[eebynight]

You just summarized the positive/effective aspects of what the “Law of Attraction” group teaches.

Most people think they are crazy for wishing and imagining things to happen but what you described is exactly what underlies all their teachings.

You can’t find something if you’re not looking for it, simple as that.

I really think this can open up another discussion about your thoughts and how you see yourself. This is another powerful tool to enable change.

[BigHatLogan]

Exactly. I don't know much about the "Law of Attraction", but I imagine it's something that gets waved away by a lot of people. That might be for the better, I honestly don't know. A basic google search seems to mention a lot of "pure energy" and other things like that. I'm usually on the defensive when I read things like that.

But you're correct--the underlying aspect is appealing and true. You can't hit something unless you're aiming at it. You will undoubtedly have serendipitous moments in your life where you think, "Wow, this wonderful and unexpected thing happened!", but I imagine for anything long term those will be few and far between. It's hard to stumble your way into getting in shape or eating healthy. It's hard to stumble your way into a long and fulfilling career too, without a series of reflective steps along the way. Is luck a factor? Certainly. But just the mere act of aiming might help us get a lot closer than we would otherwise.

EDIT:

Even stumbling onto meeting your future wife, as the person commented in another comment, likely has a lot to do with thinking of things beforehand. Were you fit and healthy when you met her? Were you in the middle of a promising career or education? Did you take care of yourself? I'm not saying you woke up and said, "Today, I'll meet my wife!" But there were a series of things beforehand that facilitated it. Like the saying goes, "Luck is where preparation meets opportunity." Preparation is part of deciding what to pay attention to. If you consciously decide to be more open and friendly, then you might have more "coincidental" social moments. What changed? The universe, or you?

[friendlybus]

Viktor Frankl (wrote a book about finding meaning in concentration camps from his personal experience) described the wish as the father and the fear as the mother of an event.

I think it's possible to have very disordered wishes or to wish for the wrong reasons. Wishing for something you don't really aim or desire to achieve as a shared behaviour in a book club, is probably a waste of time. Wishing for the right reasons is probably a valuable part of human nature. The disregard for wishing likely needs to be brought into order.

[pbhjpbhj]

>You can’t find something if you’re not looking for it, simple as that. //

That does sound simple; and wrong. Have you really never found something you weren't looking for, my wife for one.

[eebynight]

You’re right, there’s always an exception.

I just don’t see myself stumbling into a successful, fulfilling and rewarding career without atleast making some sort of effort here...

[nestorherre]

Thought exactly the same, too lazy to write it though. After some time of thinking about a proper logical argument of why and how the secret works, it's just because your mind is focused mostly on that thing that you're wishing for, and you start picking up cues all around from the real world.