Yes, I have read The Secret. It is, as written in a comment in Beso Mami’s blog, a theological “abomination”. There is so much about it that is egregiously bad as to make it a Saturday Night Live skit. Yet, tucked away are actual truths, and that is the conundrum.
I have always been an avid reader of self-help books, and over the years have taken a lot of ribbing about it. My husband calls them Think Tall, Be Tall books. I learned to cull from them what I felt was important, and ignore goofier things.
Several years ago I read a book by a woman named Lynn Grabhorn called Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting. She wrote about people giving off positive and negative and energy. This is not new and most folks have been around people who give off positive energy and we call that quality charisma. Bill Clinton has it. Jackie Onassis had it. People who give off negative energy have toxic personalities. Scott Peck wrote in People of Lie that those are the people that give you the creeps, and he wisely suggested you stay from them. We have all experienced that. In Ms. Grabhorn’s book she extrapolated that positive and negative experience into drawing that energy to oneself, or The Secret’s secret The Law of Attraction, and this is where it got creepy. Ms.Grabhorn wrote of people drawing horrible accidents and diseases to themselves because of their negative thoughts, just as was stated in The Secret. I totally rejected that idea because I know that is not how life works. It just doesn’t. People get sick or have accidents for a variety of often unknown reasons but they don’t draw them to themselves magnetically. That is not how God’s grace works. God’s grace is freely given to anyone not just to “good” positive people.
Lynn Grabhorn died of cancer not too long after the publication of her book. Did she magnetically draw cancer to her? Of course, not. For reasons we cannot understand, she contracted cancer. Period.
Unfortunately, many of the people who read The Secret are not particularly sophisticated. It is horrifying that there are still people who naively believe that all things published (or in the newspaper, or on Fox News) are true. “But they couldn’t put it in a book if it wasn’t true, could they?” I expect that from my 6th graders. Sadly, many adults have not matured, and do not question or do any research on what they read or hear. Just think of the forwarded urban-legend emails you receive from supposedly educated people.
In The Secret author Rhonda Byrnes promotes thinking positive thoughts over negative ones. That is just common sense, and that is something that is good and worthwhile, but when wrapped in the hokey disguise of being a secret, it has an appeal. It is rather hard to believe that anyone would actually believe that thinking about a new BMW would make them a magnet for a new BMW, but then the Nigerian email scams have suckered in millions of dollars, too. The marketing of The Secret was pure genius. It is right up there with Pet Rocks.
The Secret advocates being generous. Absolutely worthwhile. The Secret advocates being kind to oneself. Also Biblical, in the Golden Rule. There are many, many truisms that are good and worthwhile, but it is like a gourmet meal which is sprinkled with s**t : not something one would find appetizing. It seems a lot of folks don’t recognize the s**t.
The danger, of course comes, when people start to believe that their positive thoughts make wishes come true, but I think time, that great leveler, will smooth things out. People who sit on their keesters and wish for things will find out that life doesn’t work that way. I do believe that thinking positively clears your vision so that one is open to what is good in life. I believe that if one looks for the good in other’s it is there, and as I teacher I work to nuture that quality. Even Anne Frank believed that most people are good, and I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that neither she, nor any other true victim in life, drew to her the horrible things that happened to her.
11 comments:
Hello!
Very good posting.
Thank you - Have a good day!!!
Thank you Professor Howdy. My readers are a small, but obviously, select group.
Trying to figure out why people fall for stuff like The Secret...I agree with much of what you said....isn't it a possibility that many people in their 20's and 30's don't realize that it takes hard work and thinking about someone other than themselves to achieve things in life? Not to mention, faith.....but that is my opinion. Found your blog....it was good to read. Definitely worth a revisit!
Neva, thank for your thoughtful words. I enjoyed your blog, too. Great mother-in-law story.
I have been a hack for 12 years, letting my mother in on the inside track on news stories, yet she
(usually highly intelligent) still believes things she reads in The Daily Mail...( not great UK tabloid)
I couldn't agree more with your post. I have read hundreds of such kind of book. The secret is totally marketing, everything inside are common senses as you said, nothing new, nothing secret. Fortunately, I previewed it before buying, so I just put it back at the shelves. I can say there are tons of books that are better than this. I just regret why so many people fall for this such a book. I used to read the book 'Excuse me.. you life is waiting' too. One thing I doubt is that why the Lynn's idea of the Law of Attraction is in here.. At first, I thought the author of the secret is Lynn Grabhorn. I don't think so many people use this idea. Finally, I would recommend anyone not to buy the stuff. I'm certain that there are far more things than that just 'secret' in order to manage and become successful in life.
I am often amazed how certain articles attract certain readers. It is obvious that not many who believe in the "secret" have posted here. It's a shame, because I do believe that responses should be more balanced, giving a chance for a defence because there is a lot of good in these books. I believe that the law of attraction works. I believe that our thinking and the way we focus and display passion does affect our life.
Most people are unfortunately very negative in their expectations ala "Excpect the worst so that you are always pleasantly surprised when something good happens".
I believe, in harmony with the bible, that we always should expect and believe the best. I am convinced, that the Good News is a positive message of love that draws people out of poverty and misery. Jesus himself said, that there are many more things he wanted to say but couldn't, because of the unbelief around him. And even the things he taught, like "Give and it shall be given to you" are still viewed with skeptisism today. So it is not surprising, that when people teach today, that your thinking and passion will affect your live, people will find ways to discredit it.
We rather like to see ourselves as victims, because it absolves us from our responsibilities. In God's eyes, this is evil. Unbelief is evil. Evil in the old hebrew sense of "of no use".
Now we have to understand here, that the advocates of the "law of attraction" do not believe, that people are guilty of attracting bad things towards them. Also do they not say, that by you believing only positive, that nothing bad can happen to you. They do believe, that there is also a collective element to it. Lynn mentioned this in her book when she was stuck in a traffic jam. The negativity of people around her also affected her so that she, too, was stuck in the traffic, and thinking or feeling positive would not cause this traffic jam to disappear at that moment just for her. However, she pointed out, that if we get sucked into thinking negative at this point, it will affect other things in our lives.
Any book that teaches us to take control over the way we think and feel is a blessing. Sure, there are always things that might not make much sense. Lynn's later books, from what I heard, seem to go into the bizarre. But it just shows, that she is human and that even with thinking positive and all that, we still have to guard ourselves against deceptions. Only thinking positive and feel good will not guarantee, that everything from now on is alright.
Lynn and others discovered something that was working in their lives. Her first book is an excellent read in my opinion because it explains in simple terms, how to take hold of the feelings that many people thought, they have no control over. She taught us, that we can be in charge of our live and our future. The only element she forgot, is to mention, that ultimately, God is in charge and that our control and creative powers always will be within the remit He has given us. Also, the writers of the "Secret" often seem to mix up universal principles with God. They somehow discovered principles that God put in place and thought, that these principles are God Himself (as a form of power or energy).
Thinking they "know" they actually don't yet know, how to know. And yet, what they discovered is fantastic and wonderful. Not that it is new, but they discovered it in a way that it makes it more accessible for a wider range of people. The law of attraction has always been with us and many attempts in the past have been done to describe it. It works as it is part of how God originally intended the Garden of Eden to work. It has been described in many ways and in our culture is mostly known as the "Kingdom of God". As Jesus said, the Kingdom is within or amongst us. They are the principles of love, that as we walk in them, the world around us becomes a better place.
I'm just about to write about good vibrations associated with making a photograph, on my own Blog. I was going to quote Lynn Grabhorn because even though she may be writing rubbish - she writes it very well.
I just read her book your life is waiting and I found it to be an insperation as far as like atracks like. Have you ever noticed that homeless people hang out with homeless people and drug users hang out with drug users, and the rich hang out with the rich?
I don't know but it seems the like attracks like part is all too true.
I don't think there is anything wrong in general about pushing positive energy, in fact if more of us were positive the country and world would be in a much better place right now, however, I don't believe either that I only have 16 seconds to get out of a bad mood or more bad thoughts will take over and ruin everything for me. So with these kinds of books I try to take the good ideas and apply them to my life and leave the junk there in the book,
What works for some people won't work for others, its authors beliefs we are reading, it doesn't mean we have to change ours!
Why was this removed? All criticism is Just! You just have to learn to deal with it, good or bad.
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