I've wondered the same myself and wanted to ask a similar question here (I may post it in a few days), but one thing I can say from experience is that unless you change your reaction to things going 'wrong', your life is not going to improve. 'Then something would happen that would bring my world crashing down'. Why should anything bring your world crashing down? Try to see the good in anything that happens or just try not to react negatively. You don't really know if something is really good or bad for you anyway. My life improved when I stopped judging events as negative and gave myself time and space before reacting emotionally to anything that happened that I may have perceived as negative. Do you know this story?

There is a Chinese Proverb that goes something like this...

A farmer and his son had a beloved stallion who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors exclaimed, "Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!" The farmer replied, "Maybe so, maybe not. We'll see.

A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild mares back to the farm as well. The neighbors shouted out, "Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!" The farmer replied, "Maybe so, maybe not. We'll see.

Later that week, the farmer's son was trying to break one of the mares and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The villagers cried, "Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!" The farmer replied, "Maybe so, maybe not. We'll see.

A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all the able-bodied boys for the army. They did not take the farmer's son, still recovering from his injury. Friends shouted, "Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!" To which the farmer replied, "Maybe so, maybe not. We'll see.

The moral of this story, is, of course, that no event, in and of itself, can truly be judged as good or bad, lucky or unlucky, fortunate or unfortunate, but that only time will tell the whole story. Additionally, no one really lives long enough to find out the 'whole story,' so it could be considered a great waste of time to judge minor inconveniences as misfortunes or to invest tons of energy into things that look outstanding on the surface, but may not pay off in the end.

The wiser thing, then, is to live life in moderation, keeping as even a temperament as possible, taking all things in stride, whether they originally appear to be 'good' or 'bad.' Life is much more comfortable and comforting if we merely accept what we're given and make the best of our life circumstances. Rather than always having to pass judgement on things and declare them as good or bad, it would be better to just sit back and say, "It will be interesting to see what happens."

If you can do this, the law of attraction can play its part as you're not negating your good vibration work with negativity.

The Universe is you. You're the one doing it. All these things that seem to "happen" by themselves are the result of aspects of our vibration that we were not noticing. These events are the harvest of seeds sown at some point in time that lay quietly germinating in your mind until the conditions were right for the manifestation. If it seems to happen when you're attempting to make some spiritual progress, then it might be that the whatever it is your doing to make this progress is bringing certain hidden aspects of you to light. You are to realize that you are the cause of all of it, and you must alter to your focus (: it takes practice :) towards things that please you instead of the opposite.

As for "being" good, are you sure you are "being" good or merely "acting" good?? Action is not clear evidence of being anything but your vibration and inner state is.

Let's think about this logically and ask yourself why things are not working out for you yet. If we really classify everything into 2 broad umbrellas, there's really only 2 reasons why this is the case:

1) You are doing it the things required the wrong way

2) The Law of Attraction does not work at all and is just a scam.

For (1), people may claim that all you need to do is to feel happy all the time and good things will come your way. But I believe you have found out that it isn't as simple as it sounds. Particularly because it is sort of like learning how to ride a bike or learning how to swim, you just can't learn it by reading a book or reading articles on the Web. It isn't hard to see why it may need some time for you to change into a more positive mindset if you have been conditioned to think a particular way for 20 years. Just a few weeks won't cut it.

As for (2), I'm not sure how long you have been into metaphysical stuff like the LOA but I see that you have only joined in August this year. I have been here and learned about the Law of Attraction since 2009 and am still finding my way around it, and I believe there are a lot of people like me here too. At the start, I had periods of disbeliefs and thought the LOA was just a piece of ****, but every time I just kept coming back to it and things started to become clearer and clearer each time. I started to accept many of the ideas and opinions regarding it which I would have rejected immediately few years ago. I just feel that life has too much coincidences to be considered them as "lucky". I don't think I'm nowhere near the level of a successful manifester yet, but when I started to be more aware of my vibrational matches (and things that happen) around me, I just find them too creepy and eerie sometimes to be considered as just something that happens by luck.

I believe that you're like most people on this site and like me, and you do not think that LOA is not true, which only leaves (1) - you just need to work on that and try to find a way to do it. Or it just means that you do not understand the law well enough yet, which also means you would have to work harder at it.

Also, what exactly is "good", "being punished", and "rewards" as you have stated in your question? They're all relative actually and it's about in which perspective you are looking at them. A homeless guy may feel that just having a meal to eat is "good" to them at that particular point in time but someone who is well off would not think that is "good". You may feel that the things you are experiencing in life is "being punished" but to another person, he may enjoy this experience because it helps him to know very well what he do not want in the future, and how that particular feeling is like. If you have never experienced pain before, would you even think of avoiding pain in the future? That is something to think about.

Reading your question, two things pop to my mind. One is momentum and second is reaction to circumstances. Both are having their way with you I think. More focus gives more momentum to whatever you are contemplating. When you first start the deliberately creating you reality, you will come across momentum many times. New things need to gain some momentum, while older believes already have this momentum. This makes it seem that you are punished for negative thoughts, while the rewards of good feeling thoughts stay away. Please keep in mind, that every change you make in your thoughts are followed by emotions. These emotions are your first signs of change in the desired direction. And for now that has to be enough. Putting stress on any outcome or comparing outcomes and then defining them as good or bad, is putting your focus in opposite direction. Just leave it at momentum. This takes me to the second part of my answer to you. Do not let outside circumstances determine your feelings. You say "something happens". Every moments things are happening, but if you let your emotions be determined by the things you observe, you are not in control of your creating emotions. Make your emotions your number one priority, wether circumstances are good or bad. More positive feelings, create more momentum in the desired direction. It does not take years to nutralize negative feelings. It does not need to be neutralized. Your alignment just is or isn't in that moment and you control this fact. Beliefs have more momentum and if you keep up your old beliefs, you will see the effect of that. Just trust your emotions and be happy about every change you make in holding your emotions high in every circumstance. That's how you gain power and soon manifestations will proof your new beliefs. Keep up the good work!

I feel what you are saying. After some bad stuff as in your case, I've been reconsidering and rethinking all the LOA and reality creation stuff and I got to the conclusion that, MAYBE, things in the universe and the way that existence (and our relation with it) works goes far beyond the understanding provided by the LOA and related stuff. Maybe there are just to many variables and exceptions in the universe to reduce it to "like attracts like", but hey, that's just me.

I've been too in a place of good vibe and then getting bad stuff happening; then I'd rationalize the typical thing "Could it be a negative vibe I had some moments ago?, maybe I'm paying for past life deeds? Could this be a lesson of the universe that I'm not seizing? Does this contradicts Bashar teaching and Abraham's? What about what X author and Y author said? That's doesn't fit in!" and so on and son..

I hope I don't sound negative, what really is working for me is pulling real old good physical Action to get changes done. My faith have been dwindling a little bit on this stuff and I'm tending more and more to thinking in a rational, hard-evidence based objective way. What I really reccomend you is to get actions done, give the LOA stuff a rest for a while, then go back to it to see what works better.

disproportionate when
judged analytically
has inherent flaws, often
lacking actual knowledge

yet we see it to be there

Do you want the truth?

Are you really good?

or do you think that you are Really good?

If you would be really good you would not make iniquity for your self or other you would be aware and have knowledge about where does the wrong come from and for what? and if it is from your choice or someone else?

none are perfect in this world and most people seek to be better then other on the outside not on the inside. they should seek to be better for them self first on the inside then on the outside if it is possible. you see many take darkness for light and light for darkness. there is wolf in sheep clothing and sheep in wolf clothing.

Do not judge and do not do what you hate being done to your self. and have mercy on other as they should have mercy on you.

There is light in a person of light and it shines on the whole world if not it is dark.

As for those dowers of iniquity.

will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

you have a life time in this world to perfect your self use the time imparted to you wisely.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Even if you make your self feel good each day and try to be positive many I tell you are in darkness on the wide gate of destruction. as you affect other also they affect you. but if you do to them the same thing that you do not like being done to you, can you say that you are good? if you cannot have mercy can you say that you are good?

it takes more then 40 day to solve your division and overcome until the two become one and go above to the place where there is no darkness at all. Is that not a reward enough? to make your heart pure and go above and see God the light that established it self by it self in the beginning.

Again I tell you blessed are the pure of heart they will see God.

Let there be light be the light that you can be experience and enjoy.

I think this is a good question and I am learning just as you are, my take on this is that we have to also consider our karma, past lives, and what we are meant to learn in this lifetime. Also it could be a lesson in doing good without expecting anything in return only then can you understand and reap the benefits. Understanding whats in your heart, and being strong enough o hold on and withstand the pain in order to get to the promises meant for you.

It is so frustrating, isn't it? The truth is, in this physical world none of us are perfect and we all make mistakes. From time to time, negative emotions will get the best of us, false belief systems will prevail, and we will turn our attention to contrast until it consumes us on every inch of our being. And this happens so naturally because from the day that we are born we go through life thinking that circumstances are out of our control. And when bad things happen, it is up to us to fix it. And we think that the only way to fix it, is too focus on it, worry about it, try to contemplate a solution to the problem.

It has only been a few months that I have really started learning about LOA. And for me, this was one of the hardest things to accept; that negative things that happen in my life are due to something that I am thinking. At first, I would also obsess over this and try to pin point what thought or what belief system was causing the negative circumstance. And although I do believe that it is beneficial to see the correlation between what you are thinking and what your reality is reflecting, it can also at times drive you crazy, and intensify the situation.

No matter how positive you try to be and no matter how much time you spend in the vortex, bad things are going to pop up. But the most important thing is not the reason why they are there, but more importantly, is your reaction to them. For me, I try my best to not focus on the situation or even just ignore that it is even happening. And everytime my mind wanders and starts to worry or starts to try and "figure out a solution" I catch myself and just say to myself, "Everything will work itself out perfectly."

I find that when I do this, either one of two things happens everytime.

1. The problem completely disappears. No matter how big or how small, as soon as I am calm and realign myself, circumstances change and it is as if the whole thing never happened.

2. All things work together for good. Yes, something bad just happened, but the end result was something amazing, and the only way to get this "amazing thing" was by this "bad thing" happening first.

I find that not only is it much more rewarding, but I see much more evidence on exactly how the LOA works by just ignoring the problem and then watching it disappear before my eyes. Rather than focusing on the problem just so that I can find out what thought caused it.