Last week I was enjoying some time to myself at a local park when I overheard a conversation between two women who were talking about how frustrated they were with their jobs.  They were sitting close by and, after a half hour of trying to mind my own business, I decided to head home.  As I drove away, I thought about how much time and energy they were investing in the problem by repeating the details of their situations over and over again.  And, I thought about how I've done the same thing in my own life -- energized the very thing I didn't want to continue by repeatedly complaining about it.

When you consider the notion that our thoughts have creative power, complaining about something without doing anything to change it, takes on a whole new meaning.  While talking about our problems is a normal (and important) way of working through the difficulties in life, fixating on them can end up magnetizing the very thing we most want to avoid.  When we complain, ruminate, whine, moan or gossip about what isn't working in our lives, we may find that the problem persists or even shows up in a whole new form. 

That said, there's gold to be found in the act of complaining and worrying about our problems.  Just think about the strategy behind what you do.  For example, if you're worried about money (and who isn't nowadays), you might:

• Continuously think about what you don't have, your debt, or upcoming bills.
• Talk with others about how bad the economy is or how it's going to get worse.
• Write about your fears in a journal. 
• Go to sleep at night imagining worse-case scenarios in your mind.
• Pray about the problem. 

Again, these are all useful ways to process the challenges we face in life, but when we get stuck on these behaviors alone without adding positive actions, we contribute to the problem.  Now, imagine what might happen if you used these same strategies to your advantage.  To bring more abundance into your life, you could:

• Continuously think about what you do have by noticing the little things that make you happy right now.
• Start looking for and sharing the stories of abundance that show up in your life.
• Begin each day by writing down fifteen things you feel grateful for.
• Go to sleep at night imagining yourself living debt free or enjoying a new, higher-paying job.
• Pray for the discipline and strength to focus on the good in your life and the ability to receive the abundance that's coming your way.

These examples represent the fundamental steps of attraction.  You think about it, talk about it, write about it, meditate on it, pray about it, or imagine best-case scenarios.  I've been practicing the idea of attraction in one form or another for the last twenty-five years and these are the things that I do (along with making treasure maps :).  As you begin to use these steps to turn things around, please keep in mind three important things I've learned over time:

1.  Simply thinking about something you want to bring into your life isn't enough.  You need to combine thought with action and be willing to do the work.

2.  Making the shift from "me" to "we" is where the law of attraction really becomes powerful.  My greatest joy (and success) comes in sharing my good fortune with others.

3.  We must surrender to the reality that there is a power greater than our humanness at work in the world and we can't always get what we want.  Some things just aren't meant to be.

So, when you think about your life and what you're energizing every day, does it make you smile or is it time to make a shift?