I Know a Secret!

A friend of mine is pretty excited about The Secret. So she bought a copy of the DVD for a bunch of us to pass around. My turn came up a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't all that interested, so I didn't watch it at first, but then I started thinking that she might ask how it was going, and it would be discovered that I was the one holding everyone up, so I watched it out of guilt.

I'll say this for it: it's made me think. And in direct opposition to the premise of the video, I'm going to start off with all the negative stuff. Let's just get it out of the way, shall we?

I'm not going to comment on anyone's bad hair, or irritating speech patterns. I'm not even going to go into detail about the ultra-cheesy cinematic effects. You can discover those on your own, if you decide to watch or read it. Personally, I think they threw in some things like that as sort of a test--to weed out the unworthy. I failed. Anyway, here's what bothered me on a very fundamental level:

1. Everyone can get whatever they want. There's plenty to go around, and not everyone wants the same things, so it all works out. If other people don't have what they want, it's because they aren't employing The Secret. That's their problem. You have the opportunity to get what you want, and so do they, so why not take it? (And even though they tried to fix it halfway through and talk about how stuff doesn't really bring happiness, there was--I felt--an inordinate focus on acquiring wealth. Maybe they were just trying to hook the viewer. I found that offensive and condescending. Yes, I'd love an iPod. No, I'm not going to try to manifest one. I'd rather focus my energy on raising happy, healthy kids, because that's what I really want.)
2. There is no Plan for you, so go to town and do/get whatever you can dream up for yourself. (I believe there is a plan for me, and trying to get what I think I want is possibly in direct opposition to that plan. This gets complicated, but my point is that focusing too much on what you want is selfish and destructive.)
3. If you're in a bad situation, it's your own fault for attracting it to yourself. No one has to experience pain or sorrow unless they want to. (Trials are part of life, and dealing with them in the right way is important. They should be strengthening. And sometimes the fact that you experience them has nothing to do with your thoughts or actions. "Bad things happen to good people." Let's look at Job on that.)
4. Generations of great thinkers have possessed this "secret," but not one of them ever caught on to the fact that sharing it would be a good idea. Until now. When this depressed Australian woman got ahold of it a couple of years ago. And suddenly all the forces of evil that were following Socrates and Galileo and Benjamin Franklin around and keeping them from telling were stopped in their tracks.

Here's what I liked (which wasn't exactly a secret at all, but bears review and recommitment):

1. Positive thinking is . . . well, positive. Positive people attract positive things/people/attitudes, and ultimately, peace and happiness.
2. It's a good idea to be very grateful for everything that you have.
3. The mind is powerful. It can heal sickness, alter habits, and change for the better.
4. Goals are good. Reviewing goals is good.
5. Your attitudes and behavior alone can go a long way toward mending troubled relationships.

So if you're interested, check it out. Or, you could always just read the New Testament.