seems like we have fired the Moirai and took their place. They now say that we create the predetermined course of events that will inevitably happen in our future. And they say that we can change that course at any time, even if it’s inevitable. If we’re capable of that, I believe that this whole thing is no longer about changing whatever destiny we’re having, but about changing the daydreams we’re having.

In this universe, the Law of Attraction has a lot in common with the secret life of Mickey Mouse. It is inexistent. Unreal. Childish to believe in.

It’s OK to fall asleep for a while and buy into the Law of Attraction theory, but don’t confuse that dream with your real life. You’ll eventually be forced to wake up and face the cold breeze of reality. And you don’t want to be completely naked when that moment comes.



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  • http://odinkirk.com John

    A somber post, Armand. Well thought out, but I noticed a strong undercurrent of general negativity. This seemed to crystallize in “You’ll eventually be forced to wake up and face the cold breeze of reality.”

    The validity of the Law of Attraction aside, having a negative mental stance will cause a problem or two. There is a great discussion of that at: http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/the-5-myths-of-positive-mental-attitude/

  • http://odinkirk.com John

    A somber post, Armand. Well thought out, but I noticed a strong undercurrent of general negativity. This seemed to crystallize in “You’ll eventually be forced to wake up and face the cold breeze of reality.”

    The validity of the Law of Attraction aside, having a negative mental stance will cause a problem or two. There is a great discussion of that at: http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/the-5-myths-of-positive-mental-attitude/

  • http://armannd.com/ Titus-Armand

    I’ll have to agree with you that towards the ending it gets a little bit somber, but the pessimism (and the heavy feel) must be discussed.

    I strongly believe that optimistic people are the same as pessimistic people – out of balance. It’s a fact that life isn’t exclusively good or bad. So paying exclusive attention to only one side of life, regardless of which one, is bound to make one blind to some of its critical aspects.
    To make a simple analogy, let’s imagine that optimism is represented by the day time and pessimism is represented by the night. How would life be if we were to completely shut ourselves off (sort of like computers) immediately after sunset, or sunrise? Well, in either case, we’d miss on a whole lot of things!

    Me, I’m aiming to be in the middle, feeling the water on both sides. That means being both optimistic and pessimistic at the same time.

    The existence of pessimism and negativity in the post is planned and has its purpose. And I am really happy that it can be felt!! Why happy? Because if an overly optimistic person reads it, that person will get a bit of negativity out of it. Which means that, to a small degree, I’ve helped restore a balance. Yes, that person might hate me for it, but it’s something that I’m prepared to accept.

    In the end, we, as bloggers, can only do as much as to provide guidelines. Our power is insignificantly great.

    PS: Thank you so much for the link! :)

  • http://armannd.com/ Titus-Armand

    I’ll have to agree with you that towards the ending it gets a little bit somber, but the pessimism (and the heavy feel) must be discussed.

    I strongly believe that optimistic people are the same as pessimistic people – out of balance. It’s a fact that life isn’t exclusively good or bad. So paying exclusive attention to only one side of life, regardless of which one, is bound to make one blind to some of its critical aspects.
    To make a simple analogy, let’s imagine that optimism is represented by the day time and pessimism is represented by the night. How would life be if we were to completely shut ourselves off (sort of like computers) immediately after sunset, or sunrise? Well, in either case, we’d miss on a whole lot of things!

    Me, I’m aiming to be in the middle, feeling the water on both sides. That means being both optimistic and pessimistic at the same time.

    The existence of pessimism and negativity in the post is planned and has its purpose. And I am really happy that it can be felt!! Why happy? Because if an overly optimistic person reads it, that person will get a bit of negativity out of it. Which means that, to a small degree, I’ve helped restore a balance. Yes, that person might hate me for it, but it’s something that I’m prepared to accept.

    In the end, we, as bloggers, can only do as much as to provide guidelines. Our power is insignificantly great.

    PS: Thank you so much for the link! :)

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  • http://www.LaurieBrenner.com/blog/ Robbie

    I so enjoyed reading your post, don’t stop now! It’s nice to make connections like this.

  • http://www.LaurieBrenner.com/blog/ Robbie

    I so enjoyed reading your post, don’t stop now! It’s nice to make connections like this.

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