The Jungian Law of Attraction: Part I
What do you want? What are you seeking? What do you need to feel whole? What could you have to make your life worth living? How can you sustain the joy you have in your life? How do you find a way out of despair? Do you even want to find the way out? What would it take for you to want to find a way out?
When you hear about the “Law of Attraction,” several things may come to mind: a guru, a self-help guide, a “get rich quick” scheme, or a vision of life that is simply too good to be true. When we watch films like The Secret or read books such as The Power of Now or Ask and it is Given, we are likely to be left with a feeling in our gut that says: they make it sound so easy.
As if the “perfect” life were so easily grasped in your fingertips, if only you would reach for it. As if all your problems, pains, and suffering could simply vanish by the refocusing of your mind. As if the trajectory of your life could change drastically by a simple set of words spoken in front of your mirror each morning. If only I visualize the way my life could be, then it will be. It definitely sounds too good to be true.
But is it? As we explore the Law of Attraction, we will explore what it is, and what it isn’t. In addition, we will start to discover what it means from the perspective of personality types and Jungian Typology. I will posit this to you: The Law of Attraction is both as easy as it sounds and much harder.
What is the Law of Attraction?
Take a moment and examine your life. How would you describe it? What are you doing with your days? Are your days filled with what you want to do? Do you feel generally content with your life, or like something deep is missing? Are you happy with the financial, relational, familial, business, athletic, leisurely, and nutritional aspects of your life?
The theory of the Law of Attraction posits that the way your life is at this very moment in time was arrived at by what your beliefs, feelings, thoughts, and attention were focused on. In other words, where you are right now was decided to a significant degree by you in the past.
Likewise, where you will be in 1, 3, 5, or even 10 years will be decided based upon where your focus, attention, thoughts, feelings, and beliefs are oriented towards the coming days, weeks, months, and years.
The Law of Attraction boils down to this: the direction where you focus your energy, and the object(s) of what your attention is spent on will determine your experience in life.
As a secondary part, the Law of Attraction also states that the nature of your energy will attract like energy. Generous energy will attract generous opportunities. The Bible even seems to hint at this phenomenon.
“For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” — Proverbs 23:7
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” — Matthew 6:21
The theory of the Law of Attraction places us in the middle of our own lives. While it sounds like a wonderful miracle — that our lives could be what we want them to be — it has a challenging implication. We soon find ourselves burdened with the responsibility of tuning into ourselves in a way that we never have before.
If it is true that we shape our lives more than anyone or anything around us, who bears the responsibility for our circumstances more than ourselves?
The Central Paradox
“I have always been fascinated by the law of reversed effort. Sometimes I call it the ‘backwards law.’ When you try to stay on the surface of the water, you sink; but when you try to sink, you float. When you hold your breath, you lose it—which immediately calls to mind an ancient and much neglected saying, ‘Whosoever would save his soul shall lose it.’” — Alan Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity
The tighter you hold onto sand, the quicker it slips between your fingers. The harder you chase something the more it will outrun you. The more you try, the less likely you are to achieve.
This is a paradox. Rather, it is a seeming paradox, and it raises deep concerns over the validity of the Law of Attraction. How can you have what you want in life if, when you focus on getting what you want, it eludes your grasp even more?
If I am chasing a new job, relationship, or pursuing a path of self-transformation, what hope is there for me when this law of paradoxical intent — you always end up with the opposite of what you pursue — permeates in everything I do?
We will explore aspects of the Law of Attraction and answer this vital question that sits at the center of its theory.
Three Pieces for the Foundation
There have been many books written that are dedicated explicitly to explaining and exploring what the Law of Attraction is and how to use it. In this section, we are going to briefly discuss three of them to contribute to our foundation for understanding how we can take control of our lives.
As a Man Thinketh — James Allen
“A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.”
“A person is limited only by the thoughts that he chooses.”
In this classic little book, Allen makes the argument that it is the content of our internal thought-life, and the regulation of that content, that shapes our life. Those who are stuck in the same miserable circumstances that they were in 20 years prior are there because the pattern of their thoughts remained unchanged.
Likewise, those who have risen to the heights of personal fulfillment, self-realization, material and spiritual wealth, are there because the pattern of their thoughts propelled them to those heights.
Consider a young man who carries on doubt from his youth catalyzed by a single thought:
I’ll never be a success.
If that same young man replaced that thought and built the belief that:
I will achieve and fulfill my purpose.
How different do you think those two versions of the same young man’s life would be?
Allen posits that our thoughts are the code that our life is written in. What we were, what we are, and what we become are all intimately tied to what thoughts, conscious or not, are flowing through our minds. For Allen, thought definitively precedes action, and action is only the pouring out of the deeper source of our internal life.
“A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. And he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts; ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of the hidden powers and possibilities within himself.”
Feeling is the Secret — Neville Goddard
“Ideas are impressed on the subconscious through the medium of feeling. No idea can be impressed on the subconscious until it is felt, but once felt – be it good, bad or indifferent – it must be expressed. Feeling is the one and only medium through which ideas are conveyed to the subconscious. Therefore, the man who does not control his feeling may easily impress the subconscious with undesirable states.”
Goddard posits that it is feeling, not mere thought, that is the primary mechanism by which we attract things into our lives. For Goddard, feeling even precedes thought. It is not solely emotion, per se, but experience and the emotional embodiment of that experience that shapes our reality.
If all you see in life is the way things could go wrong, and your focus remains on all the possible ways something could fall apart, how can you expect to experience any sensation different from constant worry and dread?
What happens when you fill your body with emotions and sensations of completion and order, and a sense of calm about the things around you? Those who are constantly worried are worried because anxiety is what they fill their body with. They do not bother or even attempt to modify the contents of their emotions as they are felt. And often, their emotions are rarely felt, but repressed, leading to a heightened state of anxiety.
For Goddard, feelings and sensations are as malleable as thought. If you were to take a moment and consider what your ideal life would feel like, what the experience of it would be, and let that run through your body unrestrained, do you not feel better after a few moments?
What does it feel like to be competent, successful, and creatively fulfilled? What does it feel like to trust someone deeply and know that they will never leave us? Our lives, then, are determined also by what we feel.
“Think feelingly only of the state you desire to realize. Feeling the reality of the state sought and living and acting on that conviction is the way of all seeming miracles. All changes of expression are brought about through a change of feeling. A change of feeling is a change of destiny.”
Ask and it is Given — Esther and Jerry Hicks
“The key to bringing something into your experience that you desire is to achieve vibrational harmony with what you desire.”
What is faith?
“Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.” — Hebrews 11:1
The “certainty of things hoped for” is no different than believing and knowing that you already have it.
“Therefore, I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.” — Mark 11:24
Believe that you have received them, and they will be granted to you.
Is the process of using the Law of Attraction different from utilizing faith? To use the Law of Attraction is to know, even before it is.
For Esther and Jerry Hicks, the human creature is a beacon of energy. Beneath thought and feeling exist a level of physicality that emanates to the outside world.
Have you been around chronically negative people who, after spending as little as five minutes with them, you find yourself descending into a cynical, contemptuous state along with them?
Or have you been around people whose very presence, even the very thought of their presence, is enough to inspire feelings of joy, excitement, and belief?
Our world without mirrors our world within.
If you want something, embrace the experience of what it is to have it. Do this continually, and it will become true. This is the core premise of Ask and it is Given.
“You are a vibrational transmitter and receiver.”
Have we solved the paradox?
I believe we have.
“But how is it possible for the Law of Attraction to work if every time I chase something it falls further and further away from my grasp?”
In his book, Letting Go, David Hawkins explains this very phenomenon.
“Desire literally means ‘I do not have.’ In other words, if we say that we desire something, we are saying that it isn’t ours. When we say that it isn’t ours, we put a psychic distance between ourselves and what we want. This distance becomes the obstacle that consumes energy.”
“Wanting blocks receiving it, and results in a fear of not getting it. The energy of desire is, in essence, a denial that what we want is ours for the asking.”
In other words, when we “chase”, “desire”, or “want” something, we cement the idea that we do not have it. The energy this belief permeates is one of separation, where you remain separated emotionally, intellectually, and physically from the result of what you want.
To fall into a state of “wanting” is identical to falling into a state of “not having”. If we continue, it will become a habit, and our lives will be littered with a cycle of us separating ourselves from what we seek.
This state of “wanting” is a state of faithlessness.
The seeming paradox of “chasing and never receiving” is solved by changing how we want. We no longer daydream of “what it could be like,” but dream “what it is like.” We must start seeing our lives, feeling the emotions, thinking the thoughts, experiencing the sensations, and having faith in how we want things to be.
What would it feel like to have the partner of your dreams? What would it feel like to have the achievements you dream of? What if you achieved those accolades? What would it feel like to be intimately connected with those around you? What would it feel like, without fear, to do what you know deep down you were meant to do?
Ask yourself: what would it feel like to have what you want? Be that.
Consciousness and Cognition
There has been a debate for centuries on the problem of consciousness. Is the human being conscious or not? Are our lives determined by fate or decided by us? Or is it somewhere in between, where we decide the things that decide for us, such as habits?
For this article and the next, we are going to rest on this premise: the human creature can navigate their life consciously and is able to change the course of their fate despite the circumstances that have shaped their life.
Now, for Jungian Analytical Psychology.
You and I have cognitive functions. Whether you have Ni Hero, Ti Parent, or an Ne Inferior, your mind has been wired to perceive and process information in a specific way.
If you have seen one of Chase’s earliest and most important lectures, on the Cognitive Spectra, you know that the human being has eight different pathways of awareness, as represented by the eight cognitive functions: Extraverted Intuition (Ne), Introverted Intuition (Ni), Extraverted Sensing (Se), Introverted Sensing (Si), and Extraverted Thinking (Te), Introverted Thinking (Ti), Extraverted Feeling (Fe), and Introverted Feeling (Fi).
Like a computer program or operating system, these cognitive functions literally operate as transmitters (introverted functions) and receivers (extraverted functions). You may have a hyper-awareness of others’ paths or possibilities to create something new (Ne) or are deeply attuned with logical processing (Ti). But you are not just the sum of your cognition.
The fact that we can observe our own cognition, observe our Si recalling of the past or awareness of our duty, or observe one’s own Fi values and convictions, points to something beyond mere computation.
In Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now, he discusses the concept of “Watching the thinker.” The word “thinker” here, most associated with Ti or Te, can easily be replaced with the action of the other cognitive functions. Ti thinks, Ne anticipates, Ni dreams, Fi feels, etc, etc. The labels don’t really matter and are often interchangeable, but the main point remains: if there is something beyond “the thinker” there is something beyond your cognition.
Your cognition is how and a little of what you perceive and process. If we can access an awareness that is beyond this “how”, then we can shape the “how” and step into the seat of controlling our lives at a deeper level and to a more profound degree.
“The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not ‘the thinker.’ The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence.” — Eckart Tolle, Practicing the Power of Now
“What if I don’t want to use the Law of Attraction?”
Do we get to choose not to follow the law of gravity just because we don’t feel like it? Whether you want to or not, whether you’re aware of it or not, you are always using the Law of Attraction. You are always emitting (and receiving) energy. What the Law of Attraction states is that you can direct, over time, what kind of energy is being emitted.
If we move through life unconsciously, we’d only emit whatever energy represented the sum of what has happened to us. At that point, our genetics and experiences would dictate the outcome of our lives. But that is the special thing about humans: we have the opportunity to be more than the fate of our unconscious selves. We have the opportunity to wake up and shape our lives in unison with our experience.
And it is right here, at this exact juncture, that Jungian Analytical Psychology becomes the catalyst we’re looking for.
Is it that easy?
As we come to the close of Part I, it’s time to fully answer the question we started with: is the Law of Attraction easy to use? How we answer this question is vital to the success of how we use the Law of Attraction because it will determine our expectations when we use it.
If the Law of Attraction is so easy to use that it can override years of toxic habitual thought patterns in a matter of moments, we will expect it will work instantly. But if it takes time to override habits and replace them with new ones, we can expect gradual changes. This latter option is more likely.
If humans are conscious beings, then we do have the power to change our lives. But because our habits run most of our lives, and our habits take some time to form, the Law of Attraction works as a journey. Life is rarely profoundly changed by one moment in time when you decide to think and feel differently. But we all must start with that first moment and bear out the fruit thereafter.
We also might consider being grateful that the Law of Attraction doesn’t “work” instantly. I doubt the world would exist today if it did.
But is it easy? Is it easy to use the Law of Attraction? Some of this is a matter of opinion, and some can be revealed in differences of personality type. Types that embrace new beliefs easily will have an easier initial time with the Law of Attraction than others. But those same types may get burned out and lose faith faster than the rest.
But the part of this answer that is not a matter of opinion is that the human being is driven toward consistency, reliability, and security. We like to predict things in our environment. You can expect some kickback from your thought patterns and habits as you consciously change them. You are effectively unearthing the soil, replacing old roots with new ones.
This quote from Virginia Satir comes to mind: “People prefer the certainty of misery to the misery of uncertainty.” If we are stuck in the certainty of misery, lack, and fragmentation, we might be surprised how unwilling we are to change when faced with the opportunity to live in contentment, abundance, and wholeness.
The reality is that change is painful. And this is the aspect of the Law of Attraction that proves the undoing for many. Transformation is always open to you, but the path to transformation can only be found through change.
And here we are required to use faith once more. When accessing the Law of Attraction, one must have faith in themselves. There may be security in the belief that your life is already written in stone, but there is more freedom in the belief that you have a real say over your life. If you want freedom, you must learn to believe that your faith not only will, but is producing results.
One last paradox?
But there is another layer here that muddies the use of the Law of Attraction. If the maxim, “Physician, heal thyself!”, is open to all, we must conclude firstly that the power for transformation and healing is within us and, secondly, that many do not want to be healed.
Many of us are more accustomed, and therefore more desirous of maintaining unsatisfying lives than reaching for something more. Security can be intoxicating.
We must look at ourselves nakedly and ask: Do I want a life that brings my being into fullness? If the answer is “no” and you know the answer is “no,” you are still better off had you not asked the question to begin with. Why? Because now you can ask the second question.
“Do I want to want to?” And this is your starting point. The next installment will take us deeper into the how.
My uneducated a$$ has only been loosely following your articles and I haven’t finished reading this one yet but it is almost like they are copying the course of my life rather than my life being affected by them after I read them, as if the lessons of my life are being distilled into these articles after I learn them. It’s creepy and makes me feel as if the events in my life are insignificant. It reminds me of the idea that I am a puppet being led by strings. But this is not to detract from these articles. It just fks with my head. I guess my Si Child likes to get comfortable with a set of presuppositions without considering that other people may have also discovered them and that I may find external evidence that my strong but untested beliefs were actually right. I guess what I am really expressing is my psychological insecurity of the feeling of powerlessness. Perhaps it has to do with being an Enneagram 5. I have beef with religion, spirituality, morality and God. Maybe that has something to do with it too. I’m a petty little $hit who doesn’t want to acknowledge the complexity of life despite claiming to be intelligent. The dollar signs are being used for the purpose of the law of attraction by the way. This comment is a threat and an expression of exasperation but also of slight relief, joy, and appreciation.
…”it is almost like they are copying the course of my life rather than my life being affected by them after I read them, as if the lessons of my life are being distilled into these articles after I learn them.”
I have experienced this feeling many times … it is always strange and surreal, but it never fails to take me out of my own head and expand my perspective. I hope it is has done the same for you here. Thanks for sharing.
I have beef with all personality theories that categorize people into permanent categories as well. It really pisses me off. I guess my mental construction of the world wasn’t strong enough after all. I am not against the truth but many things I just find insulting. I am one to speak of insult, because I have an extremely insulting personality myself at times. I sometimes fear that my life was designed to subtly mess with my head even if that was not the primary intention. I absolutely hate it.
The C.S. Joseph community is by no means perfect but it would be wrong to think for a second that you all are just stupid, as much as I want to believe that.
I like this new direction and I am looking forwards to the next instalment! Keep it up Chase! 🙌🏽
(obviously) there is no like button, so I just say; awesome!
I agree with the principle and your breakdown here is good. Except the source of the principle and the power (you refer to it as energy) to accomplish it in the upcoming “how” I disagree with, because this power and principle does not emanate from self. It does emanate from within, from Emmanuel, God within us, if we choose to believe in Him.
Those scriptures speaking of the empowerment to be as the heart is, emanates from getting the heart and mind and soul fixed on Truth, which is fully realized in the person of the One True God. He offers this way to all freely and not exclusively, but the way itself is exclusive to His will and design.
The human psyche is created by God’s design, as you outlined, to operate by faith. Yet faith in what? OUR ability and power and heart? Ha! History has proven from the outcome of those working outside of Him, even those who use His name but hearts are not with Him, that they do not have the power to change the heart, soul, mind, and spirit to align with the Truth. The power of Jung is any truth aligning with the will of God to have lasting power to transform.
The “Law of Attraction” is a cheap counterfeit for faith in God alone, Who is the personification of Truth. This Truth has the power to change lives, and nothing else can. If people succeed using these principles, it still emanates from Him, not from our will.
Faith in God is:
FROM WHAT: a wandering heart destined to bondage of self and eternal suffering
TO WHAT: to a renewed empowered transformed eternal life
BY WHOM: The One True God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
You say we cannot escape the “energy of the law of attraction.” I say you cannot escape the power and reality of the living God who orchestrates everything under His love, truth, and power. Jung is extremely useful, but he is only explaining the parts and systems of the body…he discovered the design that preceded him. Why not have faith in the designer? We are just fellow discoverers. What do we know without God revealing it first?
Good exploration…thanks for allowing feedback for other viewpoints.
You’ve said a lot here. Let me address your comments the best I can.
1) The label “The Law of Attraction” is based on occultic teaching … but take note that I put it in ” ” … because, while the specific label may come from the occult, the actual contents of its theories are scattered throughout various religious texts. The Bible and the Tao Te Ching, to start, both have several compelling passages that point straight to it.
2) Whether or not the Law of Attraction is “from” God or another entity, or exists arbitrarily in our world isn’t important UP TO a certain extent. What do I mean by that? The passage you pointed to from the article … we are always using the Law of Attraction … the take-home point here was simply that it doesn’t matter what you believe about the LOA, what matters is that it is always working whether you like it or not. This point is to drive home that it is ultimately we who are responsible for, at least, large portions of our life. If you believe in God do you believe in free will? If so, then you likely believe in the value of personal sovereignty and independence … this comes with a deep measure of responsibility.
“If I am free to choose, and I get what I choose, then what I have is because of me, right?” This is a logical conclusion we must draw … HOWEVER, we must also be gentle b/c of the circumstances that have shaped our lives, many of which are unfortunate and have steered our lives in dark directions. All this to say, to reiterate, the energy that inhabits our body, mind, soul, etc etc etc, we have to take responsibility for.
3) The aim of the article is not to create converts, but to educate. So I will not address your religious claims directly, though they are not unheard. In part 2 of the article, I will write a section that will serve as a warning. A warning for caution. It is important to me that the LOA is not approached with unshed optimism and naivety. I maintain that will always lead to destruction.
If we have the power to get what we want, does anything guarantee that those things will be “good” and “true”? Sometimes getting what you want is the WORST thing for other people.
Here is vital for a large dose of humility. I will give you a preview of the section. It comes down to two choices. Do we go with Protagoras, “Man is the measure of all things,” OR do we go with Solomon (or whoever wrote Proverbs), “Lean not on your own understanding”? Here is where a level of faith becomes vital … where to put that faith in … but it is ultimately up to you. And it is perhaps the most important decision we will ever make. Thanks for your comment (:
You had me at “This state of “wanting” is a state of faithlessness.”
Disclaimer#1 : [In my biased opinion, the following might be an example of the Paradox of Effort mentioned above in Ni-Se users]
There are too many Ni-Se users that misuse their Ni to chase what they already, instead of “Having faith in how [they] want things to be.” (para 56), faith in their dreams (Ni – Si??). Instead of burning away the dead wood of their lives with accuracy (Te) or precision (Ti) or pointed values (Fi) and blunt ethics (Fe) for the best, or a better outcome. They may take a different route.
Disclaimer #2: Ni-users can be great people for sure. Unfortunately, if they aren’t using their other functions properly, they get into trouble and get Ni-tunnel vision.
(Based on my experience)
They might sadly discard things and people they have in their lives or that they even ‘attracted’ even if those things or people have the rough elements of what they want. This is because these options are not presented in the polished order that they want, like, or think well of. Their possibilities and social opportunities could be thrown in the garbage without a second thought or a care in the world.
Jobs. Friends. People. Lifestyles. Some of them really don’t consider what they have or its worth, and that is devastating in the short term for everyone involved. Even more so in the long term when those Ni-users, after trading in those things and people, end up with just a slightly different version (Se) of what they already had (Si).
Especially to the Wayfarers and NJs reading this: Please be wary of tunnel vision and learn how to let go. Because if do then you might end up with more value and freedom than you could ever want or hope for.
I hope this post was sensible enough to help someone. I may be wrong, in which case feel free to correct me.
You are correct, the scenario above is certainly more pertinent to Ni/Se users.
I love what you said about Ni users not valuing the people, opportunities, etc. that come into their life.
“They might sadly discard things and people they have in their lives or that they even ‘attracted’ even if those things or people have the rough elements of what they want. This is because these options are not presented in the polished order that they want, like, or think well of. Their possibilities and social opportunities could be thrown in the garbage without a second thought or a care in the world.”
This is extremely well said. Tunnel vision leads to disconcerting oneself with experience (Si) and consequences (Ne). This is one of the reasons Ni users can abandon others unjustly. That’s why integration is so important … the Ni user who learns to stop ignoring some of their Ne and Si can literally save friendships, marriages, and turn what would have been lost opportunities into transformative, life-defining moments.
Thanks for your comment (:
Love your writing as it pushes this ISFJ out of her comfort zone, please keep it coming.
“We no longer daydream of “what it could be like,” but dream “what it is like.”We must start seeing our lives, feeling the emotions, thinking the thoughts, experiencing the sensations, and having faith in how we want things to be.”
This prompts me to think about the difference between wanting something and hoping for it. The former seems to be fueled from desire and the latter from faith. Which would one would be more effective?
Any comments?
We talked about how “wanting” something is agreeing that you don’t have it … whereas “hoping” for something or having “faith” that you will have something is agreeing to experience life as if you already do have it … or having a level of certainty that it will be. We can look at confidence in an athlete for example. If the athlete only gets confidence when he/she plays well, their quality of play will be volatile. But if they have internal confidence that is not dependent on circumstance, any moment in time could be their best.
Jordan Peterson says he “acts as if God exists” … to use the Law of Attraction … we must “act as if we are x” … act as if we are successful, healthy, attractive, calm, peaceful, etc. It certainly takes some practice, but we can train the levels of our being and personality to align with the feeling, which is created by physical sensation more than anything. Thanks for your comment (:
I’m definitely going with “Man is the measure of all things.” It’s hard to use meditation as my only outlet for the intense but also lighthearted anger than I feel on a daily basis. I think I already made it clear but I hate religion.
“If we have the power to get what we want, does anything guarantee that those things will be “good” and “true”? Sometimes getting what you want is the WORST thing for other people.”
I actually agree, but what’s interesting is I don’t care if what I want is the worst thing for other people because from my point of view what I want will always be the best thing for ALL people. So if something benefits me greatly but it causes others immense suffering, there is still a possibility that I will consider it to be the best thing for all people overall. Until I get what I need in order to feel at peace, using the law of attraction, I will not be able to consider being a nice or good person. I feel as if those qualities cannot be removed from my nature so the only thing I should focus on is evil. Even after I get what I need to feel at peace, I feel that it would still be what’s the word, it would be, it would be, I don’t know, I should still focus on being evil.
Sorry for posting so many comments or if I’m being annoying. I finally read the entire article.
“Those who are stuck in the same miserable circumstances that they were in 20 years prior are there because the pattern of their thoughts remained unchanged.”
Some guy on a YouTube interview said that this is a matter of biology and that your body has to learn to change its hardwiring. The guy was pretty vague so I don’t like him. I am currently investigating some neurologists’ claims on YouTube about how the brain is extremely malleable and can change drastically if you focus on the right things.
I have experienced firsthand the following two quotes:
“For Goddard, feelings and sensations are as malleable as thought. If you were to take a moment and consider what your ideal life would feel like, what the experience of it would be, and let that run through your body unrestrained, do you not feel better after a few moments?”
“The beginning of freedom is the realization that you are not ‘the thinker.’ The moment you start watching the thinker, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. You then begin to realize that there is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought, that thought is only a tiny aspect of that intelligence.” — Eckart Tolle, Practicing the Power of Now”
The one about feeling what your ideal life would be like ties into the centrality of faith in the law of attraction too:
““Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.” — Hebrews 11:1
The “certainty of things hoped for” is no different than believing and knowing that you already have it.”
I forgot what this concept meant because it is such a vague concept, but having been reminded, I would have to agree that “faith” is achievable and a good thing to have.
“If we move through life unconsciously, we’d only emit whatever energy represented the sum of what has happened to us. At that point, our genetics and experiences would dictate the outcome of our lives. But that is the special thing about humans: we have the opportunity to be more than the fate of our unconscious selves. We have the opportunity to wake up and shape our lives in unison with our experience.”
I would say you are just describing being very lazy about your habits and acting only on those lazy habits because you aren’t paying attention to anything. It’s interesting because my SJ parents (who naturally have Ni (the personal unconscious) as one of their weakest functions) have an extremely hard time getting out of their habits, while I as a young INTP am learning how easy it is, but I only realized it less than a month ago, at which point I also started using my ENTJ shadow more consciously and deliberately.
The final thing I will say is, I know that becoming competent in the way I would like to be, and having the relationships I would like to have, are the main things I need to feel sane and at peace. But I am wondering what comes after. I do have a curiosity about whether there is “more to life.” It’s obvious that I hate the uncertainty of the unknown, but I also know that once I achieve true happiness as an independent adult for the first time, I may start to feel once again as if the idea of being alive is absurd. I would be living my ideal life, but find it absurd at the same time, but I also dislike faith in general because it is too trusting of what to me is a reality that cannot be trusted in any shape or form other than, “these are the laws of physics and I need to get 8 hours of sleep a night.” I don’t think I even stated what I’m really trying to say. I think what I’m thinking and feeling is that I have a hard time feeling at peace in a world where everyone has slightly different to very different opinions, and only a few facts connect all of us. Even if I have created a good life in my little bubble, the bubble will continue to be threatened as long as I don’t have the knowledge, with scientific proof, that will solve all problems and carry all of humanity forward.
John Bodine’s response to Asaiah:
“This is extremely well said. Tunnel vision leads to disconcerting oneself with experience (Si) and consequences (Ne). This is one of the reasons Ni users can abandon others unjustly. That’s why integration is so important … the Ni user who learns to stop ignoring some of their Ne and Si can literally save friendships, marriages, and turn what would have been lost opportunities into transformative, life-defining moments.”
I seem to have been doing this while in my ENTJ shadow as well. It makes my ego uncomfortable but then my shadow tells me, you aren’t murdering anyone yet right? So then my ego agrees that maybe this is a change I need in my life, to basically talk to no one but my own thoughts and the vast amount of information available at my fingertips on the internet. The only reason I’m even making this comment is probably that the caffeine in my body is making me slightly more aware of my Fe subconscious. It’s not even necessarily true that I am not allowing my Fe to associate with a single individual outside of myself, although it’s pretty true. It’s more like I BELIEVE that my Fe is not aligned with any outside sources of Fi. So when I imagine that I will find people in the billions of people on Earth who I get along well with, it eases some of my anxiety.