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The Law of Attraction, do you believe in it? According to this premise, what ever you focus on and emotionally engage with, you will attract more of. Does this ring true? Or perhaps it seems plain silly. Imagine if you were able to apply this basic principle to positive environmental change ….

Let’s start with an interesting exercise.  Go look at yourself in the mirror and say five nice things to yourself, about yourself. I mean it. Go and do it! Strange though this may feel (perhaps even a little embarrassing) note that a) on many levels it feels good to appreciate aspects of yourself and b) now that you’re focusing upon the good about yourself, your mind’s getting into the swing of it and you could probably even come up with a few more positive things.

What ever we focus on, our fantastic, amazingly complex and quick, sub-conscious mind comes up with more reasons and evidence to support our focus. Still not convinced? Here’s another exercise, have you ever bought a car, then driven around your neighbourhood and suddenly noticed many more of the same model? Or try looking at your closest friend, or partner, and brainstorming ten things you love about them, doesn’t it make you feel a sudden burst of appreciation for them?

Now let’s apply this to the planet: let’s take an environmental challenge and focus upon generating creative solutions for this issue. How’s your local river looking? Let’s assume it needs a little lovin’. So let’s sit back for five minutes and brainstorm five ways we could support or encourage a healthier, more thriving local water-way. I mean it. Pause with me for five minutes to dream up five ideas around improving the state of your local river and be kind to them as they arrive. Try letting your first five thoughts come to the surface, no matter what they are, and give them a little positive attention … as if you’re running a retail store and five customers walk in. Value them. I’m going to join you and do it myself. Here’s what I’ve come up with: 1. Ask a local artist to paint a scenario of how that river could appear if were healthier. This includes the fish, the insects, the fresh water shell-fish, the trees and plant life on the banks of the river and the way the community increasingly interacts with it. Arrange for the painting to be unveiled somewhere highly visible within your community 2. Organise a local clean up day, once a month, and ask schools to get involved 3. Run a local survey asking people what they think of the current state of the river and how it could be improved, 4. Ask all the owners of the land that runs onto the river if they’d consider developing a strategy to improve the state of the river or 5. Partner up with a local radio station and ask them to run a competition asking for creative solutions to clean up their local waterway, including finding a business to sponsor a prize.

All of these options are positive; they are all based upon the assumption that the river can be cleaned up, and each idea could, in reality, be implemented. And these are only my ideas. As you brainstorm your ideas, as you watch them appearing miraculously from the depths of your sub-consciousness, how do you feel? Once you’re finished generating all five, are there a few more ideas vying for your attention too? It makes cleaning that river up seem slightly more possible doesn’t it? If you were to take the next step and look into turning these ideas into reality, the important thing to do is focus on the ones you feel most excited about. More about this in my next article …

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Tags: Happiness, motivational, optimism, personal sustainability, positive news, Sustainability