Full disclosure: I’m a cynic, one who believes that primarily selfish motives propel human actions. And I’m a dummy. I had to look up how to spell dummy. Since the root is dumb, would it be dumby? That looked too much like Gumby. How about dumbie? Dumbee?

I digress.

The concept of the Law of Attraction goes back at least a hundred years starting with the New Thought Movement and Theosophical writers like Judge and Bisant. In 1937, Napoleon Hill wrote Think and Grow Rich. In this book he embeds the concept that you attract what you think about. So according to Hill and other believers in the Law of Attraction, if I focus my thoughts on “I need more money”, will I gain wealth? No, that’s silly. Because what I’m attracting is attention to my NEED FOR MORE WEALTH. If I want to have more money, I should think these thoughts: “I will make more money.” And then I guess some miracle occurs.

I call BS. Does that make me a cynical dummy? Perhaps. I tried it, and it simply did not work.

I will be 6’3″. Nope. I’m still 5’10”.

I will look like Brad Pitt. Nope. I still look like Uncle Fester.

I will obtain invisibility? Nope. The IRS still finds me.

But…now this is where I lose some of my cynicism and dumminess by stepping accidentally into a small pit of truth…there is an amazing power of getting back of what we send out.

The other day, I spilled coffee all over myself as I was getting into my car. My mood darkened a shade. Okay, many shades, like from white to cafe latte. Carp! I did a quick clean up, but the delay pushed me behind. So I did a rolling stop at the end of my street, meaning I punched it to pull out into traffic in a way that was less safe and less law abiding that it should have been. The driver I cut off showed me her nicely manicured nail from her middle finger. I mouthed some words back at her that probably didn’t look much like “I love you.” I arrived at my destination late. Someone looked at me with a look that said, “You’re late.” I glared at him.

I let my feelings and thoughts about the coffee incident cast a shadow over an hour of my life. What a waste.

Then yesterday, I went to a department store to get a few things. Two of the items I wanted had no price tags. For nearly 30 minutes I waited while the woman at the check out looked up numbers on her computer, called her supervisor, maybe even called the manufacturer in China for a price check. Who knows? What’s important is that I wasn’t impatient or frustrated. On this particular day, I wanted to be shopping. I was shopping for a loved one, and this outing was part of my gift. I had happy thoughts and feelings while I did my thing, and no missing price tag or inefficient store computer system could attract negative thoughts my way.

When I left the store, the clerk had a smile on her face, and even though I lost considerable time in the store waiting at the register, I had a little beam of sunlight on top of my head the whole time. What a joy!

So yeah, if you want to attract money, love, better looks or an island off the shores of Greece, I wish you well. I’m content with my cynical dummy understanding of the Law of Attraction. When I think, feel and act on negative things, negative things seem to happen. When I think, feel and act on positive things, positive things seem to happen.

Now go out there and have a great day…or a crappy one. It’s your call.