Living Beyond The Law of Attraction

Sherri Carter, Contributing Writer
Waking Times

When I heard about The Law of Attraction, it seemed to be a powerful message.  Authors, teachers and spiritual leaders who heavily focused on the belief that thoughts are energy, spoke about attracting everything we ever needed to us just by thinking good thoughts.  At first, this appeared to be a wonderful concept.  All I needed to do to have the life of my dreams was to think it and it would just magically appear.  As I worked more and more with the Law of Attraction, I, as well as many others, began to see the flaws in this theory. Once empowered people became completely disempowered because they were waiting for someone, or something, outside of themselves to create the life of their dreams.  They were thinking the good thoughts, but that was it.

While thinking good thoughts is a great thing to do, it is only the foundational step, step one!  Not moving beyond this first step was causing an uneasiness in the spiritual, new thought movement.  People were yearning for more!  In my quest for more, I began to study Universal Laws.  I stumbled upon the book The Light Shall Set You Free (1988) by authors Drs. Milanovich and McCune. Here, I discovered there are many, many laws, all working together beautifully, creating the tapestry of our lives.  The Law of Attraction was never intended to be the answer to all things in the Universe (that answer is 42, but that’s another story).  It is but one law.  I also found The Law of Action, which is the forward movement we put to our intentions.  I had found the missing piece!  It cleared up all of the horrible misuses happening with The Law of Attraction.  It moved me from only “thinking good thoughts” but also into incorporating action, supporting my desires.  This is what I learned from working with The Law of Action:


  • Thinking good thoughts only lays the foundation.  Congruent action moves those intentions forward, into reality.  My good thoughts are my goal setting stage, but it doesn’t end there.  I became actively involved in my life, and I began to experience more of the life I was wanting.

    I no longer wanted to attract things into my life; I wanted to create experiences.  There is only so much stuff a person needs.  I was materialistically stuffed out!  I was craving more meaningful, deeper experiences in my life.  My focus was turned from attracting things to creating experiences.

    I discovered negative thoughts aren’t bad for me and are not to be ignored.  My negative thoughts were a symptom of a deeper, root issue.  By acknowledging them, learning from them, I was growing.  The most important question I learned to ask, and answer, was “what does my Spirit need?”  WOW!  By realizing my thoughts weren’t the problem, only a symptom, and by exploring what my Spirit needed, I realized I no longer needed to ignore my negative thoughts.  Listening didn’t “make them true” or “give them energy”, ignoring them is what created more discomfort!

    I haven’t failed when something, or someone, shows up in my life which is undesirable.  I have the power to say “no”.   Life happens.  How I act, or react, and how I show up is my responsibility, how someone else acts or shows up, isn’t.   I get to decide how much emotional energy I want to give to a situation, or even a person.  I can say “no thank you.”

    In the steps of “ask, wait, receive”, waiting was never intended to be a passive step but rather an active one.  While I may be waiting to achieve the overall goal, I initiate action in the smaller steps I take. The Law of Action isn’t about forcing, manipulating or controlling.  It is about moving forward, in the flow.  Also, I receive along the way, as I move closer to my desired outcome.  In celebrating each smaller step I take, I receive more and more evidence of achieving my goals!

    To begin living the life of my dreams, I need to begin living the life of my dreams! I am no longer disempowered, giving my power away to someone else who either will, or won’t, give me what I need to live the life of my dreams. It’s my life to live, not anyone else’s!

    By utilizing these two powerful Universal Laws- The Law of Attraction and The Law of Action- you no longer stop at only setting intentions; you move towards those intentions with congruent action.  This is the true secret for manifesting the life of your dreams!

    About the Author

    Sherri Carter, MS, believes strongly in the power of Universal Principles, especially the Universal Law of Action. Her work focuses on empowering people to actively create the lives they desire.  She lives in the beautiful Ozarks region of southwest Missouri, with her husband and young son. For more information, please visit www.liveyourintentions.net.

    This article is offered under Creative Commons license. It’s okay to republish it anywhere as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact.

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