[Daffy Duck]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

Right. In this case, if your inquiry goes far enough, it will lead you to explore the meaning of death. And then perhaps you'll find the answers that you're looking for.

Since I was a young preteen I have studied many different religions and philosophies. I assure you I've already thought a lot about death, life, what a "person" is, and so on. I'm sure I will continue to think about such things for my whole life. I don't run into many new ideas, but I do see people discussing them in new ways quite often.

No. Not every single person in the world could think that the sun doesn't exist. For instance, I wouldn't be able to.

Please note the difference between "could" and "would." Of course, it is possible everyone could think such a thing, but I agree it would never happen.

So yours is a common misconception about how the LOA works. To give you a simple example, a person addicted to smoking may casually think to himself "I am no longer addicted to smoking."

And what kind of misconception is that? Are you telling me about not speaking to the Universe in a negative sense? As in, one should not say "I am not addicted." It is better to think in the positive and present sense, such as you said, "I am free of my addiction."

If that's the misconception you were thinking, I already learned that a long time ago. From Jack Canfield, I believe.

"All things are possible for you, with the LOA, to the extent that you are able to consciously control your mind." The point here being - all of us have quite limited control of our minds.

I suppose my point is just a variation of the classic question: Can God make a rock so big that He can't move it? Saying "all things are possible" is kind of a self-defeating statement.

For example, if your mind is of the firm view that I am an eccentric, crazy person, then that is the role I play in your reality, and though you know nothing of me beyond what I write in these forums, you will see abundant evidence of my eccentricity and craziness.

Well, sure. You're just talking about perception.

I'll give an example. Every day my house contains my car keys. I may walk by them a hundred times and never notice them. Only when I direct my mind to "pickup my car keys" is when I notice them and pick them up. This isn't anything magical -- I did not alter reality, I did not use LOA to manifest my car keys "out of thin air." They were always there. I just decided to notice them. Our mind can only consciously notice so many things at once.

So when someone focuses on the negative, and they start seeing bad drivers, rude cashiers and so on, they are not creating a new reality. They are simply focusing or projecting their own emotions on something that was always there. They're making a value judgment. This is all going on in their head and has nothing to do with the reality "out there."

When one speaks of using LOA to influence what goes on "out there" against natural laws that govern it, such as saying "LOA will make it so I can fly by flapping my arms," I think people are just fooling themselves. As an extreme example, even if someone had perfect control of their mind and thoughts, I don't think it's possible that one could blow up the whole Universe by just thinking about it (not that a highly thinking person would want to do so anyway). Some things are probably inherently impossible.

So in conclusion, what is Daffy saying? I don't deny that LOA techniques can work. I mean, they worked before it was called the "Law of Attraction" and the New Age group applied their own spiritual philosophies to it. The basic techniques are very simple and common sense. But the interesting thing is why it works. Does LOA work because the "Universe conspires to work for you," or rather because it directs your own mind to accomplish things? I think the latter is more correct. You won't become a professional bodybuilder by sitting in a room thinking about it, but if you direct your mind and body to lift weights and eat well, then you can achieve the goal.