The Law of Attraction \ stacker news ~alter

526 sats \ 12 comments \ @cryotosensei 22 May alter_native

I’m sure you are familiar with The Law of Attraction. If you haven’t heard of this concept yet, here’s the essence encapsulated in this IG post:

Last week, my friend messaged me because I sent her a screenshot about coping with impostor syndrome by treating one’s challenges like games to master. Turned out that she is travelling in Taiwan now. She sent me these 8 words which can be regarded as the Mandarin version of The Law of Attraction.

花若盛开，蝴蝶自来。人若精彩，天自安排。

You must be scratching your head because you can’t make head or tail out of these foreign characters. Allow Sensei the privilege to translate this for you:

When flowers bloom, the butterflies will come. When you’re an exciting individual, the Universe will gift you opportunities.

Note that if you are a religiously or spiritually inclined person, you can substitute the Universe with God to make this proverb resonate deeper within you.

Obviously, this is a proverb I liked immediately. Otherwise, I won’t be posting about this on my commute to work instead of catching twenty winks. I like that there is a nature analogy that gives my mind a concrete handle to make sense of the wisdom. I also like that there is a reference to a higher power above us via 天; again, just to recap, 天 (pronounced as tian) can either mean the Universe or God, depending on your spiritual affiliation.

I think I like the Mandarin version better than The Law of Attraction because it comprises more elements that value-add to my thinking. Made my heart skip a beat when I read it, actually. It reminds me of my place in the grand scheme of things: That I’m not as important as I would like to think myself to be.

I’m reminded of my favourite Japanese proverb:

人事を尽くして、天命を待つ。

Let me have the honour of translating this for you! It means, “Do your humanly best, and leave the rest to God’s will”.

I know it makes me sound kinda fatalistic, but I seek great comfort in knowing that all I need to do is to better myself. Focus on V4V, that’s all!

Do you have any proverbs in your mother tongue that are similar to the Law of Attraction?

view all related items

31 sats \ 2 replies \ @speakingyourtruth 23 May

this one isn't really a proverb, but i have found alot of power in adding "right now" to whatever you want to bring into your life. it puts the things you want into a present perspective, and makes them all the more real. i often repeat this to myself everyday because when i do, my desires are getting that much more closer to me!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 23 May

Ah, nice! This reminds me of the power of Yet. We encourage our students to add a word yet to their negative self-beliefs so they don’t get defeatist. Like, I cannot do this yet.

Yours pairs very nicely with yet. What is something that you can do right now?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @didiplaywell 23 May

105 sats \ 2 replies \ @didiplaywell 23 May

I personally prefer the "mechanical" interpretation of the idea, for this is a principle that holds true without the need of thinking about any kind of spiritualism. To me that makes it more robust, and prevents the delusion of faith even if the principle do not encourages it directly.

The "mechanical" interpretation is based on an actual mechanical effect known as spontaneous synchronization:

If you focus on yourself, even mindlessly, but do not lose interaction with your entourage, both will synchronize, and thus without even thinking about it you will bring to the rest as the rest will bring to you, thus causing the illusion that "an invisible force provides".

20 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryotosensei OP 23 May

Fascinating. Thanks for the alternative perspective!

I vaguely remember learning about resonance in my pre-college classes. Something about how bridges can shake violently when the vibrations are in sync.

(you can tell that I sucked at Physics haha)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @didiplaywell 23 May

Please look at the video, it will walk you through as a breeze, and it will definitely leave an impact on your perception in this regard. The power of this interpretation is that it will allow you to see the massiveness of this principle in action right in front of your eyes, while the other, rather "esoteric" interpretation, suggest that you cant see "the forces at play" for they are "supra-natural".

105 sats \ 3 replies \ @Undisciplined 22 May

It's very reminiscent of an Albert Jay Nock line:

"The only thing we can do to improve society, is to present it with one improved unit."

21 sats \ 2 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 22 May

You always take my mind in new directions!

What’s the first thing America should do to sort out its problems, in your opinion?

31 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined 23 May

That kind of collectivism is antithetical to the quote.

The first thing I should do is make myself better.

However, it’s easy enough to say that America should stop its global mass murder campaigns.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 23 May

Self-improvement is a lifelong process

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @Satosora 23 May

自業自得 Work of self, obtainment of self. This is very important in todays isolated society.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei OP 23 May

Nice!

I’m reminded of a Chinese saying:

自强不息 (strive to better oneself always)

Maybe you came across it during your stay in Taiwan haha