We use the terms upstream and downstream differently than Abraham’s upstream and downstream thoughts. Let’s visit their analogy and discuss the differences.
None of this is medical advice. Always follow the advice of your doctors.
Downstream thoughts
Abraham spends much of their time with us discussing the cycle of creation. First, our unique vantage point produces an opportunity to realize that something could be better. Immediately, our inner being fully understands and appreciates the resulting desire. Abraham says our inner being becomes the desire fully and begins attracting it immediately. Unfortunately, that same situation that produced the desire within you is now (usually) giving you a reason to observe the lack of the same desire that you now want.
Even though your inner being is powerfully attracting the new desire, you’re often resisting. If you could drop the subject entirely, you would flow right into your inner being’s vortex of attraction. Abraham eventually chose the (different from the stream) analogy of the vortex to inspire the imagery of an attractive force. It’s pulling you in that direction, and you’ll head there eventually even if you have to (physically) die first.
The stream rafting analogy
One of Abraham’s earlier analogies was that of the rafting trip. Jerry and Esther signed up for a white water rafting trip incidentally with a group of high school wrestlers. Their safety brief noted that the fast-moving stream was going to pull the raft with it, at least eventually, regardless of how much they fought against the current.
Humans, for some clueless reason, think there’s honor and virtue in working hard. We often paddle upstream. We resist the natural flow of things assuming it’s the right thing to do.
Sure, you can paddle upstream all you want for as long as you want. But the downstream ride is so much more thrilling! Plus, your destination is always downstream. All the other rafters are heading in that direction, but also the bus picks you up downstream for the return to your vehicles. Still, well-meaning people think they will have a more rewarding afternoon paddling against the current.
Our inner being’s response to new desire acts very much like the stream as follows. The law of attraction immediately responds to our inner being’s new desire and begins attracting all cooperative components. This attractive force is the rushing of the river. We’re consistently pulled in that direction forevermore. Except, we often resist. We stare at the lack of what we now want. We find examples of similar situations. People complain things aren’t the way they want them to be. Regular medical imaging shows the problem is progressing. Support groups encourage us to face the facts. We paddle against the current.
Choosing downstream thoughts
We only have to get off the subject! Spend time thinking of nothing, also known as meditation. Pet your cat. Go for a run. Watch a comedy. Anything that makes you feel better than the subject at hand is a step in the right direction, a release of the oars.
Often, however, it’s a subject you can’t avoid. In this case, cleaning up your vibration on the topic is the only option. You have to find a way to think thoughts that align with your inner being’s acceptance of the desire. When your vibration is aligned with what you want, you begin (vibrationally) flowing toward your inner being’s vortex of attraction. When you think these “downstream thoughts,” you flow with the current, and everything you want is downstream!
Examples are difficult
Unfortunately, a complicating factor is that upstream or downstream is relative to your vibration. Just as upstream versus downstream on a river is relative to the physical boat, downstream thoughts are only downstream relative to your current attitude. Your feelings are your guide. Better feeling thoughts are downstream since they feel better than what you had been thinking. Worse feeling thoughts are upstream if they feel worse than what you had been thinking. Better feeling, or downstream, thoughts take you in the right direction.
Because this is all so relative, our examples need to be a little extreme. The subtleties that we carry around with our various understandings of situations and events make it incredibly difficult to know what anyone else is actually thinking, particularly over text.
Emotional scale and downstream thoughts
Here’s a chain of improving thoughts.
- My student debt is stealing my financial future. (powerlessness)
- I hate everyone who had rich parents to pay their way. (hatred)
- The government screwed me for letting me get in so much trouble. (blame)
- There’s no way I can ever pay this off. (doubt)
- Where would I even start? (overwhelment)
- At least I’m currently making minimum payments. (contentment)
- Surely I can start living off a budget and find a better job. (hopefulness)
- I am grateful for the education, all the beautiful housing and services that came with the college experience, and the social experiences from that time in my life. I’m excited to keep my promises, repay my loans, and help the next generation follow in the footsteps of that wonderful experience. (enthusiasm)
- You know what? The vantage point provided by this situation inspired within me crazy amounts of wealth that I can’t even begin to currently realize. My (physical and non-physical) life will forever be enhanced by the situation I’m currently living. (appreciation)
We included the typical emotion beside each statement. To form this list, we peeked at the emotional scale from Abraham’s amazing book, Ask and It Is Given.
Our usage of the terms
We are science and engineering minded bloggers, so we use the terms just a little differently much of the time. We do make it clear from context what we mean, and we generally avoid the river analogy to circumvent this problem. Our usage typically aims to distinguish cause from effect. Causes exist upstream while effects appear downstream.
Cry me a river
Imagine a river gets polluted in a drastic and unhealthy way. Without any exception, everyone wants their clean river back, but there are two schools of thought on how to do it. One political party insists we dedicate five hundred million dollars to mitigating the effects of the pollution for one year. This is an environmental catastrophe that must be managed now. We can allocate more budget for it next year. The other political party wants to walk upstream a few hundred meters to find the source of the pollution and remove it practically for free.
“A stitch in time saves nine.”
Lasting change can only occur at the root of the problem. Mitigating the effects of the pollution operates downstream of the cause. Cleaning up the underlying cause operates upstream of the effect. The best engineering solutions occur upstream. Financially speaking, upstream solutions are the biggest bang for the buck. In terms of effort, solving problems in their early subtler stages is far easier than dealing with a full-blown emergency later.
Unvirtuous patients
Now imagine a patient arriving at the emergency room with chest pain. After an initial round of examination, the on-duty physician is 99% certain it was a slight cardiac event. Nothing to be worried about, but it was a useful warning about the direction the patient was heading. The downstream effect is the cardiac event. The upstream, underlying cause is whatever vibration the patient has going on that resulted in this medical situation. Scattered between those endpoints are a chain of mechanisms involving diet, lifestyle, expression of genes, the body’s response to cholesterol, etc, etc.
What was the outcome? The patient was given an appointment to treat the mechanism nearest the symptom. Costly but somewhat effective, at least for a little while. Culturally, we tend to treat symptoms and proximal causes. One of the things any law of attraction blog would attempt to do is consider underlying causes. What was the vibrational cause of this patient’s situation? We can’t possibly know what the patient thought about the wide variety of topics they considered throughout the week.
All we can do is observe, to the extent possible, the balance of forces and guess about their vibration based on what they typically talked about. Is any of this possible through a television screen? Besides providing an example for others, can we do anything to help them?
All we can personally do is address “upstream causes” by thinking our own “downstream thoughts.” But it’s enough to help others. Indeed, your example will be a powerful influence to all who see it.
