Some Thoughts

A friend recently asked if I believed in the law of attraction (for those unwilling to look it up, it is the idea that positive thoughts bring positive outcomes and negative thoughts bring negative outcomes). I don't. However, there is something I remember reading that sounded somewhat similar.

See, our thoughts and emotions influence the actions we make, right? So if there is a job that someone needs to finish by the time they come in for work/school/etc but they only have a few hours until sunrise, one of two thoughts will likely pop into the individual's mind:

a) I'm not going to be able to finish in time. I might as well just leave it.

b) I might be able to finish if I focus and work hard enough.

If the individual thinks (a), then they'll give up and quit trying. If they think (b), there's a better chance of them finishing or at least getting much more done.

Anyway, this friend of mine was looking at the law of attraction and blaming herself for a situation that I assume she had no control over (she wouldn't specify the situation), which is completely ridiculous. Yes, there are times when a tragedy is indirectly our fault, but it's not like we always expect the unexpected, right?

So does anyone believe in the law of attraction or does the second thing sound more reasonable?