by Guest Contributor Barbara Desmarais
Parenting and Life Coach

Our lives are a direct reflection of what we put our attention on. Do you constantly talk about how badly your kids are behaving and talk to them about their bad behavior? Do you talk about how much debt you have and dwell on it and dwell on it? Do you tell your partner that he/she isn’t meeting your expectations? Do you talk about your aches and pains a lot? When we focus on all these things we get more of the same. Without going into a lot of complicated details, we all have an energy force surrounding us that is created by our thoughts and actions. That energy force or vibration, attracts the same kind of energy. One definition of the Law of Attraction is that “like attracts like.” So the more we focus on all these things I’ve just mentioned, the more of the same comes into our lives.

How does the Law of Attraction affect parenting? If you look at your family, all the bad as well as all the good, it is a direct reflection of what you’ve put your attention on. Those of us who focus on our children’s positive qualities will see more of those qualities emerging. When we express gratitude for what we have, more of all those good things pour into our lives. Conversely if we put our attention on all the things that are going wrong, we get more things going wrong. You know how five different people can experience the same thing and everyone will give a different description? They all saw exactly the same thing but everyone focused on different aspects of what they saw.

I frequently talk to groups of parents on the topic of self-esteem. One of the things I encourage them to do is capitalize on their children’s strengths and interests. I also say that each of them has a gifted child. Everyone is really good at something. We usually think of “gifted” as a child who is exceptionally bright or talented, but we’re all gifted in some way. When children hear over and over again that they’re good at things, they become even better at what they do because they see themselves as capable and worthy.

When you acknowledge your children for their strengths and abilities, it raises their self-worth and they like who they are. When they like who they are they’ll attract friends who have a similar aura. What they put out, they’ll get back. Also, if they truly believe they are smart and capable, so will their teachers and the people around them.