The “law of attraction” is on the tip of everyone’s tongue in the personal development world, yet the law of gestation is equally important.
This law pervades every aspect of life. The farmer is intimately aware of the law of gestation; it is simple and second nature to her. Gestation in the mental/emotional realm is not as clear-cut. When we apply a physical law to the mental and emotional aspects of our life, we soon discover that this pursuit is fraught with problems.
Physical seeds are a specialized center of energy and information with a well-defined gestation period. Plant a carrot seed, and six weeks later you have a carrot. Human seeds take nine months. An elephant’s gestational period is two years. Physical seeds are on a dedicated path to one unique goal: the perpetuation of that species. The tiny acorn harmonizes perfectly with the environment to create a 148-foot tree, which, in a thousand years, will shed up to ten-million acorns. This is just one example of nature’s movement toward expansion.
The human creative process has some similarities as well as stark differences to the gestation of physical seeds. They are similar in the sense that seeds are very specific forms of energy and information arranged in a pattern. Energy and information arranged in a pattern is the scientific definition of matter. In the human creative process, your thoughts matter because they are matter; they are also energy and information in a specific pattern. Thoughts that are cultivated with a high quality of consciousness, or ideas that have a significant amount of detail, are like physical seeds. Everything you covet in your life, every possession, luxury, and necessity was once an idea that gestated into a physical reality.
It is vital to understand the differences between mental and physical seeds. Unlike mental seeds, physical seeds are on a single, dedicated path. The acorn can only become an oak tree. It does not doubt it can do this, it does not complain about the weather, and it never worries about what his fellow acorns think. It cannot decide one day that it wants to transform its life and become a tulip. It has one goal. We are not constrained the same way. Humanity has created and recreated itself many times, and you can do the same. Unlike the acorn, your path is not predetermined. Once you have chosen a vision, however, you must be as singularly focused as the acorn to achieve your goal.
The second difference is that when you plant a well-formed and compelling vision in your mind, you can only estimate the gestation period. The bigger, bolder and riskier the goal, the longer it may take. During this period, it is critical that you do not violate the law of gestation. Do not try to force things. A farmer would never dig up the roots to see if his carrots are growing. Any new, compelling and creative vision you have works the same way. You must be patient and cultivate your vision, so it can take root and mature. Nurture it with expanding thoughts, feelings, and actions. Do not dig up the roots with “what’s wrong” questions or limiting ideas. Never allow yourself or anyone else to tell you it cannot be done. Your circumstances will always give way to your new vision.
We are always attracting our circumstances, wanted or unwanted, consciously or unconsciously. Gestation is another matter altogether. It is the process of conscious and deliberate creation. This law, along with the law of relativity, is far more commonly violated than the law of attraction. Yet very few people even consider it. Unlike the acorn, you have a choice; In fact, you have an infinite number of choices. Once you choose, however, you must be as singularly focused as the acorn. Even this axiom must be tempered with intelligence. There is must be a balance to this singularity of focus. I remember the words of Robert Fritz, “Don’t paint a burning house.” The answer can always be found in the expansion.
What is the next greatest version of you? Focus and gestate that.
