When you study the teachings of "The Secret" you find that it really revolves around the Law of Attraction. If you want to attract abundance into your life, you have to somehow align yourself with a feeling of abundance. The teachers tell you to make yourself "feel" like you already have whatever it is you desire in life.

And that proves to be the stumbling block for many.

How can you feel like you have that which you do not have?

You begin with baby steps - by noticing and appreciating the abundance you do have. You do it by feeling thankful rather than resentful, and by focusing on what you have rather than what you don't have. You do it by noticing and appreciating every bit of good fortune, even if it's nothing more than finding a quarter on the sidewalk.

From that point, you can begin attracting more of the things you want - more of the abundance you seek. With each small step of appreciation, you start the ball rolling in the direction you want - instead of the direction you don't want.

The truth is, if you try to do it all in one fell swoop, you'll be disappointed.

I know, in the movie they show a man "feeling" that he's driving a new car, and then he gets the car. It's a shame that they presented the concept in that manner, because it turned a whole lot of people completely away from the whole idea. I don't know how many times I've heard people say "Yeah, sure. I can just sit in my easy chair and think about being rich and it will all come to me."

The ridiculousness of that idea made people believe the whole concept was nonsense.

As a result, those people are still going around saying things like "I'll always be broke," and "If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all." I cringe every time I hear those words. Just this week a friend wrote to say she wasn't going to be able to do something she wanted to do because she was counting on money from a sale, and "Of course it fell apart." Yes, of course it did. She expected it to, and her resultant actions caused it to happen just that way.

But back to what you CAN do. The baby steps. Appreciating and giving thanks for the abundance you do have. But maybe all you can see right now is the opposite. The first step for you is to shift your focus.

If you're reading this message, you either own a computer or have access to one. There's one thing to be thankful for. A whole world of information is right there at your fingertips. You can learn almost anything you want, because the information is there and so is your ability to see and to read and understand.

I'd call that something to notice and appreciate!

You probably also have a roof over your head and food to eat - and clothes to wear. It may not yet be the roof or the food or the clothes you prefer, but if you feel grateful for what you do have, something better will come.

I know that this tough economy is making people feel like all is doom and gloom, because the money they want and need just isn't there. But look around you at the things that money can't buy.

Look at the people in your life. There must be at least one or two that you are glad to know. There might even be one or two that you love, and who love you back. Isn't that something to cherish? If you have good health, that's certainly something to appreciate.

How about nature? Even city dwellers can see an occasional bird or squirrel, and most of us can look up at a night sky and appreciate the wonder of the stars and moon.

Whatever good things you have in life, whatever you see or experience that you like, put your focus on them - no matter how small. Do you love that first cup of coffee in the morning? Take a few seconds and savor and appreciate it.

You really are a magnet, and you really will attract the things you think about and the feelings that you carry with you throughout the day. The problem lies in the fact that so many are thinking "I want this, but I don't have it," so their attention is on "I don't have it" instead of "I'm looking forward to having this."

The magic in all of that is not that things will come to you without effort, but that your attention to "things going right" will push you into the actions that make it happen. You'll approach life with positive expectation, rather than negative expectation.

Stop for just a minute and think about that.

Pretend you're a sales person and you're about to call on a new prospect. If you walk into the meeting "knowing" that the prospect is going to say no, your words and actions are going to be completely different than if you walk into the meeting expecting them to love your presentation, realize what you have to offer is right for them, and say yes.

The same thing goes for going into a job interview. If you approach it feeling like you're the right person for the job, you will be a benefit to the employer, and you will enjoy the work, your attitude - and their reaction to you - will be far different that it will if you walk in thinking "Here goes another dumb interview with someone who won't hire me."

Read those last two paragraphs again - and feel how you feel when you say those sentences. Then feel the muscles in your face as you think them. I'll bet you'll notice the difference.

Changing your thought patterns isn't easy - if it was, everyone around you would be happy and abundant. Even when you decide you're going to do it, you'll slip into old patterns, but don't let that stop you. Just say "No" to the thought, and shift to something better.

Unless there's a specific action you need to take to solve a problem, just don't think about it. If there is, take the action and then move on to thinking about something that pleases you.

You really are not going to make things better by thinking about how bad they are. Really.