Friday, July 1, 2016

Good Vibrations

The Law of Attraction states "Like Attracts Like". If we feel sad, we will attract sadness. If we feel happy, we will attract happiness. Since my wife and I believe the purpose of life is to be happy, we do all we can to maintain a positive vibration. We surround ourselves with people, places, and things that make us happy. Our home is one of those places.

Situated high up on a sand dune, our home has a breathtaking view of Lake Michigan. It is a calm and restful setting filled with wonderful energy vibrating up from the lake.

Each morning we walk down the fifty steps to the beach to begin our daily walk along the water’s edge. Once down on the beach we remove our shoes, step onto the bleached white sand and enjoy our three-mile trek, listening to the waves lap against the shore. It is a lovely way to get our daily exercise.

Our very first excursion on the beach was not as picturesque. From our perch up on the sand dune, and even as we descended the stairs, the beach looked pristine. As we walked, however, we noticed cans, glass and plastic bottles, candy wrappers, baggies, fast food containers and cups from drive-through chains, and a host of smoking materials. The beach was littered with trash!  

We decided to do something about the mess. That afternoon we took a couple of small bags from the supermarket and started picking up trash. About halfway through, our bags were full. The next day we each took a larger trash bag, but they still filled before we completed our journey. About a week later, the drudgery set in. It became aggravating picking up someone else’s trash.  We started grousing about being the only people keeping the beach clean.

As I picked up an empty soda can, an instant video from my childhood played in my mind. I visualized our family outings to the beach. While my dad was gathering the blankets, towels, sunscreen, and kids, my mom would make sandwiches, pack them in a reusable container and place them in our ice chest. The sandwiches would be joined by some fresh fruits and vegetables. She made lemonade from freshly squeezed lemons and poured it into our gallon thermos. Our picnic basket already contained reusable cups, plates, and utensils. My dad would load the car and off we would go. And everything we brought to the beach was either consumed there or brought back home because it was reusable. We left nothing behind.

That’s when I realized all this trash is our own fault and the collective fault of everyone who purchases prepared foods in convenience packaging.  Most of us don’t pack picnic baskets for outings any longer. We go to the store and buy prepared foods in ready-to-go containers, or purchase fast food from a drive-through chain on the way. What happens to those single-use wrappers and cups?  Most of it goes to landfills, but some end up on our beaches. And there we are, picking it up, still perturbed at having to clean up after another’s disregard for the welfare of our earth.

Then my wife said, “Maybe we are picking up this trash because of karma for transgressions in this and prior lives.”  Her comment started me thinking. After a few moments I said “What if we were to picture each piece of trash as having a value of one karmic dollar? We could pay down our karmic debt, one piece of trash at a time.  And with the amount of trash that accumulates on our beach, we could pay off our karmic debt in no time and build a significant balance in our account at the Karmic Bank of the Universe.” “I like it”, she said. “Let’s try it and see what happens”.

That did it. Our outlook changed from cleaning up after others to having fun finding karmic “money”.

Our happier demeanor must have shown because something wonderful began to happen. A man we didn’t know stopped us and said we were an inspiration to him. From then on he would make sure his beach and those of his neighbors would be cleaned every day.

The owner of a B ’n B thanked us for our efforts and said we could leave our filled bags there for disposal. Her neighbor placed a bunch of plastic bags in a hidden container in case we needed more bags.

People we passed on our walks thanked us for our efforts. Then we saw other people carrying bags and picking up trash along their walks.

It was an excellent example of The Law of Attraction in Action. By adjusting our attitudes we changed our vibrations making the activity fun. And since Like Attracts Like, others have started to care.  Now our beach is clean and beautiful and a match to the peaceful setting of our home. We have good vibrations once again. And so does the pristine beach.

Originally published in Meta Arts Magazine, May, 2011

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