There is a common belief called the law of attraction. The idea is that like attracts like. So if someone is in a really high frequency state, they will attract high frequency things into their lives. So why do bad things happen to spiritual people?
As a general psychological idea, I do think there’s incredible merit to choosing to focus on the constructive. And even from a basic energetic and spiritual perspective, I absolutely agree that it’s important to choose to keep bringing ourselves back to a positive and constructive place.
Where I think there needs to be a bit more space in our thinking, is when it comes to another concept that exists, called duality.
I will talk more about duality in another post, but today let’s talk about this myth of only staying in a super “high vibe” place.
Isn’t “high vibe” the best place to be?
The idea of only experiencing really positive things in life if you stay in a really positive space has some unintended repercussions. Because let’s face it, sometimes life just happens and things that we can’t control occur, and negatively impact us.
We get into very tricky territory, very rapidly, if we cling too closely to the idea that staying super positive means you attract super positive things.
Why? Well, what happens if something bad occurs? Is it your fault? Because for one moment you experienced an emotion that isn’t “high vibe”?
I do not subscribe to that.
It is actually a really disempowering belief, because practicing a belief of only ever staying super “high vibe” is more likely to lead to a discomfort with being truly present with your entire range of emotions.
I’ve said before that emotions themselves aren’t negative. They’re genuine. It’s what you do after they arise that matters. It’s completely natural to be angry sometimes. But do you do something healthy with it after?
Avoiding emotions or experiences that we trick ourselves into believing are somehow “low frequency” or negative is actually more likely to create negative, legitimately low-vibe states.
Avoidance = the real problem
Avoidance.
Avoiding truths about your situations, avoiding being being present with your whole self – that is FAR more likely to lead to longer term problems, than simply allowing yourself to experience what you experience.
So what does empowerment look like in managing emotions then?
It’s like a driver on a highway
Someone is driving on a highway, in their lane, being a great driver and doing all the right things. And then suddenly another vehicle swerves in front of them.
What should they do? Should they keep up their speed and direction? Of course not!
They need to immediately assess their options (whether they can safely swerve out of the way themselves, or whether it’s safe for them to slam on the breaks, etc.), and then they need to adapt immediately to the situation to avoid a collision.
The more they were remaining engaged and paying attention all along their drive, the better prepared they will be to deal with that situation.
Does that mean they’ll automatically avoid a collision? Maybe, maybe not. But at least they’ll have the opportunity to avoid one, and if anything they will dramatically reduce the severity of a collision.
Yes, become masterful with your emotions and resilient in choosing the constructive. Just don’t buy into the myth that you have to keep a spiritual smile plastered on your soul 100 percent of the time.
Stay tuned for Part 2 where we’ll discuss the idea of duality.