The Law of Jinx

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The Law of Jinx says that if you think something is going to happen, it won’t. That’s called “jinxing it.” It is the exact opposite of the Law of Attraction. For example, when I woke up today I thought I was going to eat pancakes for breakfast. That jinxed it, and I had cold oatmeal instead. The Law of Jinx. It works every time! – Joe

A statement like “We’re sure to win the contest!” can be seen as a jinx because it tempts fate. After such a statement, failure would be ironic. For the human mind, however, the irony makes it all the more likely. This therefore brings bad luck: it is a “jinx.”  The Law of Attraction is diametrically opposed, and inversely proportional, to the Law of Jinx. Thus they cancel one another out. – Rollo Tomassi

A woman I once dated was an ardent follower of “The Secret,” the book and movie and DVD and whatnot franchise that popularized “The Law of Attraction.” For those unfamiliar, the Law of Attraction is a means to “manifest” the things you desire. The idea is to visualize and pretend that the things you want in life are already yours, and this will help a benevolent universe manifest them in your life. You are also supposed to ask for what you want by looking at something or some situation and saying, “I have that.” In asking, you begin the process of manifesting. Your life, therefore, is a result of the things you ask for.

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It sounded very woo-woo to me. “Name it, and claim it” was the way she described the process, which internally I translated into “blab it, and grab it.” We were never really on the same page with this. For example, she would often tell me that I was getting into great shape. I had been hitting the gym and watching my diet, so I was flattered by her comment. Now in retrospect it’s possible that she didn’t really see me that way at all, and was merely trying to LoA me into having six-pack abs.

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Maybe I’m just too cynical. Maybe I was doing it wrong. But I never got on board with the LoA. I was reminded of the play and movie “The Music Man” where Professor Harold Hill, a huckster passing himself off as a marching band leader in a small Iowa town, convinced the parents that their kids would learn to play their expensive musical instruments by simply using “The Think System.” No need for lessons or endless practice, nosiree. Think it, and play it. Name it, and claim it.

No, I tend to believe in quite the opposite. In my life there has been more truth to “The Law of Jinx,” the idea that by positively claiming something you actually drive it away. Tempting fate, as they say. Speaking too soon. It’s why in baseball, when a pitcher appears to be throwing a no-hitter, no one ever mentions that fact aloud, especially not to the pitcher.

Woody Allen is credited with saying, “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” Author David DeAngelo writes about “The Wanting-It Tax” where the more you think you must have something, the higher price you have to pay to get it. I think that’s been borne out much more in my life than simply blabbing it and grabbing it.

Cynical? Superstitious? Fatalistic? Oh, probably. But realistic too. I believe your actions determine your consequences. I believe it’s absolutely essential to have a positive mental attitude, to do whatever it takes to be “all right, right now.” I think that if you’re not willing to do what it takes to achieve something, you may not want it as much as you think you do. I believe that life will give you what you’re willing to settle for, and no more. But I don’t believe that you create your own reality, certainly not by wishing it were so or believing you already have what you want. I don’t believe that life is a result of simply asking for stuff. Indeed, I believe that doing so will impede you from attaining them. Why? I don’t know. Maybe visualizing that you already have something makes you ease up on trying to get it. Maybe being desire-less brings more and better things into your life.

Or, as a former boss of mine would say: “You can have what you want – you just can’t have everything that you want.”