When Life Seems Contrary
by Neale Donald Walsch
April 21, 2011
=======================
This is a long post, but many of you asked for it.so I assume you will be willing to tolerate its length, yes?
The so-called "Law of Attraction" has gotten a lot of attention in recent years. I call this phenomenon the Process of Personal Creation - and it doesn't always "work" the way it is "advertised" when it is called the "Law of Attraction."
In my last entry here I talked about "Inadvertent Selection" as one reason why Personal Creation does not always bring us what we seem to be choosing. But "Inadvertent Selection" is just one little known aspect of Personal Creation that can cause people to think it's not working. There is also the Law of Opposites, about which people know even less, and which produces the same effect as Inadvertent Selection, but for a different reason.
The Law of Opposites is the second of the five great Principles of Life and it works in perfect harmony with the Energy of Attraction. This principle states that no sooner will you call something into your reality than its exact opposite will also appear-and alwaysfirst.
What is this now? What am I saying?
I am saying that the moment you choose anything-any outcome, object, or experience-the exact opposite of that will come into your life in some way. It may show itself in some far distant quarter, or it may pop up right in front of your eyes, but it will be there, absolutely.
It is necessary for the "opposite" of whatever you are choosing to create with the Energy of Attraction to show up, for the reason that life cannot be experienced in a vacuum. A context must be produced in which you may experience what you have chosen.
Because not many people know this, they can easily turn negative in their thinking just when the universe was preparing to place before them all that their hearts desired.
They do not see the appearance of the opposite as a sure and certain sign that they are on the right path, heading toward their chosen objective. Rather, they see it as an obstacle, a blockage.
They experience themselves to be up against the wall, when really they are standing in front of a doorway. Only discernment would allow them to know the difference.
The Law of Opposites is based on the fundamental and founding principle of all life: "In the absence of that which you are not, that which you are is not."
I know, I know, that's not a very clear sentence. Let me clarify. Let's say, for the purposes of illustration, that you wish to experience yourself as "the light." (Many people, by the way, have actually chosen this. They wish to be The Light-and thus to bring The Light-wherever they are, wherever they appear.)
Now let us imagine for the purposes of this illustration that there is nothing else around you but The Light-indeed, that there is nothing else in existence but The Light. This would make it impossible to experience yourself as The Light. You may "know" yourself as that, but you cannot "experience" yourself as that.
(There is a difference between knowing and experiencing, and it is experiencing what it knows itself to be for which the soul yearns.)
There is only one way to experience yourself as The Light, and that would be to find yourself in darkness. Yet remember, in this example there is no "darkness." In this illustration, there is nothing but The Light. You, therefore, must create the darkness.You must call it forth. And you will.
This is the Law of Opposites, which gives you opportunity. Yet if you see the opposite not as opportunity but as opposition, you will see it not as something that empowers you, but as something that takes power away.
You will fall into negative thinking, not understanding that you, yourself, have used the Energy of Attraction to draw to you the darkness as well as the light (what you would call "negative," as well as what you would call "positive," outcomes) in order to fully experience the positive outcomes that you are creating.
There is power in opposites, and this is the intricate way in which attraction works with all the great principles of life. Those principles work in concert with each other; they function as a perfect mechanism-the Mechanism of Manifestation-like gears in a finely tuned watch.
What are we to do, then, when the Law of Opposites seems to be thwarting, rather than supporting, Personal Creation?
Understand exactly what is going on.
Endeavor to see the appearance of the "opposite" as your first indication that Personal Creation is working flawlessly. Remember that the first step in creating anything is creating a context within which it may be experienced. Do not resist the opposite of anything that you wish to experience. Instead, embrace it. Look right at it and see it for what it is.
What you resist, persists. That is because, by your continued attention to it in a negative way, you continue to place it there. You cannot resist something that is not there. When you resist something, you place it there. By focusing angry or frustrated energy on it, you actually give it more life.
This is why all great masters have urged us to "resist not evil." Do not fight that is which opposite to your stated desire or your preferred outcome. Rather, relax into it.
I know that may sound strange, but I promise you, it works. Do not become rigid and tense, ready for a battle. Never oppose that which opposes you. Do not OPpose, COMpose.
Do you understand? Remember this little rule always: Do not oppose, compose.
Compose your original idea of how you want life to show up. And compose yourself while you're at it. Live in a place of relaxed assurance that life is functioning perfectly. Yet do not confuse relaxation with acceptance.
"Resist not evil" does not mean that you should not try to change what it is that you do not choose. Changing something is not resisting something, it is merely choosing again. Change is not resistance, but alteration. To modify is not to resist, but rather, to continue Personal Creation.
Modification is creation. Resistance is the end of creation. It firmly holds the previous creation in place.
Do you see?
At every moment of difficulty and challenge in your life you have a choice: opposition or composition. To repeat: You can either oppose that which you are experiencing, or compose that which you chose.
Compose what you chose.
Now, thanks to the Law of Opposites, you have a context within which to experience it. And that is the greatest thing the universe could ever give you.
This is an important aspect of the "mystery formula" of life that is rarely explained.
All of the content above, and that which has appeared in my other recent posts here, will be found in the book Happier Than God, where there is much more to be found about the formula for a wonderful life!
Neale Donald Walsch is a modern day spiritual messenger whose words continue to touch the world in profound ways. With an early interest in religion and a deeply felt connection to spirituality, Neale spent the majority of his life thriving professionally, yet searching for spiritual meaning before beginning his now famous conversation with God. His With God series of books has been translated into 34 languages, touching millions of lives and inspiring important changes in their day-to-day lives. * (http://www.cwg.org) * Blog: * www.TheAlternativeVoice.org *