In publishing it is very unusual for a self-published book to reach the bestsellers list. However recently this has happened with a book entitled Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don’t Want. The thesis of the book is simple: through positive speech and thought one attracts good things to oneself.
Waking up in the morning to a negative feeling is hard to change. One may be able to push the negative thoughts away and replace them temporarily with positive ones. Or instead of using the negative tense of for example, "I do not want X to happen" one can say it in the affirmative, "I want Y to happen" – a suggestion the author of the above mentioned book gives. However deep down the negative feeling remains and it is this that really needs to be changed because it is out of that deep-seated pessimism that all negativity grows.
The solution is in fact rather simple but demands dedication to carry out. Once one has mastered this technique positive thinking becomes effortless. The trick is to realize that one is complete without outer measures of success. To do this one must be authentic with oneself. This means relating to oneself on a soul level.
Most of us measure our success and failures against our outer achievements and those of other people. In fact this is futile because the true extent of success is deeply personal and in this area no two people are alike. However to be truly cognizant of this one must be connected on an inner level. This involves peeling away all the externalities, all the barriers that we build around ourselves and seeing ourselves for what we really are—a complete individual with no need for outside recognition to make us whole.
At this soul level we are complete by virtue of the fact that we exist. This is the process the Kabbalists go through to see the true reality of the universe. One can see the world on the external artificial level where all that counts is the material or we can peel away the external and stare directly at the divine energy that keeps all things in existence. When this is done, because there is nothing more lofty than the divine itself, the material loses its relevance.
A person who sees themselves and the universe on this soul level becomes relaxed with their place in life. The external measurements of success are seen as irrelevant and negative thoughts and the fear of failure become subverted. Once a person feels secure in his or her own skin failure is no longer a major threat and they are left unencumbered to think and feel totally positive.
The benefits of this strategy are thus twofold. First life becomes more relaxed and second, the more positive and optimistic outlook actually attracts the good things the person really wants from life.
Ancient wisdom is constantly being repackaged and sold to contemporary audiences in different ways. The despite the odds success of this self – published book tells us that real wisdom is timeless and always relevant. It is a shame that more people don’t look for it where it is found in its most pristine state—in the Torah and its mystical teachings.