Why Do We Attract Certain Situations ?

Situations don’t just pop into our lives; instead, they appear over time and come about due to very conscious choices we make while going about our everyday lives. Often we instantly "forget" our choices moments after they are made, and when a situation appears, we ask ourselves “How did this happen ?”

We make thousands of choices daily, most on "autopilot," BUT those made using our "autopilot" were once consciously chosen and accepted as suitable and trustworthy. In the moment that we make a choice, and in that particular instance, it may well be valid, suitable and reliable, but months and years later, as our awareness expands and we know more than we ever did before, those "autopilot" choices may no longer be valid or acceptable.

For example, as a child, your parents probably told you, “Do not cross the street unless you are with an adult.” At that moment, you would have had a choice to believe their advice or to reject it. Because you trusted them, you trusted their advice, and, in this instance, it was probably good to choose to accept what they told you. They would have explained that their advice was to protect you from being hit by a car. Then as you grew older, you, and your parents, became more comfortable with you crossing the street without an adult present.

The above example is a case of a thought or idea having a use for a certain period and working on autopilot (your parents didn’t have to tell you each time) until it was no longer needed. Then, when you grew older, it was replaced with a new thought or idea that also worked on autopilot…perhaps “always look left and right before crossing the street”....that allowed you more autonomy.

Crossing the street is essentially a “situation” and if you followed the autopilot advice that your parents gave to you as a child, you were likely kept out of harm's way when it came to the “crossing the street situation.” If you had not chosen to accept new, and different advice as you grew older, the chances are that even today you would be waiting for an “adult” to walk you across the street.

Our whole life operates in exactly the same way, except that there are many instances where the thoughts or ideas that we consciously chose way back in the past, and gave “autopilot” status to, need to be replaced with new, more currently acceptable, and joy-giving thoughts and ideas.

When we actively and consciously recognise the thought processes that are operating on autopilot and causing us to experience situations that we don’t like, then we can actively and consciously work on replacing them with new thoughts and ideas that will cause us to experience situations that we enjoy.

In conclusion, we will never encounter a situation in which we did not actively take part in creating. Where most of us fall down, is that we have forgotten the thoughts and ideas that we chose in the past and set to "autopilot" and do not put in any effort in rediscovering what they are. So we keep operating through our autopilot system and delivering the same unwanted results that we achieved in the past, whilst left feeling like we can never experience our dream lives.

That feeling is obviously not true, for we can experience anything we desire if we will just take the time, and give some effort, to sifting through our autopilot system and ensuring that we have chosen thoughts and ideas that will deliver our dreams.

To create the results that we desire in the future, we must use the present moment to filter our past thought choices and eliminate those that cause us pain and choose to replace them with those that bring us joy.

My previous post Why Do People Resist Change dovetails quite nicely with this one if you haven't read it yet.