The Secret
Feb. 9th, 2007 01:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lululuvsolToday on Oprah they did a whole show on the book/DVD called "The Secret". I think this title makes it all sound more grand than it really is, but perhaps that is what people need.
I knew nothing about The Secret, but I kept receiving e-mail announcements from Beyond Words Publishing because I had bought something from them before, and they kept sending these "The Secret on Oprah!" reminders. First off, Beyond Words Publishing is who made the movie What The Bleep Do We Know? If you have seen this movie or are at least familiar with it you will know the premise is about God, science, and spirituality and how our mind is very powerful and we can create things with human thought alone. Fast forward to The Secret....The Secret is just a less-science version of this. It's a more practical, self-helpy style way of looking at it. It dropped the "fascinating" factor by a lot, but it brought in a more practical and spiritual approach which is interesting. This approach DID make me able to apply the principle to my own life more readily.
So...what's the secret? Simply put, they call it "the law of attraction". This is not the sex appeal attraction, but that thought has attractive qualities. That is, we draw in thoughts mentally and thereby change our lives mentally. This all sounds so hokey. Basically, if you think negatively you bring negative things upon yourself, and if you think positively, good things happen to you. The less attention we give to the bad things in life, the less ability they have to expand. Be grateful for what we have in the here and now that is good and set goals and have aspirations for the future. Let go of the past, forgive those who have hurt you, drop them from your mind because you are unable to hold all the good things life has to offer while your hands are filled with past negativity. And you must believe you deserve to be happy and deserve better things. You must see the good in yourself. It doesn't mean that all you have to do is lay back and dream good into existence, you still need to take action, but unless you believe your actions will help you reach your goal, then they won't be as fruitful.
I believe all this, at least in part. I still believe that even when you don't expect bad things and you're thinking positively that sometimes it's thrown at you, and sometimes you can do nothing good and something good can still find you. But for the most part I think this theory is true and works. They said there are scientific studies done that show this to be true, I know of none of these, but I would believe them in at least some scenarios. But it got me thinking about some things I believe and things that sometimes annoy me about other people. It's less of a goal thing than an attitude thing though. If you are constantly thinking the world is out to get you then, in a way, you're focusing on that bad stuff and letting it have more power over you than the good. And if nothing is ever good enough for you and things always seem to be going wrong for you...the one factor that remains the same in all those situations is you, maybe you need to have different expectations or to give a little of what you wish to receive. On the show they used the phrase "you're placing an order"...so every time you say "I will never have a stable relationship" or "my family is always chaotic and dramatic", you are placing an order for those things to come true and to always be true as long as you keep thinking that that is all it will ever be. Do you look in the mirror and only notice what you dislike? Do you always think you can do better or that you never have or are enough? Isn't that saying there is something wrong with what there already is or what you are right now? Positive thinking and gratefulness are in short supply. Do you have positive things to say every day? Do you take more note of the compliments you receive than the criticisms?
I am trying to live like this, and I think I've been successful in many accounts. I have had a compliments journal for a few years now so that every time someone says something to me that makes me feel honored, I make note of it so that it gets the attention it deserves and I can remember the good things. I have grown to be pretty content with myself. I look in the mirror and though I see the flaws I try not to judge them, I am who I am and I think I am a pretty decent human being worthy of love and respect. I look in the mirror and simply see "Anne", the flaws are just part of the whole. I've had some broken hearts and bad blood with people, but for the most part I think I've been able to forgive and move on. On the show they said the sign of truly forgiving someone is by feeling you can actually say "thank you for that experience, I have grown and learned from it and became who I am today because of it"...and I definitely feel like I have as far as the broken hearts go. I have a long way to go in a lot of other respects, but I am very grateful for what I have and I hope that my life continues to have as much luck as it has until now. There's enough goodness and light in the world for everyone and everyone is entitled to their share. It's all very hokey and it being called "The Secret" makes it even more so to me. What it comes down to, though, I think is simply that you have to view life differently. If you think positively then you will look upon what life gives you in a different light. Maybe it would be no different than had you thought that worst, but your perspective is different, and really, that can make all the difference it seems.
It's something to think about.
I knew nothing about The Secret, but I kept receiving e-mail announcements from Beyond Words Publishing because I had bought something from them before, and they kept sending these "The Secret on Oprah!" reminders. First off, Beyond Words Publishing is who made the movie What The Bleep Do We Know? If you have seen this movie or are at least familiar with it you will know the premise is about God, science, and spirituality and how our mind is very powerful and we can create things with human thought alone. Fast forward to The Secret....The Secret is just a less-science version of this. It's a more practical, self-helpy style way of looking at it. It dropped the "fascinating" factor by a lot, but it brought in a more practical and spiritual approach which is interesting. This approach DID make me able to apply the principle to my own life more readily.
So...what's the secret? Simply put, they call it "the law of attraction". This is not the sex appeal attraction, but that thought has attractive qualities. That is, we draw in thoughts mentally and thereby change our lives mentally. This all sounds so hokey. Basically, if you think negatively you bring negative things upon yourself, and if you think positively, good things happen to you. The less attention we give to the bad things in life, the less ability they have to expand. Be grateful for what we have in the here and now that is good and set goals and have aspirations for the future. Let go of the past, forgive those who have hurt you, drop them from your mind because you are unable to hold all the good things life has to offer while your hands are filled with past negativity. And you must believe you deserve to be happy and deserve better things. You must see the good in yourself. It doesn't mean that all you have to do is lay back and dream good into existence, you still need to take action, but unless you believe your actions will help you reach your goal, then they won't be as fruitful.
I believe all this, at least in part. I still believe that even when you don't expect bad things and you're thinking positively that sometimes it's thrown at you, and sometimes you can do nothing good and something good can still find you. But for the most part I think this theory is true and works. They said there are scientific studies done that show this to be true, I know of none of these, but I would believe them in at least some scenarios. But it got me thinking about some things I believe and things that sometimes annoy me about other people. It's less of a goal thing than an attitude thing though. If you are constantly thinking the world is out to get you then, in a way, you're focusing on that bad stuff and letting it have more power over you than the good. And if nothing is ever good enough for you and things always seem to be going wrong for you...the one factor that remains the same in all those situations is you, maybe you need to have different expectations or to give a little of what you wish to receive. On the show they used the phrase "you're placing an order"...so every time you say "I will never have a stable relationship" or "my family is always chaotic and dramatic", you are placing an order for those things to come true and to always be true as long as you keep thinking that that is all it will ever be. Do you look in the mirror and only notice what you dislike? Do you always think you can do better or that you never have or are enough? Isn't that saying there is something wrong with what there already is or what you are right now? Positive thinking and gratefulness are in short supply. Do you have positive things to say every day? Do you take more note of the compliments you receive than the criticisms?
I am trying to live like this, and I think I've been successful in many accounts. I have had a compliments journal for a few years now so that every time someone says something to me that makes me feel honored, I make note of it so that it gets the attention it deserves and I can remember the good things. I have grown to be pretty content with myself. I look in the mirror and though I see the flaws I try not to judge them, I am who I am and I think I am a pretty decent human being worthy of love and respect. I look in the mirror and simply see "Anne", the flaws are just part of the whole. I've had some broken hearts and bad blood with people, but for the most part I think I've been able to forgive and move on. On the show they said the sign of truly forgiving someone is by feeling you can actually say "thank you for that experience, I have grown and learned from it and became who I am today because of it"...and I definitely feel like I have as far as the broken hearts go. I have a long way to go in a lot of other respects, but I am very grateful for what I have and I hope that my life continues to have as much luck as it has until now. There's enough goodness and light in the world for everyone and everyone is entitled to their share. It's all very hokey and it being called "The Secret" makes it even more so to me. What it comes down to, though, I think is simply that you have to view life differently. If you think positively then you will look upon what life gives you in a different light. Maybe it would be no different than had you thought that worst, but your perspective is different, and really, that can make all the difference it seems.
It's something to think about.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-02-10 01:39 pm (UTC)AAAHHHHHH!
no subject
Date: 2007-02-10 07:04 pm (UTC)Basically, if you get Oprah to approve of a book, it will be sold like that *snaps fingers*
Oh and as a comment about "the secret" i have always been told by my parents, is to have a positive attitude, because when you have a negative one, your condemning yourself with failure.
I agree partly to this statement.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-10 10:36 pm (UTC)