The other day someone posted this comment:
“How did Bernie Madoff’s victims manifest being wiped out of all their wealth? They weren’t anticipating it…most were happy being rich, enjoying prosperity, networking up, surrounding themselves with beautiful luxurious things…they certainly thought themselves worthy and entitled to great wealth, unlike many of the rest of us mortals. So, as the economy deteriorates, and many who were making 6 figures suddenly find themselves impoverished…how did the law of attraction put them in that situation?”
I’ve answered questions like this numerous times and in numerous places. But since so many people are asking again, wondering what is going on in the world when people are losing their homes and their savings, I thought I’d answer one more time.
First, if you’re clumsy and keep knocking things over, you don’t blame the law of gravity. You try to be more aware. You try to fix the problem inside you. The Law of Attraction is the same way.
You don’t blame it. It’s simply the underlying principle at work. It’s neutral, just like the law of gravity. The issue isn’t with the Law of Attraction, it’s with what you are thinking and doing to create the experiences you attract.
Second, no one knows what is in the unconscious mind of anyone, including yourself. What we get in the outer world is a reflection of what we believe in the inner world.
Most people have issues with money. We think it’s bad or evil, so we aren’t comfortable with it. You might manage to attract some money, but if you don’t feel you deserve it, you’ll find a way to get rid of it.
Who knows what the “victims” were thinking who lost their money. They might be relieved. They might see it as a new opportunity. They might be blaming others. I don’t know. Neither do you. The point for you is to look at your own beliefs, and change the ones that aren’t serving you.
Third, you get what you focus on. Too many people are paying attention to the mainstream media. I was trained as a journalist in the early 1970s. I know the media’s job is to seek out and often even create bad news.
If you pay attention to it, you program yourself to think the world is not safe and something bad can happen to you at any time. Over time, this programming sinks into your unconscious. Before you know it, you live it out. You then become part of the bad news reported in the media. You have to break the cycle to break free.
None of this is to say you are to blame. As I say in The Awakening Course, it’s not your fault, but it is your responsibility. Your job is to awaken.
You have to think and do things differently to get different results. Here are some suggestions on how to accomplish that:
1. Change your beliefs. You may need help in spotting them and replacing them, but help is available. There’s everything from Miracles Coaching to my Nightinglae-conant audio program, The Missing Secret.
2. Get support. You’ll accelerate your change if you get support from a positive group. That’s available, too. See the Attract Miracles Community.
3. Do something different. I read a book the other day (“Think Like a Billionaire, Become a Billionaire”) that had a great line in it: if you are upset about your current reality, all that means is you are not planning on changing. Do something different to get a different result.
What you do is based on what you think, so cycle through these suggestions to get into a better place.
Finally, anyone can change.
If I can survive being homeless and in poverty to reach a lifestyle today that is one of daily magic and miracles, then you can do it, too.
It all begins right here, right now.
The next move is yours.
Ao Akua,
Joe
www.mrfire.com
PS — To illustrate how little I pay attention to the mainstream news, I had to google Bernie Madoff. I had no idea who he is or was. You don’t need to watch the news to have a good life. My guess is, the less you watch, the happier you’ll be.
50 Comments
Beautiful statement!
You tell ’em Joe!!!!!
You go where you look and if you are looking at gloom and doom and economic disaster, guess where you are going?
I know it is hard to shut out the constant drone of the media and all of the people around us each day who make it their personal mission to repeat every bit of bad news they hear (like my mom), but, as Joe pointed out, it is our responsibility to do just that.
My husband and I are both having the most successful year of our lives and we see nothing but more abundance heading our way in 2009. Here’s a couple of links to our highlights from 2009 and it is all through our hard work and hard focus on making our lives as wonderful as we know they can be!
http://melissathinksoutloud.com/2008/09/15/manifesting-more-wealth-im-so-happy/
http://melissathinksoutloud.com/2008/08/23/attracting-wealth-im-doing-it/
Great post Joe.
I also had no idea who Bernie Madoff is until I read a suicide report today about one of his victims in my AOL homepage. I don’t watch the news or generally read negativity, but this one showed up and it made me curious.
On a lighter note, I saw a quick interview with Rush Limbarg, where he was asked how he feels that he is getting millions in a raise, while the economy is in a recession? I could tell that the interviewer was trying to go for the guilty effect, but he responded very bluntly, “I am not experiencing the recession.” I liked that. Neither do anyone of us need to get into this mindset.
Marie
http://www.thelemonadediet.com
Great Insight and Beautiful Words Joe.. Though I really don’t have a clue who Berny something is..It is what you accept to belief that is true, that will make and create the winning or loosing circumstances in your life..in each life..
And if, beside you, I can do it, Ogie can do it (he went from being homeless and addicted to painkillers, to becoming the fastest golfer in the world, in fact it’s the same story..) and many more others can do it too… Why would someone still think he or she is not good enough to achieve something likely or to live a life that is fulfilled with Magic & Miracles?
To all who may read this…Read this; There IS no outside reason that makes you better or worse able to achieve something you desire or to live your dreams.. We do live in an idea(l) world, according to your idea(l).. Each and everyone of us.. Question your self..What IS Your Idea(l) about Your Life? What do you Want to Belief? And Remember; All Miracles & Magic IS Created by the Want..(And Yes, I do know that it’s spelled with a D..;-o)x
Wishing All of You a Wonderfully Magic & Miraculous 365 Christmas surrounded by Your Loved Ones…
Love, Light & a Lot of Laughter
Hilde
http://www.Twitter.com/MissMac1973
Here’s something to think about, too.
According to Robert Frank, there were “red flags” flying all over the Madoff firm, yet some people ignored them.
This is very telling. It’s possible the people who ignored the warnings were self-sabotaging.
Again, the law of attraction brings us the mirror of what is inside us. This story is simply another way to awaken.
Blessings,
joe
Robert Frank’s article is here: http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2008/12/12/how-could-wealthy-investors-be-so-blind/
Hi Joe,
Thanks for the great post. – I really enjoyed it.
Kind regards,
Saul Maraney
Johannesburg, South Africa
http://www.whatishooponopono.com
All I hear our guests talking about is this fiasco. Note that none of them were effected by his failings. Joe’s right. Something I learned the hard way is that if you smell crap there is a pile somewhere and spraying Lysol ain’t gonna make it go away.
Sometimes, just sometimes, I believe (my perception of the truth) is that the Universe takes over when you have a lesson to learn even if you are thinking you are working the LOA to the fullest. That summed up my last 2 years. I felt like I was constantly moving against the current of life. Then I surrendered, relaxed, “looked up” and let go. All that I had been struggling against moved away from me and the lessons I learned I would never have gotten unless I went through this situation.
I believe that sometimes as your soul evolves you develop situations around you that force you to grow. Ask yourself, what can someone learn from “losing” a lot of money? What’s your initial response? Well 1st do you really think anything is “lost”? Money is just energy so its not lost its just moved, which means it can be moved back again. Next, whats your thoughts about victims? I stopped accepting anyone as a victim and guess what they stopped appearing in my life- myself included.
In the last 2 years I experienced, ending a 6 yr relationship that I thought would lead to marriage, closing a business I had put my heart and soul into for 9 years, having to get a “real job” (and actually loving the social side of it), purging 95% of what I own, fighting back from a home foreclose and WINNING!! by attracting a buyer and walking away with cash in the bank. (My realtor and lawyer still ask how I pulled it off..lol)
What’s next on my list? Manifesting a “date” – lunch would be fine- with Joe..lol 🙂
Count your blessings each day!
Sarah in CT
Oops. I actually posted this already to another discussion. But here it comes again:
Regarding the Madoff case…. What ever happened to personal responsiblity? Madoff was producing incredibly great and steady results with a trading mechanism that can not work. It’s a high-volatility trading system, whereas all of his fake returns reflected extremely low volatility. So, in some twisted way, all of these people actually deserved to lose their money because they did not do their homework.
In terms of attraction, I also believe that whatever you fail to use, you lose. We don’t expect that we stay fit when we stop exercising. We don’t expect to never become hungry if we stop eating. Then why is it that after you get wealthy and stop to use your brains about investing, of fail to do your due diligence about your money manager, or decide not to find out enough to understand someone else’s investment strategy, we STILL expect that our wealth should expand.
Another brief comment. The stock market goes in 16-18 year cycles. 1929-1948 stock went absolutely nowhere. 1948-1966 was a great boom. 1966-1982 stocks went nowhere again and you lost money if you take the inflation into account. 1982-2000 another boom. 2000-2016 or so — yet another boom. We now have a generation of people who think that you can just buy and hold your way to riches or to retirement, so it is a great shock for a lot of people to realize that there’s no free lunch. You actually have to start applies Joe Vitale’s teachings to increase your wealth. The markets are NOT going to do it for you…
Another little thing about doom and gloom. For anyone thinking of setting up a business it is THE greatest time to do so. I’m originally from Europe and set up a business in the early 1990’s when we had a 19% unemployment and in just 18 months, my company was number 1 in my country (in terms of size). Why? Two things: a) I did NOT read newspapers or watch TV so I had no idea there was a great depression going on, b) other companies’ focus was on negative things. They had to scale down, fire people, they had financial problems. So, while they were scaling down and attracting what they believed in, I was probably the only one in my industry aggressively marketing my services. And since nobody else was knocking on doors and setting appointments, I enjoyed access to CEOs and other decisionmakers like never before. So, if you haven’t yet set up your business, NOW is the BEST TIME to do so. Stop watching CNBC and CNN and local news, start attracting and take action!
Oops. I meant 2000-2016 yet another BUST, not boom. I wish there was a way to edit earlier posts.
There is also a way to benefit from the negativity. I’m in an unusual situation because I finally taught myself how to trade options. If you buy put options on stocks or indexes or commodities or whatever you like, their value goes UP as the underlying stock or thing goes DOWN.
So, doom and gloom and actuall becomes your friend.
My portfolio is up by over 300% (the part that is not in cash and gold) this year. It is my best year ever — not a single money-losing options trade all year.
So, you can still watch news and even study doom and gloom, but you can turn it into an opportunity! The only downside is that you actually have to read pretty negative news stories all day….
🙄
How would I answer?
Oddly enough, I had just done so, moments before I read the email that led me to this blog. If you wish, you can see what I said at http://madmanmumbles.blogspot.com/
It’s a short enough read. It won’t keep you long. It might change you. Or not.
The choice is yours.
God Bless You, and have a great day.
Dana E. Hansen
Yes, you can.
Words well written and even better lived out.
Every since I manifested being in your new book Expect Miracles Joe, I believe even MORE in the quote, “YOur most powerful thoughts are the beliefs you are most passionate about.”-Me
How do you know what your beliefs are?
Awareness.
How do you become aware of what your beliefs are?
Puruposely.
I come to awareness every day on something in my life because I feel I clean as much as possible to allow space for inspiration to flow through.
I do it “purposely” though.
Otherwise I’ve found in the past if I don’t focus on awareness and peeling away the layers of emotional muck, other beliefs (competing intentions) take me in a totally different direction than where I say I desire.
I believe it’s not the moment of awareness & clarity that I get that can change my life but purposely keeping my awareness supported through programs like you offer joe.
That’s has seemed to be such a “key” in my successes. Purposely supporting my awareness.
It’s not what I have learned in the past that allowed this to happen but what I’ve learned to let go of that then free’s me emotionally and spiritually to consistantly and purposely be a part of this process.
I so believe in your work and this blog post alone simplifies the cause and effects of what’s happening in peoples lives.
It’s the “process” and purposely supporting that awareness that I know you do so well Joe.
Thank you!
Well, let’s remove LOA from the responsibility equation for a second. When we do that, in this situation, we can just flat out KEEP IT REAL by saying that the only thing anybody who got involved with Madoff is responsible for is their own ineptitude in doing due diligence. Or, their penchant for engaging in “risky” wall-street investments.
After tons of research and many interviews with manifestation mentors, Heather and I can say with conviction that one’s own internal reality alone will not and does not “create” a Bernie Madoff situation. There is a huge collective outer-world reality that “creates” right alongside us, just like the big-picture “forest” works on levels that the individual “trees” (us) can not individually, but only collectively, affect.
Or, to put it another way, in Part 2 of “Manifesting’s Grand Conspiracy” ( http://www.lwlworldwide.com/blog/part-2-manifestings-grand-conspiracy/ ), we said the following:
“In other words, your “seen” OUTSIDE world is directly tied to your personal “unseen” INSIDE world, and everybody you’re directly tied to… and even indirectly tied to, when you’re brave and open-minded enough to explore and SEE truth, regardless of what it may look like (more on that in a second).
Believing that you can control, and are therefore responsible for, everything you see and experience is just as detrimental as believing that the more you inoculate yourself from (or purposely don’t explore or understand) anything less than feel-good or uplifting stuff, the more spiritually-evolved you are.”
Back to the LOA… the people involved MAY HAVE indeed been focusing on lack, or scams, as Joe suggests. But maybe not. More likely SOME of them may have had thoughts of trepidation, while others were completely confident in their decision to take advantage of a financial opportunity. So did they ALL “attract” the situation? Did they all “create” the end result? Did they all “need” the lesson learned?
It’s highly unlikely that thousands of people would have the exact same “need”, and we can’t say they each created that situation for themselves just because they were part of the “collective” that experienced the same result. We also can’t say that the “lower self” (physical side) did any attracting at all… when it’s a big-picture lesson the “participants” may have needrf to learn — i.e., a lesson delivered by our “higher self” (spiritual side).
My 2 cents.
Barry Goss
🙄 I tell people to look for more good going on and turn off the TV and Radio’s. Spend time with family and friends think positive. I have not heard of Berine Madoff ether. I am spending the afternoon with family and our1 month old puppies. I am thankful for the nice day and being able to get around and do the things I do.
I actually despise watching the news. It’s only meant to tap into negativity around our world, and I see how absolutely detrimental it can be to someone if they watch it constantly. It’s like a bad drug!
On the other hand, I want to use some Miracles Coaching! I think i’ll sign up for it….
– Shiraz
On a practical note, investors who put all their money in one basket (Madoff) were not following the principle of diversity. Probably because there was some greed at work. And for people near retirement who lost their shirt, they also put all their money in the stock market, instead of allocating it towards income as they near retirement. And don’t get me started on buying houses they can’t afford!
On a broader note, Americans tend to consume way too much (eg. money and food) and save little. So when something like this happens they are totally unprepared and think it’s something outside of themselves like ‘the economy’. Time to take back control and design your own life!
Joe, you’re absolutely right, and those notes about mainstream news is so true! A couple of years ago, I started to realize what you’ve obviously known for decades. It’s about “creating your own future” – moving from being an actor in your life to being the director. It applies to mainstream media as well… Don’t consume bad news – create good news!
Thanks for the inspiration!
It’s real simple why these things happen.
Wise King Solomon, one of the wisest men to ever live (whether you believe the Bible or not) said:
“time and ‘unforeseen’ occurrences befall us all” – Ecclesiastes 9:11
His point: No matter what you think about or what you do, time is going to rule your world. You’re going to continue to get older and you’re going to eventually run out of it. You’re not going to change that no matter what you do.
The Law of Attraction will never give you back 20 years of your life, no matter how hard you try.
The other element in the verse, ‘unforeseen’, means not seen before; unpredictable.
The fact that Solomon lumped ‘unforeseen’ with such an unstoppable force as time shows how little control we have over ‘some’ of the things that happen in life.
In other words, some things happen in your life that you never thought about, imagined, or focused on. They just happened – they were unforeseen.
When I accept wise King Solomon’s take on things – it sure makes a lot of sense as to why these mass disasters happen to people.
Dearest Joe,
Good Post! Great point about the subconscious… Many people are still largely unaware that it is the subconscious mind running the show, and of the importance of getting clear of all of those beliefs that don’t serve us… Who Knows, as you mentioned what those who were whiped out were thinking, subconsciously of course…
I choose to believe that this will lead MOST of these people to uncover some GREAT lesson from this eventually… Somehow I know they will come out better than they started off , I believe that is how the Universe works…
It amazes me sometimes, that people still believe that money is everything and that you need to have loads of it to be happy and successful.
From my personal experience I have learned that YES, money rocks and it is wonderful, fabulous and can buy all sorts of fun and cool toys, BUT….. I also learned that lesson the hard way when I lost EVERYTHING and realized that I was not using my money as a tool, but rather as a distraction that kept me from going after my dream.
When I lost everything, it WOKE ME UP!
I am so grateful now, even though my experience has been painful. I KNOW there is enough cash to go around, I know that if I made it once, I can make it again and LOTS MORE of it… and I learned that no matter what happens in my life, I CHOOSE….What to do with it…
So the way I see it those people swindled by Madoff can ask themselves ….. What’s it gonna be?
Am I going to waste “blank” amount of time crying and complaining about something that I have no control over ?
OR
Is this is the opportunity of a lifetime, to start anew and create something great from NOTHING… ?
Love, Aymee
I am not familiar with this Bernie guy either!! What I am familiar with is NOW!! NOW 90% of the US have homes in which they are spending the “Giving” Holiday. NOW the sun is shining. NOW there was money to buy presents & gifts for family & loved ones. NOW I woke up to another day. NOW I have my health. NOW I have a family.
DOOM & GLOOM??? Not where I chose to focus. I chose to focus on all the wonderful bounty that I have today and for THAT I am GRATEFUL 😀
Who will join me?
Exactly. I generally don’t listen to the news so I get surprised sometimes when Hubby brings up some “current event”. I discovered a long time ago that most news is something I can do nothing about anyway, so I avoid it. Hubby, who feels a need to be in touch with what is happening in the world, has learned that I can only take a small amount and then I have to walk away and do something constructive.
I choose to be responsive and responsible in the areas where I CAN make a difference. And that has made all the difference for me. I can’t deal with heavy doses of doom and gloom – probably because I realize it is all self-induced. No matter what happens to us and the world around us, we are the ones who get to choose how we feel about it – desperation or opportunity.
As Hubby says, Bulls make money, Bears make money, only Pigs get slaughtered. I’m wondering how many of the people involved in the scheme thought it was easy money they didn’t have to do anything for? And how many jumped on it because it appeared to be soooo easy? We are given critical faculties for a reason. (No pun intended, but I like it anyway!) And it’s up to each of us to check in periodically to make sure we are still okay with ourself.
So my recommendation to anyone who is feeling depressed by this is to go do something that makes a difference for the people you love or care about – your family or your community. Notice how it makes you feel. Paying attention to that feeling will head you in the right direction.
Joe,
People who lost everything in the Bernie Madoff scam were looking for a free lunch. Investments that rely on the people who invest behind you are dangerous. With the way the economy was going, it is very odd that people did not question the gains that Madoff was promising. Social proof was the most powerful tool he had, because he could show the people who were already investing in his scheme (many of whom were very wealthy to begin with) which fueled the lemming effect.
While losing everything is very bad, I don’t believe it is worth committing suicide over. I have lived in great circumstances and in (close as you can come to being homeless) bad ones, but none of them ever warranted taking my own life.
I agree that the negativity of the Media (CNN, FOX, ABC, etc.) is responsible for the downfall of our economy. They were talking about how bad it was for so long that people had to start believing it.
News is no longer something that people should pay attention to. The template that they are using is entirely too predictable (we are going to hell in a handbasket, government is the only way to solve our problems, but government officials are corrupt) and is making everyone attract their own garbage.
Unless you surround yourself with people at your level or above, you are doomed to be like the people you listen to…
Thank you, Joe, for educating those of us with enough intelligence to ignore the ignorant!
Micheal Savoie
http://twitter.com/michealsavoie
incredible, Joe. A very timely post, I’d say. So many people are finally realizing that watching the news is not the best thing you can do for yourself. I rarely watch the news. I’d rather focus on the positive
I truly appreciate Joe’s perspective on this matter. I don’t know how I even found this post, but I realize now that it was no accident. This is a troubling topic for everyone and Joe has helped us garner some insight to understand and process the event, and the inevitable events that will follow.
Ii worked in broadcast television for over twenty years and I consider myself thick skinned as a result. You have to learn to psychically distance yourself from the media. I like Joe’s point, just don’t watch or listen. I suppose if the news is big enough, it will find you.
I also didn’t realize the subconscious mind’s innate power. That’s huge and I needed to read that. Thanks Joe for shedding some light on a dark subject to help us find a way to make some sense of it all.
You’ve got a new fan!
I just read an interesting article about the whole Madoff case. Basically, the author of this article — who has worked for major financial institutions — is saying that there is no way that the risk management departments would have authorized a billion dollar -level investment without due diligence. I too have been involved in these types of situations when helping small companies to go public, and the amount of due diligence is enormous.
So, the author claims that this was not a scam, but a failure but by taking the hit by claiming that he is guilty and this was a ponzi scheme, taxpayers can now foot the bill and give some of his investors some of the money back. Anyway, the details on how this all works are here:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11488
I agree it’s little to do with the Law of Attraction.
I don’t think we can blame the media either – not that they don’t do what they do, it’s more a case of how we listen and internalize what they say.
I am wary about being being too simplistic about things that simply happen.. In this case the man was dishonest and betrayed people’s trust. He lied, and did much more. Investors probably ignored warning signs, and probably trusted this man too much, and may have invested using the “eggs all in one basket” approach. Who knows? They may have failed to do their due diligence, and certainly those who should have been overseeing this man chose to look the other way.
But to say that their subconscious beliefs led to them being stolen from…?
Whatever, as you say we don’t know. We don’t have an answer for everything. But it is a lesson.
We cannot control all events, only our response to the events so that we have outcomes we want. So while I am an active user of the Law of Attraction, I also know that sometimes things will happen that you didn’t actively attract.
It’s not the media’s fault, it’s what we do with the stuff they spout.
Masses are being laid off – and many won’t reach the media attention – I doubt very much that the millons being laid off were actively attracting that experience – except if you count working in a company that that’s being pulled under by this economic cycle. Yet they are getting it. People who were in the Twin Towers, the 1000’s dying of cholera in Zimbabwe, or those being massacred because they happen to be from a different tribe or faith…or dying in a fluke accident because someone else decided to drink and drive and hit their vehicle or those being killed in Iraq – are they attracting their experience? Some would say yes. I don’t mean to take this off-topic.
When it comes to world events, we are impacted. I limit what I listen to from the media (bad news always sells) and I do not dwell on doom and gloom but at the same time I believe we should be aware of what’s happening outside our own little worlds.
I know someone somewhere probably has a simple answer for everything – as in if it happens you subconsciously attracted it in some way and don’t get me wrong many times we do, they are and we need to do some internal work.
However sometimes there are things that are outside our immediate control. Bad things can happen, things that should not have – but it doesn’t mean they will. We don’t have an answer for everything, not even with the Law of Attraction.
But we absolutely do have control over our thoughts, our beliefs, our responses and our actions. Which means that whether something is a”bad thing” depends on several perspectives.
For anyone who’s had thousands, millions and billions they’ve saved/invested stolen and those who have to face starting again, I truly hope they can find some way to recover, if they can’t get their money back. To be in your twilight years with no money (or even being younger and experiencing massive loss) is not something most would want to experience. Not me anyway.
http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/
There are lessons in this for ALL of us.
“We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are. ” -Sirius Black (From the movie: Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix).
You know, as Dr. Vitale has stated many times, 100% responsibility is hard to swallow.
@Jukka – I haven’t read the article but why would the taxpayers be liable to bailout private investors? On the other hand with all the recent govt intervention I would be surprised at nothing.
Also, many FI’s risk depts engaged in selling risk… hence the still ticking timebomb of the subprime (and other related exotic instruments).
I think though that as with most things, there is more to this than meets the eye. I was reading about an investor who was encouraged to invest with Madoff, however after asking several questions and not getting the right answers he decided not to invest his client’s money. And let’s not forget…presumably his funds were bringing sky high returns in the good times…many many people looked the other way. If they did due diligence it was inadequate.
Donald Trump in an interview was asked why he thought people invested with Madoff. I thought his answer was telling. He said it was greed.
Btw Joe, I love your books and have several of them. Came to this post via a re-tweet on Twitter.
@Jukka – I just read the article. Very interesting. I’m still in two minds on the due diligence aspect however…. If it’s- fraud – rather than going bust – then it’s not looking quite so bleak for investors at all. They’ll just sue the Govt.
g,day Joe n friends HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JOE, MANY HAPPY DAYS AHEAD TO YOU,from GARRY INOZZ
I’ve a pet peeve with anyone that understands the law of attraction in such a way as to blame misfortune on the unfortunate. The only person you have the right to be that way with is your own self – and you’re wrong when you do that too.
Desire is dualistic in nature. The desire for wealth is countered by fear of envy, loss of community, fear of change, even guilt … and so forth – and that’s just one example. There are magical techniques to get around this in Chaos magic. But, that’s not necessary. You simply have to focus your thought properly, not on desire – but on being.
The law of attraction is a useful paradigm. That’s not the same thing as truth. Certainly if the law of attraction could be true – it suggests a reality wherein your mind and it’s creative power must compete with the minds of others, individuals or collectives – collaborating on the manifestation that is the world. Interconnected, you are responsible for the world of others as much as your own – and vice versa. Be humble and sympathetic.
The law of attraction must have limits. For an example perhaps Donald Trump – a pampered rich tycoon -his visualization and mindset comes easy for him in the domain of wealth. Donald Trump has gone bankrupt more than once. That he lost a fortune doesn’t suggest Trump created the loss. What Trump creates is wealth, and that’s what he does when he loses everything. Notice he’s a tycoon again. The law of attraction still allows for chance, luck or even karma – positive and negative.
Now with the Trump example- try to image what it is to be Trump and bankrupt. Is greed motivating him? Or is it simply his way of being to find a way, to make a deal? Focus on who you are being, not on the tangles of dualistic desire – and you’ll get your result much more efficiently.
Amen, to your PS about not attending to the media, Joe. I have been telling my clients and patients that for years. I am amazed at how simple this solution is and and how resistant people are to taking this step.
Blessings,
William
Happy Holidays Joe
How would I answer.
Simply put, circumstances in and of themselves are neither good or bad. We choose the meaning. My guess is that more than a few of the “victims” will have the opportunity to look back on this experience as one of the best things that could have ever happened to them. There is a lesson and an opportunity in every cusrcumstance. If you learm from the lessona and take advantage of the opportunity presented you are likely to gain more than you lose.
Picture this awful scenario:
A loving mother is driving a car with her 3 children. A tire blows out, they go head-on into the path of semi, and she ends up living, but none of her 3 children do.
Am I to believe that somewhere in her mind, she attracted this?
Sure, because she loved her kids, she always had a overriding concern (sometimes fear) for her kids safety, what mother wouldn’t.
Am I to believe that she attracted this tragedy:
A. Because in the back of her mind she wanted her kids out of her life?
or
B. Her fear for her kids safety finally manifested into something?
Is there *ANYTHING* in a sane person’s mind that could attract this?
Could someone who believes that you attract ‘everything’ in your life explain this to me?
Before you state that, ‘it’s a natural law, and it’s working all the time in your life, just like gravity’, so you must *always* be attracting everything into your life’, I’d like you to consider that even though gravity ‘is’ a universal law, and it does effect you, you *can* defy it. Astronauts do all the time!
Also, while we’re at it, am I to believe that we all attract our own deaths? Certainly, if we attract ‘everything’ into our experience, at least one person on this planet of billions and billions would have been able to attract eternal youth. Am I wrong?
Please understand, these question are NOT meant to be argumentative, as I DO believe in the LOA effect in our lives – up to a point.
The scenarios I’ve presented here are the reasons why I believe that sometimes – things just happen.
I’d love an opposing viewpoint that answers my questions with a logical answer.
In response to Derek,
Chaos Magicians love to cite the following phrase: nothing is true, everything is permitted. Despite its self negation -it encapsulates existentialism and throws ethical responsibility back upon the individual.
A more extreme metaphor – Did the Jew Collectively manifest the Holocaust?
There’s a bottom line here. It’s clearly and simply not useful or productive to blame the victim or the survivor.
So what about truth? If you’re on a wavelength as I am – the truth is unknowable, perhaps transcendental – so it’s perfectly okay and acceptable to allow that a belief you’re working with has limits. The more adventurous will trade paradigms depending on the context of the situation.
If you’re really stuck on LOA being true, as I mentioned earlier – the LOA manifests its own limits. No one is an island. In the case of the Holocaust – the LOA on the part of global anti-Semitism has to play a part and be considered.
In the case of the mom surviving her three children, it’s going to be really hard for her to not feel guilt. But she exists in a world, not a vacuum – if LOA doomed her children, its source is unknowable. Remember the will to live is fundamental – no one has LOA killing them, even if they are depressed. Strong evidence for LOA is the fact that every crazed shooter in a crowded situation ALWAYS only manages to kill a very small fraction of the numbers for whom s/he has bullets.
Of course you should let it go – allow for a quality of randomness into your LOA paradigm. Let go of negative association to death as well – we don’t know what death presents without faith, I trust it’s positive – it’s where we’re all headed.
A tip from the world of chaos magic – have a pathway toward your goal that you’re actively working towards in every practical way possible. Or else you may get your desire – but in a fashion you don’t care for (always better to get wealth from a business rather than from winning a lawsuit following a crippling auto accident).
Last, let’s mention GOD. Many people believe in God and if you’re one of them – you must allow that HIS will must, by definition, out weigh yours and the power of your personal LOA.
The Law of Attraction has everything to do with Bernie Madoff. We speak of government as being inept, inefficient and corrupt. Polls amply demonstrate how widespread is this belief. And so the Bernie Madoff fraud manifests what we believe true, much as do the many financial institution frauds this year preceding this latest incident.
Our general conviction about the pervasiveness of corruption in government has delivered the regulatory bodies such attitudes attract. Certainly, it is not by any absence of historical points of reference regulatory agencies failed their duty. We expect corruption, and so we got what we asked for.
Most disturbing about this is the fact this attitude exists in a land whose government is “of, by and for the people.” Thus, in truth we condemn ourselves when we convict our government of corruption. The Law of Attraction does not stoop so low to say we get what deserve. Rather it says we get what we are…
Thank you. I like your posts.:grin:
Hey Michael,
Thanks for your thoughtful response! I appreciate it.
I was looking for an easy way to explain my understand of how nature/works, when low-and-behold, the answer came to me in the form of a fantastic video I discovered this morning.
The video: ‘How Things In Nature Tend To Sync Up’ –
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/steven_strogatz_on_sync.html
The key word to highlight here is ‘tends’. Watch the video for some beautiful examples.
The basic idea is that things in nature tend to do whatever they can to synchronize with related, similar things in nature.
How does this fit with the LOA?
I believe that your outside world ‘tends’ to synchronize with the internal vision for your life. Once you have a clear vision of you life, nature tends to sync it with it.
While this syncing is a powerful force, is it always 100% effective? No. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not trying to work 100% of the time – it is.
You see, in a dynamic universe, there are all sorts of things that can disrupt this syncing process. Things we have no control over. But that doesn’t mean that after an unexpected event occurs, that the syncing process doesn’t go to work again (watch the video).
When you’re clear about what you want, your life has more order, flow, and you’re in more control – you’re syncing.
When you’re not clear about what you want (most people), then their lives become a hodge-podge of ‘anything goes’ – like a ship traveling a stormy sea without a rudder (no syncing going on).
In a nutshell: When you’re clear about what you want, nature attempts to sync you with whatever you need for that vision to become reality, but occasionally, something *unexpected* comes along and stirs up the pot a bit. If your vision remains clear, the ‘pieces’ that were scattered will begin moving toward synchronization again.
I hope that makes sense.
Who IS Bernie (whatever you said his name was)?
I don’t follow the news either and, even now, don’t think it’s worth Googling.
Duane
P.S. happy holidays to all
To Michael R Cooke,
In a world filled with fear, greed and envy it is so refreshing to hear the voice of sanity – Thank you. The idea of personal responsibility and accountability is anathaema to some people, I could not agree more that we attract what we are are but how many of us know who we are or what we have inside us- it might be that if most people made the inner journey to know themselves they might not be able to face what they find as it takes a certain kind of mental strength to own ones own projections. To disown our shadow side which we have suppressed or repressed means we have not taken responsibility for ourselves.
THE LAW OF ATTRACTION IS ACTUALLY THE LAW OF `ATTRACTION AND REPULSION` WHICH SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN FORGOTTEN. WE REALLY NEED TO HAVE LEARN`T TO BE RESPONSIBLE BEFORE WE PLAY AROUND WITH CONSCIOUS MANIFESTATION AS IT CAN REBOUND ON US, MAYBE NOT STRAIGHT AWAY WHICH MEANS WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SEE HOW WE HAVE BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN BRINGING ABOUT WHAT WE DON`T LIKE AND THINK IS BAD.
I AM NOT ARGUING AGAINST ANYONE OR ATTEMPTING TO SAY I AM RIGHT, BUT RATHER THAT EVERONE BEGINS TO THINK FOR THEMSELVES AND MAYBE MAKES THE ATTEMPT TO KNOW THEMSELVES. NOT THE SELF THEY THINK THEY KNOW WHICH IS PICKED UP FROM CULTURAL CONDITIONING BUT THEIR ALIENATED SELF.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERONE JANE
Did I attract this? http://www.fiftyandahalf.com/when-you-least-expect-it/
Well said!!! I have a rule in my house – no more 24 news stations!!! Five minutes of that garbage will have you out on the ledge ready to jump! Yes I do on occasion turn on the local news (have to check the weather… I live in Texas !!) But then it’s right back to an engaging comedy!
I really like that line “if you are upset about your current reality, all that means is you are not planning on changing” I need to repeat that to myself when I feel the frustrations of my current state rising up. Great words to remember! Thanks!!
I have been saying this for months – many people are in trouble because they listened to the news, took it in, and started living it. I rarely watch the news. I got interested in the election, but now back in my own world where life is good!
Ahhh, exactly how the Law of Attraction is designed to work.
I’ve been working with a Network Marketing company for the last four years and have blogged about this experience for the last three. There are those that believe that Network Marketing is nothing more than a pyramid scheme, and are extremely adamant about this belief.
Just this morning, one of these self proclaimed “believers” attempted to connect the dots between Bernie Madoff, and our Company Founder, a man who has been very successful in Network Marketing for the last 30 years. (And much to their dismay, STILL not in jail oddly enough. LOL!)
After reading the post from this “believer”, one of Joe’s emails came in.
After being away for the holidays, I quickly realized that I missed Joe, and wanted to see what he’s been writing about. Low and behold, what do I find?
This post.
What’s so astonishing to me is that I’ve been told that I’M THE ONE wearing blinders, while these “believers” find example after example on what’s wrong with Network Marketing. (More specifically, the company I work with.) As they continue to post and comment on various forums, blogs, and message boards, the fear, anger, and resentment towards myself, the industry and my company continues to escalate to new heights. All while their objective appears to be destroying the very industry and company they focus on.
Yet they have no earthly idea as to why they seem to attract the negativity they do.
Could it be because they not only search it out, but write and post about it day after day???
Just a thought…:roll:
Thanks Joe. I found this at the perfect time.
Insightful observation Joe:
“They might be relieved.”
That might seem strange to some people…that someone would be relieved to lose their money. But with that money may have come tremendous obligations and demands, or perhaps the fear that those around you simply are there because of that money.
To take that one step further, I just spent 5 years building a multi-million dollar business that may tank very soon. That means I might go bust financially. Interestingly, though, I AM sort of relieved! Relieved because I built a business that wasn’t really me…it was the product of a moment in time and opportunity 5 years ago…and now I won’t have those excuses and reasons to keep me on the wrong path. I will be free to follow my passion.
By the way, I’ve been following you since you were scraping by Joe…even emailed you years and years ago when you were a one man band. You’ve really grown and come into your own in so many ways. I was always certain you would. Tip of the respect hat to you!
I was suprised to see some of the responses to this blog. I, personally did not feel that one of the questions raised to Joe was completely answered.
It was the one about how these people who may have lost everything and who had probsbly been expecting that they would be getting more and more good in their lives, and vere probably shocked when they suddenly had their lives turned upside down had attracted this experience.
In reading the responses I felt like most of those who responded (and I may be in error about this) had never had this kind of experience where a person is going along, positive and happy – more and more good is coming his or her way and he or she is praying positively and taking responsibility for what is going on in his or her l life and all of a sudden, all of the good is gone, replaced by lots of pain and loss.
Some of the responders have had this kind of experience in the not too distant past and I really appreciated their wisdom. I have been in that kind of experience for the past three years and none of the usual techniques have done a thng to end this nightmare. I have been a student of the Law of Atraction for about 8 years, and a student of Ho’oponopono for the last 14 months, and the cycle has not stopped recurring. As soon as one difficulty is addressed another one which has a different face, but causes the same or more difficulty arises – I have never even heard of these physical conditions before!. The details may be different from month to month but the theme is the same.
The Law of Attraction either works 100% of the time or it is not a Law.
Living a manifestation of the unconscious which is attracting physical, emotional and financial pain of this magnitude is very difficult to endure, much less love. I pray for peace of mind and do my cleaning. I have lost meaningful work that I loved, and live what appears to be a meaningless life in a dirty 10 by 12 foot space with a computer and a tv for company. Living a life where the best I can hope for in a day are some distractions from the pain. Losing a life full of meaning and purpose is not something to be glib about. Two years ago I thought I would be through it in a month. I thought that at the very least I would see the meaning of this experience and know that it was for the best.. No brilliant insights or healings have occurred.
100% personal responsibility can be a scary thing.
May we each experience peace and good and more good.
Ho’Oponopono
I watched your video clip and left a message I wasn’t able to send my friends email addresses to you?????