Attraction not Promotion

One of the neatest things about this new lifestyle - something that takes a while to get used to - is the idea of refraining from using the widely accepted methods of the business world to apply to one's personal life.

The phrase "attraction rather than promotion" is one in which I've come to believe quite strongly.  Billboards and such are great to advertise products - but when it comes to things in the human spirit, often a promotional plan backfires.  How much better to be ... just be!! ... The perfect analogy of this is of a flower:  as it just is a flower, and doesn't try to seduce the bees but rather, naturally produces the nectar that will attract any bee that just happens to be close by, so our internal lives, when they are allowed to develop and grow naturally, will attract the people that need to benefit from the overflow of our well-spring of life.  There is absolutely NOTHING forced about it.  No shoulds.  No oughtas.  Just life.

I get leery of (for example) televangelists who somehow think that they have to have this or that gimmick to be able to get new followers or keep old ones, even to the point of doing the classic, "if you donate more than X number of dollars, you'll get a free authentic coaster made from the bark of an olive tree in the Holy Land."  Or whatever the gimmick is.  

Or consider the people who want you to donate to a cause so they make it into a contest where you get to put your name in a draw for money or a prize.  Shouldn't it be enough that you want to give to the cause?  

We're promoted up the wazoo.  Attraction takes time.  It takes investment in the things that matter.  Surface stuff is going to quickly fade away - people will get tired of gimmicks and someone will have to think up another one.  Or thousand. 

But attraction - well, that is something gentle - something real.  It might take more time (both to attract and to be attracted because face it, you have to be willing and open to it from both sides!) but the payoff is worth far more than any kind of reward a person could count.  It lasts longer, too.

And the fact of the matter is that it can't happen by just "trying to attract" because that's just another disguise for promoting.  Resting, letting things be what they are, letting people be who they are, accepting, and letting peace reign are important.  In the hustle and bustle of the promotional rat-race all around me, I need to remind myself that it's okay to just "be".