Story by: Sonja Dumass
Illustration by: Maria Salvador
Can we make our dreams come true with our thoughts?
Even though David Rosenblatt and Stephen Humphries were born and raised in different parts of the world, they have something in common. They both believe in the power of their thoughts; and that with that power they can manifest things in their life.
Rosenblatt and Humphries tried the same methods of visualizing things, making vision boards and repeating affirmations. But the results were completely different.
The law of attraction is the name given to the belief that “like attracts like” and that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts one can bring about positive or negative results.
Some of the earliest books about the law of attraction, such as “Thought Vibration” or “The Law of Attraction in the Thought World,” by William Walker Atkinson, as well as “The Law of Success in 16 Lessons” and “Think and Grow Rich,” by Napoleon Hill were written in the early 20th century.
But it wasn’t until 2006—when a movie called “The Secret,” followed by a book with the same title in 2007—that the topic became a phenomenon.
An ever-increasing number of people started asking, “Are we really what we think?”
Rosenblatt read Hill’s book in college, which states, “Whatever the mind of a man can conceive and believe it can achieve.
”Struggling at some point—as all students do—it seemed to Rosenblatt that if thinking a certain way would help him achieve his goals it was worth a try.
“Thirty years ago I was driving home from work. I was playing soccer in a league at that time and a friend of mine was driving with me and I told him, ‘You know what? I need to stop by home before we go to play because the IRS sent me tax return money and I need to deposit it because I need to pay some bills.’ So I got to my house, I go to the mailbox, I get the check and we go deposit it and go to the field.
“In the middle of the game my friend comes to me and says, ‘You were with me at work all day. How did you know a check is going to be in that mailbox?’ I said, ‘You know what? I needed to pay some bills. I needed the money. I believed the money was going to be there, and there it was.”
Rosenblatt considers himself to be one of the pioneers believing in this kind of method, and the movie “The Secret” reinforced what he already believed.
Rosenblatt is not the only one that believes in this method. Thousands of people worldwide have tried it and said the law of attraction really works. One can find and read stories that mirror Rosenblatt’s throughout the Internet.
But not everyone agrees.
Humphries wanted to be a fully qualified art teacher and to have a good job. He read that if he made affirmations and said them as much as possible, things would manifest. He learned that if he visualized that he already had what he wanted, it would manifest. People told him that if he made a detailed action plan and stuck to it that it would happen.
Humphries started saying the affirmations as much as he could each day. He spent at least one hour a day visualizing his dream in great detail.
Humphries wanted to succeed. He tried for three years, but he was rejected at the universities where he applied.
Things in general kept getting worse.
So is “The Law of Attraction” a success, or is it a scam pushed by the new age gurus trying to convince others that all you need is to believe and the universe will provide? And why do some people believe that they can change their lives by thinking a certain way, while others don’t?
Pierce College psychology professor Anne Hennessey said she is unaware of any scientific research on the topic.
Hennessey believes that thoughts are energy, and as a result it has an impact on our environment.
“I have heard that the intention behind it is important,” Hennessey said. “So if your intention is to avoid the negative it’s not going to work. If your attention is purely about what you actually want, not what you are avoiding, then that’s more likely to happen and to have an positive outcome.”
Hennessey and other psychologists think that our thoughts, emotions, actions and physiology are linked. It’s called cognitive psychology.
Cognitive psychology is a sub discipline of psychology—exploring the internal mental process. It is the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak and solve problems.
David Jambrović is an international disc jockey, and like Rosenblatt he believes in “The Secret” and “The Law of Attraction.” Like many secret believers he made vision boards, and even though nothing has manifested he keeps at it.
“Just be persistent,” Jambrović said. “Whatever your goal is, just be persistent. When you are tired, you should sit, rest, eat something and continue.
Jambrović believes that “The Secret” changed his life and made him more positive. He doesn’t see life as a straight line, and knows now that negative things happen for a reason sometimes. He thinks we can learn from those negative things and turn them into something good.
Rosenblatt, who owns a company that embroiders and screen prints, is active in the community with a soccer program. He firmly believes in “The Law of Attraction.”
“I think in life if you want something to happen you just need to believe in it,” Rosenblatt said. “You tell yourself, ‘I don’t know when it’s coming, I don’t know where it’s coming from and I don’t care, and you forget about it and you go about your business.”
Humphries was born in Liverpool, England. He lives in Thailand where he runs his own art studio and café. He is a painter and he sells his paintings online and through his café. Disappointed by the “The Secret” and its creators he wrote a book titled “You are the Guru,” and writes a blog, hidden-guru.blogspot.com.
“The reason I wanted to do a blog and tell people about my experiences was because I wanted to warn others to be skeptical and not waste their money, especially if they were thinking about spending thousands of dollars on a seminar,” Humphries said. “I also just wanted to give another side to the story.
“I believe that we create our own lives through our actions. I believe our actions are governed by our thoughts. I think daily meditation and being in touch with yourself is the key. I believe that you get what you really want in your heart of hearts, and this is because we tend to act on what we really love.”