The Secret

Yesterday, I found a DVD copy of The Secret. This was an immensely popular book so I had put off reading it. I reserve my greatest scrutiny for what is popular. While viewing the film, my critical eye was not disappointed. The librarian who checked me out, commented positively about the film. I was anxious to discover for myself. Today, during my Just 10 walk, it was all I could think about.

Believing that our thoughts contribute to our reality is not hard for me to grasp. But, to imply that by focusing on what I want in a tangible, physical world, I will attract it to myself, worries me greatly. The film gave the example of a little boy who wanted a particular bicycle. He looked at the picture of this bicycle every chance he could and focused on having it. He was surprised by receiving the bicycle as a gift from a relative. The film uses this example as a manifestation of the "law of attraction." If a child really wants something and is looking at the picture and talking about it all the time, wouldn't the people around him know that? Wouldn't they be apt to give him what he wants as a present? Did his wanting it manifest the bicycle or did it just alert those around him as to what would please him?

I stopped the film after this. I didn't need to see anything more. Of course all the speakers in the film shared this perspective. They wouldn't have been in the film if they did not. Many of them were authors of self help books or inspirational speakers. These authors/speakers seemed to have figured out that if you make the purchaser of your books or ideas solely responsible for successfully applying your principles, you absolve yourself from all responsibility. If the reader fails to manifest or attract the desired object or state, they have only themselves to blame. The speakers use their own examples of material success as proof. Isn't their material success directly related to others accepting and buying their ideas? Don't the masses of the seekers of wisdom and assistance, pay for their swimming pools and exotic vacations? Isn't their more to life than the acquisition of wealth and material goods?

Marketing a book and idea as "The Secret" was a smart business decision. I reserve the right to question its wisdom. Is that idea really helping people? I truly believe that our thoughts affect our perception. Thoughts are in control of the aperture of our inner camera or inner eye. If I approach the world with largely negative thoughts than that is how I'll perceive the things that happen to me. If I perceive everything that happens to me as an opportunity to learn and to grow, than that will become my personal reality. We can choose to utilize the benefits of cognitive therapies. We can adhere to the idea of a Jungian collective unconscious. The world is big enough for both ideas. Yet, when I accept that if I focus on wealth or a desired possession long enough it will appear in my life, my inner alarm system goes off. To my way of thinking we've entered the realm of magical thinking, a land where Santa, leprechauns and tooth fairies roam wild and free.

The Secret does provide some insight and inspiration but it fails to consider the many variables that can affect outcome in life. Life has had a funny way of giving me something very different from what I desired. I often cursed the darkness and felt cheated only to discover much later in my journey that what I received was actually a gift, an opportunity to grow into a better person. If I had gotten what I wanted my life would be very different. I may have wealth and recognition but I wouldn't be the person I am at this moment. Poor, overweight and with a less than bright future, I still wouldn't change the events along my journey for the world. I like the person my life has made.

There have been many times when my view of past events was less than positive. This was the type of self-destructive thinking that poses the greatest danger. I truly believe that there are many things in life, in my life beyond my control. This doesn't have to be a bad thing. It certainly means I'm not the center of the universe. Bad things, failures, disappointment aren't personal failures in thinking. Their reality often stinks. I don't have to like them but they do provide an opportunity for growth that success can not. It is my failures that keep me humble, keep me anchored firmly in the world, keep me reaching for the next.

If there is a secret to life than maybe is that life is full things that we don't understand completely. It's not all up to us or to the power of focused thought. We shape the quality of our lives by how we perceive it. We do attract much of what happens to us by our perceptions, yet, much remains beyond our control. We are not ultimately in charge of how our journey plays out. Everything can point us to a better self, a greater love. Life is an amazing adventure. I'm not leading the trip. The trip is leading me.