Everyone has asked this question at least once since the marketing megahit The Law of Attraction and MoneyThe Secret took the world by storm. People have been mired in analyzing their thoughts, forcing themselves to think positive, and often wondering why The Law of Attraction isn’t working for them the way they want it to. I for one believe it is at work, but that doesn’t mean you can just will the things you want to have show up in your life to appear at the exact moment you want them to.

The other day I was watching one of the short films from my monthly Spiritual Cinema Circle and you just know it is going to be fun when one of the movies is a humorous look at the Law of Attraction called “The Rub of Attraction”. Little did I know you could also catch it on YouTube. It is worth the 9 minutes of viewing for a good laugh or two and some thought provoking questions.

The one question I took away from the movie is — does attraction always work or is it sometimes just the way we look at things? For instance, the guy with the parking space in the movie — he got the one he wanted after driving around for 17 minutes. Law of Attraction? (as they guffaw at it in the flick) or simply a good rationalization (eventually every parking spot will open up)?

What if we could embrace the fact that we are always creating our reality even if we are not 100% in charge (after all I am not in the camp that believes illness is something we created and can will away, even though I do believe there is a connection there, its just that there is more at play). It is as simple as taking responsibility for ourselves and our lives and noticing things as they come (good or bad) and adjusting from there and doing that over and over for a few decades until our time on earth is through. Christine Kane makes some great points in her post “The 6 Snarkiest Misconceptions about the Law of Attraction: #2”:

#2 – Making Law of Attraction a Part-Time Philosophy

“Have you ever noticed that anybody going slower than you is an idiot – and that anybody going faster than you is a maniac?” – George Carlin

A mentor of mine says, “Either you believe in Law of Attraction or you don’t. That’s it. There’s no in between, or sometimes about it.”

This means that it’s all your creation. It’s all your thoughts. It’s all your beliefs. It’s all your projection. The good stuff, as well as the bad stuff. The unexpected check that comes in the mail. And the idiots and maniacs on the highway.

It gets even harder when it comes to money sometimes. Are we able to just accept it? Kane adds:

Of course, some people may even have a difficult time accepting that they created the good stuff. In my last e-Seminar, one person was intending wealth as she changed her career direction. One day, she received a large chunk of money out of the blue. I’ve done this work long enough to know not to dismiss this kind of gift. She wanted to acknowledge it, but she was skeptical. Her snarky side was trying to convince her that it couldn’t possibly work like that. It couldn’t be that easy. There had to be some logical explanation for this!

What is your initial reaction? Can you believe that the law of attraction is at work with money or do you need a logical cause and effect answer? Do you believe that the only way to obtain money is to work like a dog because that is the only way you will be justly rewarded?

When I work with clients on the topic of money, we spend a lot of time uncovering limiting beliefs like:

  • Money is the root of all evil
  • I have to work hard in order to get money
  • Money is limited and I have to fight to get my piece of the pie or else someone else will
  • I’ll never have enough

And on and on. There are a myriad of beliefs around money that keep us all stuck. Even if we don’t notice we have them, the underlying feelings are at work and the feelings are THE most important and powerful force at work when it comes to the Law of Attraction.

Money is a flow of energy. You need to stay in the flow if you want to attract money in your life. But don’t let the idea of “not hoarding” put you on a slippery slope as “The Dharma of Money: How to Attract Debt Instead of Prosperity” points out.

To the contrary, I’ve noticed a painful trend among some otherwise adept followers of the Law of Attraction: if you want to have money and get out of debt, then spend lots of money! It’s not working for them, and I’ve been thinking about why. I’ve concluded that it’s just not the same concept of “flow.” The money is flowing out but the energy of it is still focused on themselves rather than flowing it out to others in a charitable sense. So the flow is confined to helping one person the self. Not that you shouldn’t ever do something nice to feather your nest, but I do believe that some of these people are kidding themselves in a way that will come back to haunt them and some of them are just now on the precipice of self-destruction.

We do create our own experience. I recently read the book “Ask. Believe, Receive: 7 Days to Increased Wealth, Better Relationships, And a Life You Love” by David Hooper. It is like a handle cliff notes version of The Law of Attraction as it applies to different areas of our lives. In the chapters on money he gives one of the nicest and succinct explanations I have seen to date:

Have you ever wondered why some people have a lot of money and others have so little? You may be tempted to say that the former group must work hard and the latter group doesn’t, but that’s not always true, is it? There are plenty of people who work very hard but still barely manage to make ends meet each month. There are also plenty of people who don’t work at all, yet have millions of dollars in the bank.

Assuming both groups have the same potential for opportunities, the difference between them is usually a little something called: Mindset.

One group has a wealth mindset, while the other group has a lack mindset. The Law of Attraction is activated by your mindset, which is determined by all the things you think and feel on a regular basis.

Mindset makes all the difference in many areas of our life, and money is no exception. Combine the right mindset with the right actions and that is the real secret to attracting more wealth (money and otherwise) into your life. Whether you call it The Law of Attraction or not… it is most certainly a life principle and universal law.

Paula Gregorowicz is the Comfortable in Your Own Skin(tm) Coach and author of the 12 part eCourse on How to Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin which you can download for FREE at www.thepaulagcompany.com and her blog www.coaching4lesbians.com .