“Give your attention to the things that are working, and the things that aren’t working will begin working. When you try to fix the things that aren’t working, you just carve out more not-working paths. It’s just momentum.” —Abraham
I am seriously in love with this quote! The concept of not-working paths really resonates with me. I can look back over my journey and see so many times in the past when that’s exactly what I was doing—I was carving out more not-working paths.
Of course, that wasn’t my intent. Nonetheless, it was the reality I was creating.
Here’s just one example: Years ago I co-founded a usability company called Red Spade. From the outside looking in, your might have seen success.
But after an initial couple years of excitement and passion, I became a workaholic who was no longer truly engaged in the work. If joy is the measure of success, then I wasn’t successful at all.
Back then, I focused on everything that wasn’t working, hoping that would lead me to the answer of how to fix it. It didn’t really occur to me to focus on what was working as the way forward, as the pathway to the answer, to the solution.
No, I was laser-focused on the problem. I efforted my way to try to fix something I perceived as broken.
As Abraham says, when you try to fix things that aren’t working, you just carve out more not-working paths. That’s exactly what I did before my obsession with all things Law of Attraction.
Then somewhere along my LoA journey, thankfully, I stumbled on the truth of this quote in my own life.
I started to really see it at work. So when I discovered the quote, it perfectly put into words what I had been noticing.
I could get momentum in either direction.
- I could get momentum in the direction of what is working or I could get momentum in the direction of what wasn’t working.
- I could get momentum in the direction of what I want and like or momentum in the direction of what I didn’t want and didn’t like.
The direction of the momentum—either way—wasn’t up to luck or circumstances. It wasn’t up to happenstance. It wasn’t up to my current “reality”.
No, the direction of the momentum was up to my focus. It depended on where I put my attention.
Which is why I want to shine a light on the wisdom of this quote and how you can apply it in your real life. Let’s begin:
“Give your attention to the things that are working, and the things that aren’t working will begin working.”
This is as much philosophy as instruction.
In fact, you could say this one sentence sums up Law of Attraction.
Give your attention to the things that are working. Because when you focus in this direction, the things that aren’t working will begin working.
- When you focus on the solution, you attract other things at the vibration of the solution.
- When you focus on what’s working, you attract circumstances and conditions of the same frequency.
- When you focus on what you like and what you appreciate, you attract a new reality from that vibration.
While that first line reflects the philosophy of LoA, it is also instructional.
Abraham is directing and guiding you. In fact, Abraham is giving you one of the best pieces of advice you could ever receive: Give your attention to the things that are working.
Think back over the last few days. Have you been giving your attention to the things that are working?
“You can’t focus upon something that bothers you and something that doesn’t bother you at the same time, and in the moment you withdraw your attention from what’s bothering you, your vibration is going to rise.” —Abraham
Really think about that. Your focus is your superpower. Where you choose to put your attention is everything. Because your focus and attention are most certainly affecting your vibration.
You can focus on something that bothers you and isn’t working or you can focus on something that doesn’t bother you and is working.
“Give your attention to what makes you feel good, thereby releasing your attention for what makes you feel bad.” —Abraham
Let’s take a real-life example of this choice to give your attention to the things that are working.
A woman in a self-described unhappy marriage focuses on all the things she doesn’t like about her husband and all the things that are not working in her marriage.
What could be different if she were to focus on what is working in her marriage or what she does appreciate about her husband?
Now, perhaps the subject of her marriage is too great a stretch for what’s working. OK, then what would be possible, what would she see, what would her vibration be if she focused on what is working in the rest of her life, in her life as a whole?
The question becomes: If she gives her attention to things that are working, can she change the things—i.e., the unhappy marriage—from not working to working?
I believe the answer to that question is one thousand times yes!
“Continued attention to a problem attracts it into your experience. To remove it from your experience, you must remove your attention from it.” —Abraham
When you shift your attention away from what is bothering you, your vibration lifts.
And when your vibration lifts, you have improved your point of attraction.
Here’s the bottom line: When you shift your focus from what is not working to what is working, you begin to create a new reality.
Law of Attraction 101: Like attracts like. When you give your attention to what is working, what you like, what you want, you attract circumstances and conditions that match up.
But when you focus on what’s not working, you attract circumstances and conditions on a similar frequency. You attract more that’s not working. You carve out more non-working paths.
So we’ve covered that first brilliant line of the quote: “Give your attention to the things that are working, and the things that aren’t working will begin working.”
Abraham goes on to say: “When you try to fix the things that aren’t working, you just carve out more not-working paths. It’s just momentum.”
Are you trying to fix something? Are you focused on the problem, the obstacle, the deficit, the shortcoming, the shortfall?
In other words, have you been carving out more not-working paths?
If so, it’s time to stop.
I want you to release the habit of focusing on the problem. I want you to shift away from focusing on the things that aren’t working. I want you to let go of trying to fix things that aren’t working.
This is life changing for many of us. Because we’re so used to focusing on what’s wrong—always approaching life as one problem after another to be fixed.
“Don’t try to fix things that feel broken, just focus upon things that give you lightheartedness and joy and ease until you make that your vibrational lifestyle and then see what happens to every relationship in your life experience.” —Abraham
Make focusing on what’s working and what you want and what you like your vibrational lifestyle.
- If you want more love in the world, focus on love in the world. Be love in the world.
- If you want more abundance in your life, focus on the abundance you already have. Appreciate the abundance that is already yours.
- If you want more harmony in your relationships, focus on how you want it to be. Move in the direction of what is wanted. Look for what you want to see.
“You don’t create things that you want. You create things that you give your attention to, whether you want them or not.” —Abraham
Abraham has offered the very best guidance there is: Give your attention to things that are working.
- What’s working in your life?
- What’s working in your relationships? In your job?
- What’s working when it comes to your health and well-being?
- What’s working with regard to abundance in your life?
- What’s working with your LoA practice?
Are you giving your attention to things that are working?
Don’t gloss past this question. Really consider: Are you giving your attention to things that are working? Because if the answer is no or not usually, then you have a huge and exciting opportunity.
“You are not here to fix anything, because nothing is broken, but everything is continually changing and expanding. Release your struggle, and seek joy and fun, and in doing so, you will align with the fantastic expanding rhythm of the Universe.” —Abraham
