05 June 2008

Will I ever shut up about "The Secret"?

I have an associate who is a big believer in "The Secret" and "The Law of Attraction." I have mentioned before how much I hate the idea that you always get what you focus on.

She said "I don't want to think about [something] because I don't want to attract that into my life."

Suddenly I had a Revelation. I realized something and I almost started dancing, I was so happy.

"Sherry," I said. "The reason that you don't want to dwell on negative things in NOT because of what will happen in the future. The reason you shouldn't focus on the bad is that, when you do that, you ruin your life RIGHT NOW."

I don't think she got it. But I did.

Fear and worry corrupt the present, which is the only time we ever truly have. Isn't that enough reason to try and banish them?

(Because this is the internetz where people tend to pick everything apart, I must disclaim: yes, I know there are legitimate fears and things to be careful of. Etc etc etc).

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

You must never shut up about The Secret, until The Secret followers shut up first.

Lynnea said...

I know you said, "almost" but in my head you were dancing, a jig, like a happy leprochaun. :)

Anonymous said...

Oh thank god. I just found your blog a few days ago, and if you were a Secret follower, I was going to have to delete the feed! I was actually scared to click the link because I didn't want to know someone so funny would be all Oprah-like.

Anonymous said...

The Secret is the latest and by far the worst example of a HIGHLY profitable trend where self-help gurus with fabricated new age titles and little relevant education, credentials or legitimate expertise brainwash us into believing that they know what is best for us, our marriages and our families.

Often their only contribution to society is introducing some exotic sounding, new age philosophy. However, they often cleverly form an incestuous group of like-minded “experts” who cross-promote each other by swearing their success is due to following the beliefs of another member of their “cult!” All the while, they ply the airwaves jockeying for an ever-larger audience by appearing in the national media to garner third-party endorsements.

The Self-Help Movement has become the Self-Destruct Movement by diminishing or destroying our critical thinking skills to choose and evolve on our own. We have given up the freedom to build healthy lives, marriages and families based on our unique history and life experience. Instead many victims, blinded to the value of their own life experiences, are attracted to the latest secret in self-help, in an attempt to find out what they should think, feel and how they should act... this is the definition of a cult.

The solution is a return to our (common) senses! The best way out of this learned “self-helplessness” is to go cold turkey. Stop following ALL self-help gurus now. Begin, instead, to reclaim your natural, God-given ability to think for yourself. The common sense that was once readily available to all of us is still there free of charge and waiting to be applied to just about any challenge we might face in life… all you have to do is use it.

Please, let's all work together to stop the flock of "sheepeople" who blindly move from one UNPROVEN concept to the next, looking for the answers to life's challenges that you already possess and that is the OBVIOUS!

SUEB0B said...

Thank you Sister Wolf.

Maggie - I may have. We were standing on a road out in a forest.

Mary - Sorry to give you a fright.

John - I would be flattered by the long, thoughtful comment, but I see you have posted it all over the internet, so it doesn't make me feel so special anymore!

the mystic said...

That's ok- for a while I felt like I couldn't shut up about Hillary Clinton -- but now...

I'm so with you on the Secret -- I think i said it before and yes, you're exactly right that dwelling on the negative IS negative, but not in the way they are presenting.

I'm going to go eat some ice cream while visualizing that it won't turn into additional abdomenal fat -- I'll let you know how it goes.

Suzanne said...

As a person who worries obsessively, I think you have a good point. Worrying about what may happen certainly does take a lot of the joy out of the present. At the same time, I wouldn't be me if I wasn't worrying about what lies ten steps ahead. It's a dilemma.

Anonymous said...

I thought the "Law of Attraction" was that: anybody I was attracted too was not attracted to me, and vice-versa.

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah said...

I get it.

It's all power of positive thinking. It just makes you happy and more pleasant to be around: therefore it is easy to get more from people.

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