–by Dr. James Michael Nolan

A lot of people get caught up in all kinds of details and what-ifs when it comes to the so-called “Law of Attraction” (which I happen to call the Principle of Attraction, for reasons you can read about…) Some people end up wanting to fight about it. That seems to be a popular sport…Some mental health professionals like to dismiss it as simplistic. I have learned to avoid those people and all that against-ness and negative energy–it’s all upstream, and I want no part of it. Downstream is the Way of Flow. I have a PhD in Counseling Psychology, and am licensed as a Psychologist, a Professional Counselor, and as an Addictions Counselor. I am president of a graduate school. I guess you could say I have put a little bit of thought into this stuff, you know?

Let’s start simple:

• Your attitude matters
• Your mood matters
• Your thoughts matter
• Your beliefs matter
• Your inner dialogue and narrative matter
• Your locus of control matters (whether you believe you can have an impact in your life, or whether you believe stuff just HAPPENS to you)
• Your locus of evaluation matters (I determine the worth of my behaviors and who I am as a person, versus I look to outside authorities to decide if I am good, or talented, or a worthy person)
• Your facial expression matters
• Your expectations matter
• Your attributions matter (do I blame or praise others or take responsibility for my unsuccessful behaviors and for my own victories?)
• Which all amount to your Vibration matters…What kind of Vibe are you giving off? Because you are vibrating all this stuff energetically, whether you know it or not…More about that some other time…

You’re going to  see that this is not at all mysterious, and not anything you did not already know. Let’s consider two ways of moving in the world, somewhat exaggeratedly, to make our point…I want you to meet Two Guys…

     “Life Sucks Guy”

If I have a bad attitude, am in a pissy mood, believe that the world’s going to hell in a Trump-basket, and keep running that story in my head over and over, and keep reading every Huffington Post blog piece I can find to support that point of view, and if I Facebook about it, blog about it, feel helpless, feel hopeless about changing it, feel like I need outer authorities to tell me what to think and believe, go around looking grumpy and negative, and if I am generally fear-based, and expect things to keep on sucking, and blame people and forces outside of myself for what’s wrong in my life and the world—

Guess what I am likely to vibrate out into my personal energy field, and attract, manifest, experience, and feel?

     “Life Is Good Guy”

If I feel positive, optimistic, if I am reaching for happy, and trust in an abundant and generous and compassionate universe, and if that becomes my inner dialogue, and I come to believe in and trust my own inner authority, and believe I can influence and help create my own experience and reality, and if I show compassion and an open heart to the world, and take responsibility for my own actions and experiences—

Guess what I am likely to vibrate out into my personal energy field, and attract, manifest, experience, and feel?

• What you believe will happen becomes more likely to happen
• The energy you bring into a situation or room or relationship has a high impact on how things go
• What you decide you can never have or achieve, became much less likely to enter into your experience once you decided that you can never have it or achieve it, whether that belief is true or not
• Birds of a feather flock together (Positive Energy attracts and creates “Positive Energy”—if you doubt that, next time you see friends, smile as bigly and genuinely as you can and say “Man, it is SO good to see you!” and see what kind of response you get…)
• The better it gets, the better it gets; the worse it gets, the worse it gets
• If you believe you can do or have a thing, and if you believe you CANNOT do or have a thing, you are right (Henry Ford)

These are PRINCIPLES of life. They are ancient, going back to the Hermetic teachings, thousands of years ago. Principles outline how things go, or tend to go. Laws say they cannot go otherwise. That is why I am less wild about the phrase “Law of Attraction”—because some doofus is always going to say “All I have to do is set an intention for a red sports car to show up in my driveway with the winning lottery ticket in the front seat—and it HAS to happen, because I set it in motion, and it is  LAW!” And we all know that is horsecrap, well-intended, but insidious, and it really gives the priceless Principle of Attraction a bad name. Seriously. But we both know that guy is ALL OVER Facebook and Social Media telling people he (and they) are all going to win the lottery. Yikes. The unfortunate thing is that he keeps really curious people from exploring the very serious and powerful Principle of Attraction because his version of it is patently preposterous.

Finally…

I can’t become the King of Peru, no matter what. I can’t fly, self-propelled, over the canyon that is down below me as I write.

But I CAN attract/create/manifest abundance and prosperity and good relationships and a good work situation. I already have, many times over–that is not theory, for me--it has been my actual lived experience. If I am moving through the world like “Life Is Good Guy”, I can make a hell of a lot happen. For me, the simple line of thinking outlined above captures some of the core Principle of Attraction, in a very simple way…

I am a Psychologist and a Life Coach. If you are interested in my services, contact me at JimNolanSWC@gmail.com.

I am also in my 12th year as the President of Southwestern College in Santa Fe, a school that trains Professional Counselors and Art Therapists. Pretty cool gig.

You can Text me at 505.699.7616.

Or visit my web site at http://drjamesmichaelnolan.com/

Thanks for hanging out…Hope you found this helpful…

Jim Nolan

#LawofAttraction #AbrahamHicks #PrincipleofAttraction #INFP

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