No Secret How We Feel About The Secret

Since the original writing of our book ASAP – Affirming Success And Prosperity -- a piece of work known as The Secret became a new age phenomenon and remains on the scene, although more now in the background than the foreground.

             For those of you who viewed the popular DVD, heard the CD, or read the book -- believed it, tried it, and did not meet or have not met with success, please read on, after we assure you that:

 FAILURE IS NOT

YOUR FAULT!

             Some of what is presented in The Secret is valid.  Some is not.  How are you able to distinguish between the two? Here are some do’s and don’ts:

            DO remain alert as you study it, in search of what may be true, partially true, or not true at all.  There are two ways to watch a movie:  (1) as a fan -- relax, enjoy it for what it is – entertainment, or (2) or as a critic -- be alert and be judgmental.  The second mindset is in your best interest in considering The Secret. Otherwise you may be “taken in” by it, they way we are taken in by a good movie or book.

            1. DON’T accept the author’s assertion that if The Secret doesn’t work for you, you’re to blame.  Her assurance that it works 100% of the time is a red flag.  Pay attention to it. Even prayers are sometimes answered with, “No…”

            The basic premise of The Secret is that we are in complete control of our destiny and are responsible for everything that comes our way in life. Everything is a result of how we are using our mental powers. We have the ability to manifest anything we want in life, from a parking place to a million dollars or a villa in Morocco – all through the power of attraction.

            We (Frank and Ginny) do not believe in the power of attraction.  We believe in the power of attention!  Start thinking about red convertibles and you’ll start noticing them wherever you drive. Are you attracting them to you?  No, you’re just noticing what you weren’t looking for before.

             When you use affirmations to help you achieve important goals, they will become a part of your psyche, and act as guides pointing out this or that along the path.  You’ll start paying attention and you’ll start noticing opportunities you may not have noticed before. 

            2.  DO what we did – a little research. In The Secret Winston Churchill is quoted as saying:

“You create your own

 universe as you go along.”

             We learned that the actual statement Churchill made reflected this: when his university-educated cousins theorized that … you create your own universe as you go along…  Churchill’s response to them was:

 “These amusing mental acrobatics

are all right to play with.

They are perfectly harmless

and perfectly useless.”

            We also learned, by contacting The Emerson Institute in Oakhurst, California, that the statement attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson:

 “The secret is the answer

 to all that has been, all that is,

and all that ever will be.”

 was never made by Emerson.  No such quote, in truth, exists.

            3. DON’T be fooled by the anecdotes portraying miraculous results. Most certainly there are many stories of failure not being told.

            4. DO consider:  If The Secret were a totally valid body of work, wouldn’t we now have world peace?  Surely thousands of people were, are and may continue to be wishing for it, imagining it, believing in it -- but they haven’t attracted it, have they?

            5. DON’T confuse ASAP with The Secret.

            Yes, believe in and use the power of the subconscious mind; however, our thoughts, feelings, visualizations and beliefs influence our future. They do not, cannot, set it in stone.

            Consider that there is immeasurable energy that moves throughout the universe and that our thoughts and feelings are a part of that force field. Is it not arrogant to presume that we are in control of everything that occurs in our lives? 

            When asked, “Did the people in Katrina attract the hurricane and manifest all the death and destruction,” the author of The Secret said, “Yes, in a sense, they did.”

            We say, “Explain that to the babies, the children, the elderly, who were helpless victims.” Their fate was certainly not the result of their thoughts, feelings, visualizations or beliefs!

            At a dinner party years ago the subject of world peace came up.  I (Ginny) listened to all the wistful thinking from others, and then said that I believe there will always be wars.  There will always be feast and famine.  There will always be man’s inhumanity to man… much as I would love for it to be otherwise.

            It is naïve and dangerous to deny the existence of evil, or negative forces. We can, however reject them… redirect our attention.  They still exist but they no longer run our lives. They serve as bad examples, letting us appreciate the good even more, by contrast.

            The existence of the universe rests largely upon the concept of polarity – positive and negative.  Both good and bad are in constant flux.  It is this polarity that keeps the universe from spinning or scattering out of existence.

            It is in our best interest to acknowledge that there are powers at play far greater than our own, direct our ATTENTION toward the positive, invest our time and energy into being and doing good, and -- one more thing -- to quote a highly successful and very prosperous friend when his son asked him about the future –  

“Have a little faith.”