People Misunderstand the Secret

I read the book, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne before watching the video. The book's premise reminded me of You’ll See It When You Believe It by Wayne Dyer. In my opinion, both of the books are misunderstood by many.

I often wonder if the critics have read the books. I can understand how you might not be able to open your mind if you're a diehard pragmatic. I’ve seen the adversaries on TV criticizing it as voodoo magic or magical thinking. I have a much different interpretation of the message.

For those of you, who have never read the book or seen the video, it’s about getting what you want through visualization and positive thinking. It’s about the law of attraction. If you spend your time thinking the worst is going to happen, it most likely will. If you spend your time thinking positive thoughts, positive things will come your way.

I watched The Secret again last night on Netflix in preparation for writing this article. I must admit the over-dramatization of the video is amusing. I found myself laughing at the introduction. It also glorifies consumerism which I find disgusting.

One scene shows a young woman longing for a beautiful necklace in a store window. After visualizing and coveting the object, her boyfriend presents her with the exact necklace. In another scene, a boy is looking at a shiny bicycle in a magazine. After practicing visualization, his grandfather presents him with a bike.

Oprah Winfrey promoted the book on her show. She had the author and all the stars of the video as guests. Oprah said she didn’t know it was a secret. I've been doing it all my life. You see where it got her.

We all know that Oprah didn’t get where she is by sitting on her sofa visualizing all of her accomplishments and wealth. She got it through hard work and determination.

Let’s look at the opposite of the law of attraction: Negativity and repulsion. I grew up in the most negative home imaginable. My negative, depressed mother thought the worst of people. She loved to read the Bible and pick out every negative verse as her motto. Her favorite was God put us on this earth to suffer, and suffer she did.

As you can imagine, I grew up with her attitude. Carrying such a negative attitude affected not only my life but the lives of others. I had to work for years on myself to undo the damage that my mother had done. I did this by reading a lot of self-help books, seeing a therapist, and anti-depressants.

The therapist was the least helpful of all. I got far more from the self-help books and anti-depressants which I take to this day.

When I was in university, I sat staring at a blue book during an exam with I’m going to fail, this is going to be a disaster spinning in my head. I would have terrible pain in the back of my neck. I did my best to talk myself into failure.

That all changed when I read The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. It was a turning point in my life. After reading that book, I realized I was sabotaging myself and worrying about things that might never happen as well as talking myself into failure.

Getting back to The Secret, my interpretation of the message is not to sit on the sofa wishing and imagining getting what you want. It’s thinking positively and visualizing a goal while you work toward it. It’s a tool. I in no way think it’s a guarantee in life, but it does up your odds of succeeding. That is the message Rhonda Byrne was promoting, not all the hype in the video.

In an interview, Wayne Dyer, the author of many books bearing the same message, was asked: What do you say to all the people who claim it’s a bunch of baloney. I loved his reply. They’re probably right. If all you expect in life is a bunch of baloney, that’s probably what you’re going to get.

The Secret has worked for me many times in life. It's not as esoteric as one might think. I think if the pragmatics opened their minds and thought about it, they would realize it has happened to them, also.

Do I think that I can visualize winning the lottery and make it happen? No. Several years ago my mother asked me to buy a lottery ticket as I left for the store. She then added I'm not going to win. I never win anything. I told her I wouldn't buy her one because she jinxed it.

Do I believe that visualization can guarantee that I win the lottery? No. Do I believe that I might win the lottery through visualization. Yes. I can say that thinking like my mother guarantees that I won't win for sure.

My message to all writers is this, work hard and visualize success. It certainly isn't going to hurt, and you'll be a lot happier for it.