“Expecting a trouble-free life because you are a good person is like expecting the bull not to charge you because you are a vegetarian.”
—Jeffery R. Holland
 

 once participated in a Law of Attraction group because I wanted to learn what it was all about. From what I could see through the conversations members were having, the Law of Attraction was focused on intuitive knowing, looking for signs, and a belief that your thoughts could manifest reality. The Universe was in charge of giving you what you needed in every moment, and your biggest role was to keep your vibe high enough so you could keep the good stuff coming your way.

As with any philosophy, group, spiritual tradition, or religion, you really need to be wary of how conditioned mind will jump in and try to interpret the teachings. It’ll make rules, absolutes, and approach the principles very rationally – missing all the subtleties in the context.

Take for example this woman who asks, “I am new to this manifestation stuff. Two days ago I found my 5-year-old cat deceased on my bathroom floor. I am still in shock. That same day we got a call from my accountant with a 30k tax bill. And last week I fell on black ice and injured both knees. Don’t understand why all bad is happening. Could I have manifested these things with my thoughts? Just need answers. Thanks for listening.”

For starters, it always saddens me when the voices manipulate good people’s misfortunes into something that is “their fault” with no constructive way to work with it. It seems to add unnecessary blame to a rather challenging situation already. Salt to the wound, so to speak.

All I could say to her was I was sorry about her cat, her tax bill, and her slip on black ice. I wasn’t going to try to figure out why this was happening to her. The same reason I wasn’t going to figure out why a sudden frost would kill Spring flowers that were just starting to bloom. Was it because they were manifesting bad things? Or maybe the owners of the house were manifesting bad things? But perhaps not.

I told her, one day we will all die. I hope that while we’re on our way through life, we’ll pay attention to HOW we live it, and to live it with love and full awareness – not fear.

I hope you will do whatever you can to be successful and leave the results of your compassionate actions as simple by-products, knowing you have absolutely no control over the ultimate results – for “good” or “bad.”