It’s easy to discount something when it sounds weird or we don’t understand it.
While the language of Law of Attraction is commonplace to me these days, I certainly remember what it was like when that wasn’t the case. And so I thought I’d explore a little Law of Attraction vocabulary.
But here’s the thing. I don’t want to just teach you the meaning of alignment or contrast. It’s not like there’s going to be a test later and you need to regurgitate definitions to pass.
What I really want is for you to consider how the word or phrase applies to your life.
For instance, think about how alignment applies to your real life—waking up each morning and getting the kids off to school and commuting to work. I want you to think about how contrast applies to your job that you don’t like or the arguments with your spouse about money.
Here’s what I know for sure: Law of Attraction is at work in your life—whether you know it or not, whether you believe it or not, whether you understand it or not. It’s at work.
With this vocabulary lesson, I hope to help you better leverage Law of Attraction— so you can truly take advantage of Law of Attraction and live the life of your dreams.
Let’s start with Law of Attraction itself.
Here’s a simple definition: Things of like vibration are drawn to each other.
This means like energy attracts like energy. Like thoughts attract like thoughts. Like emotions attract like emotions.
Why does this matter? Because you get momentum in your life around your energy, around your thoughts, around your emotions. And this is creating your reality.
So you oversleep on Monday morning, stub your toe getting out of bed, and say, Ugh, what a day it’s going to be! And, you’re right. What a day it’s going to be. Because your negative energy attracts. Your negative thoughts attract. And your negative emotion attracts.
And pretty soon you have a day spiraling downward because things of like vibration are drawn to each other.
So what does this mean for you?
Start experimenting with the Law of Attraction. Get some momentum going in the other direction—the direction of positivity. The direction of looking for things you want to see. The direction of appreciation. The direction of choosing your thoughts deliberately—and deliberately choosing thoughts that feel good.
Next up: Alignment.
Feeling good attracts more to feel good about. When you’re in alignment, you attract circumstances, people, events, and things that are vibrationally at the same frequency. In other words, you attract more good things.
When you’re feeling emotions on the high end of the emotional scale, like love and appreciation, you’re in alignment. When you’re satisfied with what is and eager for more, you’re in alignment. When you’re in agreement with your Inner Being, you’re in alignment.
“The way you feel is your indication of your vibrational connection to that which is your Source. The better you feel, the better your connection; the worse you feel, the more disallowance to that connection. —Abraham
At its core, alignment is about the idea that there is only Well-Being in the Universe. And you are either allowing or disallowing this Well-Being.
“The basis of All-That-Is, is Well-Being. There is no source of anything that is other than Well-Being. If you believe you are experiencing something other than Well-Being, it is only because you have somehow chosen a perspective that is temporarily holding you out of reach of the natural Well-Being that flows.” —Ask and It Is Given
I love this idea that Well-Being flows and being in alignment lines you up with this Well-Being.
So what does this mean for you?
Well, you want to pay attention to your alignment. If you’re ready to make feeling good a priority, be sure to listen to episode #005 of Love Your Life: The importance of coffee and how I get in alignment. It will give you some great ideas for your own alignment practice.
For even more on alignment, you may also be interested in episode #016 of Love Your Life: 4 things to do when you pop out of alignment
Next up: Point of attraction and emotional set-point.
The simplest way to think about this is to see yourself as a magnet, getting more and more of the way you feel in your life. Because the way you feel is your point of attraction.
“If we want a joyous life, we must think joyous thoughts. If we want a prosperous life, we must think prosperous thoughts. If we want a loving life, we must think loving thoughts. Whatever we send out mentally or verbally will come back to us in like form.” —Louise Hay from You Can Heal Your Life
While you certainly experience different moods and feelings throughout your day, you may have gotten into a groove of a particular emotion, like worry or overwhelm. This is what’s known as an emotional set-point, sometimes called a vibrational set-point.
Your emotional set-point could be worry or overwhelm or pessimism. Well, you can imagine, those emotions are not a positive point of attraction.
On the other hand, your vibrational set-point could be positive expectation or eagerness or enthusiasm. Those would, indeed, create a positive point of attraction.
So what does this mean for you?
I want you to think about your point of attraction. And I want you to think about your emotional set-point. Are you attracting what you want? Have you gotten into a groove of emotion—your go-to emotion—that’s not creating a positive point of attraction?
For instance, I have a client who recently told me her go-to emotion is drama and blame. Every situation in her life is a crisis—sensationalized, exaggerated. So the wrong drink at Starbucks becomes the ultimate in poor customer service and a slight by a co-worker becomes an injustice.
She’s come to realize that this go-to emotional state of drama and blame is not creating the point of attraction she wants in her life.
If you want to hear about 4 ways your point of attraction might be a problem, listen to episode #003 of Love Your Life Is your point of attraction the problem?
This brings me to our next phrase: Emotional scale.
Oh my gosh, learning about the emotional scale has been life-changing for me. It has allowed me to really be a much happier, more joyful person.
The emotional scale is a list of emotions numbered from 1 to 22, ranking emotions most in alignment with Well-Being and Source versus emotions with the most resistance to Well-Being and Source.
- Emotions at the top end of the scale include: Joy, love, appreciation, enthusiasm, happiness, positive expectation, and optimism.
- Emotions in the middle of the scale include: Boredom, pessimism, frustration, irritation, disappointment, doubt, and worry.
- Emotions at the lowest end of the scale include: Blame, anger, jealousy, insecurity, fear, depression, and powerlessness.
So what does this mean for you?
Well, your emotions are letting you know whether you’re in the process of creating something you want or something you do not want.
So whenever you become aware you’re feeling negative emotion, give yourself a pat on the back. It means you’re aware of your Emotional Guidance System. And then gently try to improve the feeling by choosing thoughts that feel better.
It’s this simple: If you’re willing to hang out at the low-end of the emotional scale and stay there, you will only attract other circumstances, situations, people, events, and things into your life that perpetuate you feeling emotions at the low-end of the emotional scale.
I want you to start using the emotional scale. For ideas about how to do this, check out episode #002 of Love Your Life: Did you know there are only 2 emotions? (one feels good, one bad)
Next, one of my very favorite Law of Attraction concepts is upstream vs. downstream.
One of the biggest Aha moments for me with Law of Attraction is the notion that feeling good is not dependent on circumstances. What?!
We’re so used to conditionally feeling good. If she acts a certain way, I’ll feel good. If he does what I want, I’ll be happy. If I get the job. If the money comes through. We’re so used to thinking if only x, y, z happens and the planets align, then we can feel good.
Not so. Abraham says you put your boat in the stream wherever you are. Whatever life condition surrounds you. Sickness, divorce, financial problems. Wherever you are is where you are.
The stream of Well-Being though is always flowing. It’s just up to you to put your boat in the water exactly where you are and then go with the flow. Because the stream is always toward improvement, toward the solution, toward the answer.
Upstream versus Downstream is the difference between:
- I’m not where I should be vs. acceptance. Feel the difference in those vibrations.
- I’m going to try really hard and make this happen vs. I’m going to allow the resources of the Universe to help me work this out.
Downstream is about making peace with where you are. To go downstream is to let it be, and to focus on the positive aspects of whatever situation is going on in your life, to be open to what the Universe is flowing you.
When you push and struggle and fight to go upstream, you feel negative emotion. But when you go with the flow, you stop complaining and start appreciating. You take the path of least resistance. You stop controlling and managing and resisting and you start putting your attention on what IS going right, what IS working, and what you DO like.
“I can complain or I can appreciate. I can find fault or I can look for positive aspects. I can worry about something or I can look forward to something. I can remember things that irritated me or I can remember things that please me. I can look for your flaws or I can look for your positive aspects. And in every moment in time I’ve got an “upstream” or “downstream” choice. Try to put your life into that context so you deliberately try to point “downstream”—and then all you need to do is hold your tongue about the upstream stuff.” —Abraham
So what does this mean for you?
I encourage you to put this distinction in your toolkit: Upstream vs. Downstream.
Start asking yourself: Is this upstream or downstream? You can ask that question about the thoughts you’re thinking, the decisions you’re making, and the actions you’re taking.
I can promise you this: Everything you want is downstream. So put your boat in the water, in the stream wherever you are right now in your life, and let go. Be selfish enough to care how you feel—and not make how you feel dependent upon conditions.
The next two concepts I want to explore are: Better-feeling thought and pivoting.
When you’re feeling negative emotion, you’re in the process of attracting what you don’t want. For instance, when you’re feeling worried, you’re attracting more to be worried about. When you’re feeling angry, you’re attracting more to be angry about.
Pivoting is what you’re doing when you reach for a better-feeling thought.
Because when you reach for a better-feeling thought, you’re deliberately shifting your attention off something unwanted that’s causing you to feel negative emotion—that’s the pivot—and choosing instead to put your focus and attention on something that allows you to feel better.
“And when you care about how you feel, you can easily apply the Process of Pivoting to direct your attention toward more of the wanted aspects, and less of the unwanted aspects, of life. And then, as the Law of Attraction responds to your increasingly improved, better-feeling thoughts, you will notice your own life experience transforming to match more of those wanted aspects, while the unwanted aspects gradually fade out of your experience.” —Abraham
When you pivot and deliberately choose your thoughts, you’re choosing your point of attraction, which means, by Law of Attraction, you are deliberately choosing how your life unfolds.
This is so powerful! And it all begins by making the choice to pivot to better-feeling thoughts.
If you want to hear a real-life example of this, listen to episode #002 of Love Your Life. You’ll hear about a really lousy time I had at the mall with Hans that had me hanging out in the middle of the emotional scale with frustration, irritation, and disappointment. And I’ll share how I reached for better-feeling thoughts.
Next up: Belief.
Belief is so powerful, isn’t it? You believe this; you don’t believe that. And probably, like most of us, you take your beliefs as reality, as the absolute truth. Your beliefs are carved in stone.
Well, they shouldn’t be. Because a belief is simply a practiced thought.
We give so much weight to our beliefs. They are heavy with importance. And we shouldn’t. Because a belief is just a thought you’ve been thinking a long time.
Which means, you can choose to change your beliefs by changing your thoughts. It’s really that simple.
One of my all-time favorite quotes is: Beliefs are always the only problem.
So what does this mean for you?
I want you to question your beliefs. Question the thoughts you keep thinking that make you feel bad. Question thoughts that prevent you from moving up the emotional scale.
Ask yourself: Does this belief serve me? Don’t ask if it’s true. True, untrue has nothing to do with it.
- I have this belief about X. It brings me so much pain.
- I have this belief about Y. And it causes me so much confusion.
Those beliefs about X and Y don’t serve you. If they cause pain and confusion, they don’t serve you.
You can absolutely question beliefs that make you feel bad—and you can replace beliefs that don’t serve you. Choose to think thoughts that feel good and attract more of the good stuff into your life.
Next up: Contrast.
“You never know more clearly what it is that you do want than when you are living what you do not want.” —Abraham
Abraham is talking about contrast. The contrast of your life experience causes you to ask for things. I do NOT want that. I DO want this.
Whether you consciously ask or unconsciously. Whether you say the words aloud or your desire is just a thought in your head. Either way, you’re asking. You can’t help but ask because of the contrast.
And here’s the thing: Contrast is crucial for clarity.
One of the most liberating things for me since my obsession with Law of Attraction is having a new attitude about contrast. As in, not fighting it, not thinking it shouldn’t be there.
These days I have a very different relationship with contrast. I think it’s such a gift to have clarity about what is wanted and unwanted.
So I appreciate contrast. I thank the Universe when contrast makes its appearance. I recognize and appreciate contrast for what it is—a way pointer to what it is I DO want.
What does this mean for you?
Perhaps you would also benefit from a new relationship with contrast. Instead of fighting it or seeing it as a bad thing or something to be avoided, what if you start appreciating contrast for clarifying what it is you DO want?
Because every time you realize what you don’t want, which is contrast, you know what you do want. Every time you know what you don’t like, which again is contrast, you know what you do like.
That’s the clarity that contrast offers. And it’s a really beautiful and useful thing.
If you want to learn more about contrast, listen to episode #011 of Love Your Life: Why contrast is useful and what it’s telling you right now.
What will you do with these definitions?
I’ve shared definitions and context for 10 Law of Attraction-related terms. Learning definitions for these words and phrases is interesting, but not really the point. What’s important is to put these Law of Attraction concepts to work in your own life.
For example, you can ask yourself:
- What is my point of attraction? What’s the evidence I see in my life for how I’m thinking and feeling?
- Where am I right now on the emotional scale? And what’s a better-feeling thought that would allow me to move up the emotional scale?
- Is this thought taking me upstream or downstream?
- Which of my beliefs are not serving me?
- How can I make friends with contrast and use it more effectively to clarify and focus on what I do want?
Use this spotlight on Law of Attraction vocabulary as a springboard to put these concepts to work in your own life.
