law of attraction

Perhaps you have heard about the law of attraction before, but have remained skeptical. You may feel like it’s too illogical and contradictory to science. However, if we understand the law of attraction differently through the accepted laws of physics, we can begin to see some truth. Everything in the universe operates in a flow of equilibrium. These aren’t just pretty woo-woo words, this is a universal law. Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action (or force) there is an equal and opposite reaction. So what does this mean for our lives? It means that the energy you send out into the world will return in the opposite direction, in other words, directly back to you. This is also known as karma. In a lot of ways, this means that the world is often a mirror of how you think, feel, and behave. So by changing the way you think, feel, and behave in ways that will serve you, you will change your reality for the better. 

To apply this universal law to your advantage is as simple as this: give what you want to receive. A simple concept that is also the prominent foundation for nearly every religion: treat others the way you want to be treated. It’s likely something you have heard in kindergarten and understand intellectually, but sometimes it’s hard to see how we can apply this in our lives. Here are some examples of what this can look like in our lives.

Give Freely and Receive Effortlessly

Practice this in all aspects of your life, including:

  • Relationships
    • For romantic relationships: You have to give yourself and others the love you want to receive. You can’t expect to get what you want if you aren’t willing to freely give it. Maybe you’re frustrated because your partner isn’t as affectionate as you would like. At this point, be honest with yourself: Are you giving out the love you want to receive? Are you being the partner you want them to be? Maybe you’re wanting to receive cute texts from your partner at midnight. In this case, you should set the example, and send out the texts you want to receive. Be more open with your partner, and they will be more open with you. This also means having conversations that may be uncomfortable about what you want (for information on how to get comfortable being uncomfortable, check out my previous article)
    • For other relationships: Maybe you want more positive encounters with strangers. For example, maybe you enjoy have interesting conversations with people in the elevator. Instead of waiting for it to happen, start initiating it. Give out positive vibes, and it will come back to you. The more strangers you are friendly with, the more they will be friendly with you, even in instances when you aren’t the one to initiate it.
  • Finances
    • If you want more money, it’s as simple as giving out more money. What you give out will always come back to you. Whenever I see a homeless person, I often ask myself, “What would I want if I was in their situation?” Then I’ll give them a $5 or $20 bill, and tell them I care about them and want them to get help, whatever that looks like for them. I find that the more I am generous with others, the more others are generous with me.
  • Business/Career
    • Maybe you want more recognition for the hard work that you do. Ask yourself: Have you recognized the work of others? Have you been giving out praise? Try it sometime, and you may find that the good karma will result in a promotion or raise! Or maybe you want more sales. Why not purchase from another business doing similar work to you? While this may seem counter-intuitive (why would you support the competition?), it actually makes logical sense. Think about it- you probably support multiple brands, authors, musicians, and artists already. People can buy multiple products! We can own more than one book! We can buy from more than one store! There is more than enough business to go around, just because one business gets support doesn’t mean yours can’t have the same customers buy from you as well. Also, if you put more money in the pockets of other business owners, they’ll be able to support more brands as well, and your money will circulate its way back to you. Give, receive, repeat! Everyone benefits!

What’s important to note is that you may not get the equal response right away, and that’s totally normal! The point of these exercises is to get into the habit of putting out into the world what you want to receive. For example, maybe you were friendly to someone, but they didn’t reciprocate. But maybe later in the day or week without even trying you’ll have a positive interaction with someone else. Give what you want to receive, and by law of the universe, it will always come back to you.