I watched "The Secret" a few days ago. If you are not familiar with it... "Envisioning What You Want Will Help You Attract It." In a nutshell, if you think it, want it, and feel it, it can be yours -- whether it's health and healing of disease, more stuff like cars and boats and homes, or perhaps even the Presidency of a large democratic country. It seems The Secret has been known by every major player in the who's who of human history. Plato, Socrates, Copernicus, Galileo and even Jesus, knew The Secret. I guess that's how Jesus may have attracted his 12 disciples and crucifixion. From my perspective, that's The Secret going sour.
At any rate, I watched it as the secret of attracting wealth was explained. I did notice that all those telling me just how to tap into the quantum field of attraction seemed already to be quite wealthy and have lots of stuff. They did throw in one housewife on the video, but they did not say what she had attracted. The others were PhD's, Surgeons, Doctors and any number of already existing successful lives, in the material and intellectual sense. I doubt they used The Secret way back before they had reached this success, but rather just did the hard work of going to school and taking it seriously. I think it's easier to attract more wealth when you already have plenty to begin with. Personally, I think Opray might be past the point of needing to attract more of what she might want or need in life. I might be wrong.
The section on attracting wealth seemed crass to me and I realized that attracting more stuff doesn't really do it for me. Others just know that's the secret to their happiness, if only it could happen. I know lots of people who have lots of stuff and they don't seem all that thrilled anymore. That's an old trap in life. All one need do is track the foolish spending of those that win the lottery over a couple years and see what money and stuff, in the hands of those who have no clue about the responsibility of having resources to deal with, can do. I am sure there are responsible lottery winners, but more stuff is definitely not the way to go for the irresponsible. Actually more stuff as the road to happiness is a dead end for all humans and if every human on the planet had lots of stuff, well...the planet would collapse under all the stuff. People need security and their daily bread, but over much does not seem to make us "happy," as if "happy" was what it was all about. "Happy" is darn relative. It certainly is not a goal that one need have to find an inner peace and personal meaning in life. Stuff actually clouds the issue and is a good example of the "little me" of Ego run amuck in fantasy and delusion. It's like "winning" in Iraq. It depends on what "winning" is, and who "wins."
Of course, we'd all like to attract good health. I think The Secret of that is not so much mantra's of self talk about health, though if I was sick, I would make every effort to adopt the idea that my body was having a challenge with an illness, but I, the real me inside, was just fine. The mind can certainly play a major part in whether the body gets the message to heal or drop dead. On the other hand, it might also work to practice the Law of Non-Attraction with regards to good health. Like not attracting twinkies and coke, burgers and fries on a daily basis as if that's how your body was meant to function. It might entail the non-attraction of cigarettes or walking around everywhere one goes with 32 oz's of pure crap in a cup to stress the body. Did you ever notice that those attracted to diet drinks are usually overweight? I still say washing down a triple decker burger and large fries with a Diet Coke is rather meaningless. Personally I think the Secret of Good Health is education and keeping your mouth shut. Don't complain about your knees if you are 200 lbs overweight. Don't complain about the cough and spit if you smoke two packs a day. Don't complain about the results you get if you think that sugar, caffeine, alcohol and sugar are the four major food groups and you must consume lots of each every day....You'll experience the law of attraction alright and it won't be pleasant.
Having a positive attitude does go a long way in a life. Whether or not that's the big secret of the ages, I don't know. I certainly would think that an inner voice that reminds "me" I can do this, or that I am a worthwhile human being just as all others are, is far better than repeating "I'm stupid," or "I'm a loser," or "I can't do it." I do believe we are what we think we are and it does have an effect on the body and our personal success. Seems more like a no brainer to me than a big secret.
I had an experience with a kind of "Secret" once that may serve as a cautionary tale when it comes to claiming to know just how to make life work and get what you want...more stuff, better health, security, protection from harm and all the things that anyone in their right mind would want.
A minister friend of mine was giving a sermon to several thousand people and went on and on about how God had intervened and surely saved the child of a good Christian family from death. He went on to explain the dramatic circumstances, the danger, the fact that nothing could have saved this child but God's Angel's in heaven. He equated this miraculous intervention with the fact that when you obey God, good things happen and quoted the appropriate scriptures to prove his point. I don't personally find that quoting stories of old that I am not sure really happened, or not, to be all that inspiring in the real world. But that is just me now. At any rate, his presentation was very dramatic and he backed it up with plenty of Bible talk. The problem was that I knew several "good Christian families" in that audience who had lost their children in ways that would keep you awake the rest of your life in grief. No Angelic interventions. No dramatic saves. No blessings that day even though there was no difference in the "goodness" or sincerity of the grieving families from that of the family that had a near miss. And I knew that had I been one of them, I probably would have gotten up and left the meeting. I went to the ones I knew and tried to encourage them, but the damage of doubt and guilt had been done. Simply put, it is not fair to equate the success of one with doing the true right things to achieve it. Many humans do all the "right" things and still have challenges that are seemingly inexplicable, unresolved and painful. Earth School is like that.
Perhaps a better secret is that we are all here to learn as individuals what we, as an individual, need to learn. Can we better ourselves? Sure. Can we work hard for more stuff? Sure, if you think stuff is the key to happiness. Can we attract the perfect partner? Sure, or not depending on what one is looking for what one thinks is "perfect." I know many beautiful people who can't stand each other.
The Secret has many good points. God knows we need people on the planet who don't wallow around in self pity, negativism, anger, guilt, shame and fear. Whoever does that is bound to have a less than pleasing life and attract more of the same. I doubt that is such a big secret to most. But if you take any ten people and have them all practice the very same attitudes and perspectives on how life works better, you still get ten different results. What I might need to experience to grow and learn and be "successful" might be very different than what you might need to experience to grow and learn to find your "success." But I can guarantee you that finding THE way to attract more stuff, more money, more power, more prestige, more people and a bigger title can often prove more stressful and disillusioning, than some would have you believe. Maybe that's an even bigger secret...