Thursday, March 15, 2007

Utilizing The Secret

I’m about halfway through The Secret, and I don’t even know where to begin in describing the concept and how I think it could change my way of thinking and life. The author has a way of taking various concepts that most readers are familiar with and offering a new spin on it, or just wording it where it all comes together. It’s a powerfully awesome way to look at life.

They do repeatedly use the Universe as the giver of all you desire, which I can see would be difficult for a Christian, God believer, or other higher power believer to stomach. I look at it this way, God created the Universe, so what if He put this law of attraction into motion as a way of answering the call of people? I don’t want anyone to think that I would put the Universe above God, but I can see how you would take the ideas in the book to apply them to your life.

Also, even though there is a section on wealth, and how one should envision themselves with money in order to obtain it, I don’t think the main theme of the book is materialism. I think that money is tangible, so it is easy to use as an example. Instead, I think the main objective is living the best life you can. I don’t think it is selfish to want to live the best life you can. I think God wants you to live the best life you can. Don’t you want that for your children?

Further, there is a section of the book which concentrates on gratitude. One participant of the movie and book, James Ray, stated that he said “Thank you” every morning before getting out of bed. Then he would continue to say thank you as he was getting ready, so that he started his day with an “attitude of gratitude.” Personally, if I were to implement this aspect, my thanks would be to God, rather than the Universal energy, but either way, what a great way to start your day! Being grateful for all you already have.

It’s funny, I was just reading along thinking, ok, this is interested, but it didn’t really ring true till I read this excerpt by David Schirmer:

People are amazed at how I line up parking spaces. I’ve done this right from when I first understood the Secret. I would visualize a parking space exactly where I wanted it, and 95 percent of the time it would be there for me and I would just pull straight in. Five percent of the time I’d have to wait a minute or two, and the personal would pull out and I would pull in. I do that all the time.

As weird as this may sound, or as insignificant, Larry is this person. Nine times out of ten, Larry gets an excellent parking space. It happens so regularly, that we expect it to happen. We will go to one of the busiest malls in the US (Sawgrass Mills Mall) and he will drive straight to the front, and you know what he pretty much always gets a spot within the first couple of rows. Apparently, we were working the Law of Attraction without even knowing it.

I was talking to my friend this morning who turned me on to the book and she was saying how looking back on her life, she can see it at work now that she knows the signs. For example, how many times do you say, “If I can just make it to payday”? And you know what, you just make it to payday. We both agreed that our families made too much money to just make it to the next payday. We’ve been saying this for years, no matter our salary.

Whether it’s the “Universe” giving it to us, or just a change of thinking propelling us forward, I think there’s some merit in taking the ideas and practicing them in your life. If nothing else, positive people attract positive aspects of life.

I have to run now, but I’m interested in your thoughts.

Before I leave though, I’ll share my major visualization for now. As of this morning, I am 153 pounds. I am going to continue to work out, because I am really enjoying Curves, but I am not going to stress about weighing in every morning, or my weight. I’m going to visualize myself at 140 pounds, and in a month, I’m going to weigh in and see where I am. Here we go. :)

8 comments:

Julie Q. said...

I'm glad to hear more from you about this book. I like the gratitude approach especially. It's a tricky thing trying to balance being grateful for what you already have and "putting it out there" that you want more as well. But I agree, it isn't selfish to want happiness. That's why we're here after all.

I'll have to implement the Secret/Larry parking lot strategy too. I don't miss my broken foot, but I do miss my lovely handicapped parking pass.

Anonymous said...

I started looking at things that way when I truly made up my mind that I wanted to "walk the christian walk, not just talk the talk". It works the same way. God has blessed me greatly through the years when I did not even realize it and He continues to send these blessings every day. You just have to look for them. Thanks for stirring me up a little.

Dixie said...

I've always been a big believer of getting what you give. If you put out good energy and positive thoughts you get good and positive results.

I;m with Julie, nothing wrong with wanting happiness. What good would life be with out it?

Chelle said...

I like the theory of developing an "attitude of gratitude" very much. I try to do this everyday, already. Hope the imaging works well for you!

Nanette said...

Hi Mom of Two,
I really enjoy reading your entries. I hope you don't mind, but I've tagged you for a musical meme. Enjoy!

carrie said...

I just realized you have a blog, too. I have been working on losing weight, also. I hope you do well.

Your thoughts are really valid and thought provoking. As a special education teacher, I always thought the best when it came to my students. I never read what other teachers said in regards to behavior until I had tought them myself for 2 months (of course some things I had to read by law before then). Then I went back and read it. I had no predetermined feelings about how they would act. It was amazing. Quite often, the student I knew was nothing like what the files said. It really made a difference. I expected them to act in a certain way and had no reason to think differently.

I think the same is true spiritually. I expect God to take care of me. No, it will not always be in my time or method, but he is far more knowledgeable than I am. I know that if a major occurance happens, it will all shake out fine. Boy, that was/is a tough and constantly trying lesson to learn.

Anonymous said...

Interesting. I've been reading Wayne Dyer for years, and he basically said all of this before The Secret came out. You should read some of his books and tell me what you think of those, especially the one called The Power of Intention.

Mel said...

I've been doing a bit of reading on the Law of Attraction and trying to apply it to my life. I have The Secret dvd, and after just applying it to my life for a short time I saw CRAZY results.

God says we just have to ask for what we want and we'll receive it, and He calls us to have faith in him, 100%. That's pretty much what The Secret is. You have to have faith and believe and you have to ask. It works.

Give it a try and I think you'll see really cool things happen in your life. But you have to be consistent and sure of what you want. From experience, when I waiver, or I lose my positive focus and think negatively, things get off-track.