Today, the concept of the 'Law of Attraction' is more popular than ever, and with DVDs and books like The Secret, The Power of Now, Ask and it is Given: Learning to Manifest the Law of Attraction, etc flooding the market the ideology is only gaining ground. Individuals , now more than ever, are armed with the tools to attain their desires. When a empty parking spot near the mall entrance appears, advocates of the philosophy are jubilant over the manifestation. But when we hoep to achieve desires that are more complex, it's not as easy of immediate. The road to attracting and achieving our desires is not always a smooth one. Sometimes we suffer a few obstacles on the path and earn our desire. These obstacles can be painful and scarring ones and at that moment we are unable to comprehend how these tragedies help us to attain that which we desire. The truth is when we set the law of attraction in motion, we aren’t fully aware of the schematics the Universe has laid out in order for us to achieve our goal. Sometimes we must travel down the road less trodden and we unwittingly learn and grow over the journey. This is where implicit faith comes in to play. Faith that there is a bigger picture, a greater plan and during the darkest moments is when we stay strong, positive and focus on our desires and achieving them. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, so do we prevail through adversity and arrive at our destination, the achievement of our desire.
There is a story about a Zen Master and a boy who on his 14th birthday receives a horse as a gift. The villagers are happy for the boy and are heard saying,
‘How wonderful the boy got a horse.’
The Zen Master simply responds,
‘We’ll see...’
Some time later the boy takes a spill off the horse and breaks his leg. The villagers are saddened for the boy and are heard saying,
‘How terrible!’
The Zen Master once again simply responds,
‘We’ll see...’
Soon after a war breaks out and all the young men from the village are recruited and forced to fight in the war. The only boy that isn’t recruited is the one with the broken leg. At this point the villagers are heard saying,
‘How wonderful!’
The Zen Master simply responds,
‘We’ll see.’
The fact is we don’t always see the Universes grand scheme but we have to believe there is one. To illustrate this point let me share a real life example. Many readers will know who Phil Collins is but few will be aware of his journey. Philip David Charles Collins was born in 1951 in Chiswick, London and grew to be a world renowned singer, songwriter, drummer, keyboardist and actor. He is best known for hits such as,
- In the air tonight-Sussudio
-Another day in paradise-You can’t hurry love
-Against all odds -Easy lover
But this wasn’t always the case. In the seventies, Phil was a drummer for the progressive rock band, Genesis. During that decade, front man Peter Gabriel left the band and critics and fans both believed that would be the end of the band since the iconic lead singer was irreplaceable. The band continued and searched for a lead singer but to no avail. Phil decided to ‘have a go’ and one by one, they completed all the tracks on the A Trick of the Tail album. The album reached the American top 40 and No.3 in the UK Charts. Rolling stones wrote,
‘Genesis has managed to turn the catastrophe of Gabriel’s departure into their first broad - based American success.’
They had proved critics and fans wrong and both Genesis and Collins continued to succeed. Unfortunately the success took a strain on his married life and the band agreed to take a one year hiatus so Phil could focus on his wife and kids. Sadly this wasn’t enough and they divorced. Collins became a recluse and lost himself into his songwriting. In the early eighties Phil released his first solo album, Face Value where he contributed his divorce as his influence. The response was magnificent! Collins went from strength to strength and sold records by the boat load. Phil was everywhere, not only was he performing with the biggest names in the industry but he was on television in hit shows like Miami Vice and even headlined the movie, Buster.
Today Phil Collins has achieved more than most and continues to do so. His list of accomplishments are never ending but, when he received that toy drum kit for Christmas when he was five, did he know what was in store? In 1970 when Phil answered an ad for a drummer for the band Genesis could he have imagined where that road would lead? When Peter Gabriel left in 1975 could Collins have imagined he would be the one to lead Genesis and prove the doubting world wrong? Could he have imagined his tragic divorce would be the catalyst to his solo success?
History is littered with stories like Phil’s. Take for example Kurt Warner. The two time NFL MVP winner and Super Bowl winner used to stack shelves at a grocery store for $5.50 an hour and played Arena football.
Susan Boyle was laughed at when she came on stage during the show Britain’s Got Talent. Once she started singing, Susan became an instant global sensation! From Leno to Letterman, Susan Boyle was the hottest topic at that time. While writing this book, Susan is in the studios working on her first album with the infamous Simon Cowell.
The sultry Rosario Dawson is the daughter of a plumber and a construction worker who in her youth, squatted in an abandoned building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. As a child, Rosario was spotted outside on a stoop by a talent scout and her journey to Hollywood Stardom began.
The journey to our desire will teach us lessons and allow us to grow. It may not be easy but it is one we can weather and our faith and belief is our guiding light. Perhaps we do have to kiss some frogs before finding our prince. Maybe we need to suffer through a divorce before finding that ideal partner. Even worse, maybe we have to gain from the lessons of a miscarriage before we receive the perfect child for us. Who knows, maybe some of us need to be photographed without our underwear by the paparazzi so we remember to wear some panties! Whatever the example, the growth from the experience only equips us to treat our desire aptly when we receive it. It is an essential part of the process of achieving our desires. In some ways, the journey is the destination.
Ours is another success story. The Universe had and still has a plan for Phil, Kurt, Susan, Rosario and it has one for us too. Like them, we too shall rise from the ashes, we too shall prevail. We too shall achieve and accomplish. How do we know this? Because it’s all part of the plan and like the Zen Master, you’ll see.
