You call THAT a SECRET?
May 2007 | Filed under Universal Laws
The camera zoomed in on the Cowardly Lion as he despairingly sobbed into his clenched tail, unconvincingly chanting to himself, “I do believe! I do believe! I do! I do! I do!”
That was my first thought while viewing the current popular New Age video (which is now, thanks to Oprah, also a best-selling book), “The Secret.” My second thought was, “What the BLEEP is so ’secret’ about “The Secret?”
In the “Wizard of Oz,” the ruse wasn’t that there was no Wizard, but rather that the Wizard just wasn’t as powerful and fearsome as he led everyone to believe. In “The Secret,” the ruse is… there is no powerful and mysterious secret, as the author leads you to believe. The concepts of positive thinking, and the Law of Attraction (like attracts like) has never been intentionally withheld from general knowledge, or only known by the elite. Countless numbers of books, dating back thousands of years, have been written, and rewritten, about this subject matter.
The author (and cast members) of “The Secret” advocates throughout the video that we are limited only by our thoughts and beliefs about reality. To some degree, that’s true. We are, after all, mind-directed creatures and tend to act on the basis of our beliefs. Most people come to their beliefs for a variety of reasons having little to do with empirical evidence and logical reasoning. However, in my humble opinion, what’s inherently wrong with “The Secret” is that only one viewpoint is being presented, and it’s being presented to the reader as if it was some newly discovered Universal Truth guaranteed to set you free… and make you rich in the process!
The New Age viewpoint presented in “The Secret” is that EVERYTHING that happens to us is because, on some level, we wanted it to happen… we even ASKED for it to happen. If we’re not abundantly wealthy, or we have problems in our relationships, or health, or sent off to fight in a war we may not believe in, or even experience a tragedy such as the recent events at VA Tech — regardless of the situation — it’s absolutely a reflection or our own negative thoughts and beliefs. On the other hand, we can have unlimited wealth, perfect health, perfect relationships, perfect careers, and world peace, if only we change our thinking accordingly. The premise is; Change your thinking and you can have whatever you want, and as much as you want. But I don’t recall anyone mentioning how you need to change your core beliefs — beliefs that are deep-seated and remain constant over time — before can you begin to change your thinking.
While I agree that the power of positive thinking can, and will, help to create abundance in our lives, I also believe that simply thinking/believing that we can have “it all” doesn’t necessarily equate to getting “it all.” It takes more than a thought. It also takes belief, effort, skills, and abilities. And courage. Even the Cowardly Lion had to face his fears and put up a good fight in order to succeed. As I have often said, thoughts are energy and action is energy at work. Do something every day towards achieving your dreams — because action is the key.
As for the Law of Attraction itself, I’ve seen skeptics become enraged at the notion that such a phenomenon exists, while those who believe are equally adamant about its existence. For those who believe no explanation is necessary, and for those who don’t, no explanation will suffice. So why does the Law of Attraction work for some of the people some of the time? An explanation I tend to concur with is that events we judge as more likely to occur, or that subjectively seems more real, are the ones more easily brought to mind, recalled, envisioned or imagined, than those not so easily brought to mind.
Panacea or not, there is much to be said for the power of positive thinking, and how it can change your life for the better. Positive thoughts allow us to be more open to ideas, possibilities and opportunities that come our way.
However, we’re not just a mind. We’re also physical and spiritual beings. To focus on one aspect of Self will surely create inner conflict, or create problems in other areas. So, while you’re manifesting the changes you want to bring about in your physical world, be mindful of your inner (spiritual) needs as well. We can only experience true abundance (however you may define that) when we acknowledge and embrace all aspects of who we are — spiritual, mental/emotional, and physical.
Find, and know, your heart’s desires, as it is our true desires that guide us along our path in life. Once you find what it is that you feel most passionate about, and you can imagine it in great detail while feeling positive emotions like love, passion, courage and faith, you can do, have, and create, the seemingly impossible. Remember, that placebo Badge of Courage the Wizard gave to the Lion worked wonders for convincing him that his courageous nature had returned.
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