Utilizing the Law of Relativity

Understanding the Law
In her book, "Hidden Treasures," Leslie Householder says, "The Law [of relativity] states that nothing we experience is fundamentally good or bad. Bad things that happen to us are only bad relative to something better." (Hidden Treasures, p. 47)

Albert Einstein explains it like this: "When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, you think it's only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute, you think it's two hours. That's relativity." (famousquotesandauthors.com)

In other words, so much of how we experience this life depends upon our perception of what we are experiencing in relation to what we are focused on. The inherent power of the law of relativity when used properly, is its propensity to propel us towards our goals, removing barriers that smother our faith, our power.

In our culture of instant gratification, self-entitlement and materialism, we are more likely to use the law of relativity to our detriment than we we are to use it to our betterment. Our tendency is to focus on those whom we perceive to be better off than us and then use that information to make ourselves feel like we've really been given the short end of the stick.

I have found that the law of relativity is primarily mis-used in three ways: looking backwards, looking forwards, and looking sideways.

The danger with each of these behaviors is that our perception of reality becomes distorted, taking us farther away from thinking that is based in truth. We must always be striving to think as closely to God's reality as possible. The more we are able to view reality from His point of view, fully bathed in truth, the more we are able to access the incredible power to create in our own lives that He has made available to us.

• Looking Backwards The bible records that the children of Israel were guilty of looking back with longing to their days as slaves in Egypt. The heading of Chapter 14 in Numbers (LDS King James Version) says, “Israel murmurs and speaks of returning to Egypt.” One wonders how they could possibly wish to return to the circumstances they had once been so eager to leave. Perhaps they were looking at their present circumstances through eyes that did not see blessings and looking at the past through eyes that did not remember challenges.
  

• Looking Forward While having a vision for the future is essential to our progress, we can miss the power of the moment we are in by longing for the future with discontent in our hearts for the present. Embracing the good in the moment we are in will remove barriers we ourselves have placed between our current circumstances and our desires for change in the future. When we picture a future free of challenges while lamenting a present full of challenges and lacking in blessings, we are distorting reality. The longer we perpetuate that kind of thinking, the longer we continue to perceive and create that kind of negative reality.
  

• Looking Sideways We can distort reality when we look at other people’s lives as well, if we focus only on their blessings-ignoring or more likely, being unaware of their challenges. This self-defeating habit is made even worse if we combine it with seeing only the challenges and ignoring the blessings in our own lives.
  

As we fall into the habit of mis-using the law of relativity and our perception of reality becomes skewed, we are plunged into ingratitude. Our faith is drained and our hope is sapped, delaying our ability to receive good things and make the changes we are desiring in our lives, the very changes that tempted us to look backwards, forward, or sideways in the first place.

When we use the law of relativity to make ourselves feel bad, it's like we've stepped off the path towards our goals and are sitting by the side of the road wallowing in the muck. We close our eyes to opportunities, blessings, solutions, knowledge, and many other good things in our path. We've turned our back on the potential for good in our life.

Tapping into the Power of the Law
Again, the power of the law of relativity is that we can use it to get into gratitude and redirect our attention to where we are going and what we need to do to get there.

Getting into gratitude essentially gets us back on track to our goals. Law of attraction teachers would say that it 'puts us in a higher vibration'. What does this 'higher vibration' look like? Our focus is sharpened, we are now open and available to those opportunities, blessings, solutions, knowledge, and any other good that is headed our way. We've opened our arms and our hearts to the potential for good in our lives.

So how do we fully take advantage of the law of relativity?

Remember that the law states that nothing we experience is inherently good or bad. It is only good or bad compared to something else. Our thoughts create our feelings. It's all too easy to be lazy in our thinking.

Our negative reactions to circumstances are guideposts to let us know we've created something we don't want in our lives. The purpose of those feelings is to let us know we need to head in a different direction. They weren't given to us to marinate in.

This is where the law of relativity comes in. If we're feeling stuck in those negative feelings and outlooks, we can look around and become aware of situations that remind us how good ours really is in comparison. This will springboard us into gratitude and productive thinking. We will leave the muck and start making changes.

Don't allow yourself to use the law of relativity to your detriment. It is extremely unproductive. Instead, use it to your advantage. Anytime you feel yourself looking anywhere with envy and discontent, start tapping into the power of this law. You will be amazed at how quickly and powerfully it gets you back on track and opens you up to good.