My three boys love sports and, when they were young, one of their sports-of-choice was to play ice hockey. One afternoon we were running late getting ready to go to a game. Rushing to get their equipment together and out the door to the car, one of them yelled, “I don’t have my lucky stick! I don’t have my lucky stick!” I had never played ice hockey growing up, so I was baffled because there were already more sticks in the car than players.

“We’re already running late, why don’t you use the stick you have?” I said with exasperation in my voice.

“You don’t understand, that’s my regular stick. I need my game stick. It’s a lucky stick and I’ll score more goals with it!” He said, matching my level of frustration.

“Come on, let’s go!” I said with more of an authoritarian tone this time. “And how lucky is the stick anyway? The harder you practice, the luckier your stick gets.” I might have well said we were going to the dentist instead of the game because that comment was immediately followed by tears, kicking, and screaming. A few minutes later, the lucky stick found its way to the car and all was well. He scored a few goals that game and I wisely decided to NOT ask if it was because of the “luck” in the lucky stick.

Decades later, I was investigating the concept of the Law of Attraction when I remembered that scene with my boys years earlier. The Law of Attraction was intriguing to me and I was researching the topic by reviewing several authors, critics, even conducting some experiments of my own. I detail this work in my book 12 Lessons. One aspect in particular came to mind in the story of the hockey stick.

The Law of Attraction states that if a person holds consistent, positive thoughts of what they want, the Universe will fulfill their desire. My sons would frequently run through the house with their sticks, sometimes batting around a tennis ball, sometimes a roll of tape, and other times with nothing at all. I heard them describing the situations where they would pretend to take the game-winning shot, or blocking a key shot-on-goal. All to the roaring sound of the crowd.

So, was it their thoughts and imagination of scoring the winning goal that helped them? Or, was it going to practice and working hard to be a better player that did the trick? A tough question. Certainly, sitting around doing nothing but visualizing until game day might work, but doubtful. And for many players, going to practice every day for months does not help them at all.

Personally, I think the Law of Attraction is worth exploring to see if it can work in your life. There are many resources available to learn more about it. I also believe strongly in practice and hard work. The one thing I think we all can agree on is that there can only be good results if positive thoughts and feelings are applied to any situation.

So, how much luck was in the lucky stick? Play around with these ideas and see what works best for you!

Learn more about the Law of Attraction and other topics at angelintraining.org.