The Power of Secret Attractions

There has been a great deal of chatter about the Law Of Attraction in the last several months ever since Oprah cast her empowering glance toward Rhonda Byrne's book "The Secret." In a nutshell, the Law of Attraction, which is 'the secret,' states that if you really desire it, the Universe will provide it for you.

If this were 100% true my doorbell would ring in a few moments, with a driver whisking me off to catch a private jet to Maldives where I would spend an incredible week with Thandie Newton. That's not going to happen no matter how much efforts I focus my thoughts on that outcome.

The power in the Law of Attraction has more to do with a positive attitude, and establishing our goals and desires in the positive. By re-reading Dr Norman Vincent Peale's 1952 classic "The Power of Positive Thinking" I realized that 'The Secret' is no more than a re-telling of what has already been written. Peale actually references the Law Of Attraction in his book although not to the degree Byrnes does. His explanation of the Law is more Christ centered, citing in several places "Through Christ All Things Are Possible." (I find it ironic that right-leaning Christians tend to criticize The Secret but have no problem putting that bumper sticker on their car.)

Once past all the skepticism, and there should be some skepticism when reading both Peale and Byrnes, there is actually a great deal of knowledge to be gained from both. At risk of sounding like one of those late 80's / early 90's motivational posters, Attitude does change Altitude.

When we are with co-workers or social settings, how many of us gravitate toward the person complaining about their children or bunions? We like to be around positive people, they inspire us, motivate us, and generally make us feel good. And positive people want to be around other positive people. Who is more likely to get the job, the one whose interview is awash in a tale of misfortune ("I'm up to my eyeballs in student loans are REALLY don't know what I'll do if I don't get this job") or the one who acts as if they already have the job and can clearly present their vision of what they will contribute to the bottom line.

In establishing goals for ourselves, a shift to the positive can make a world of difference. Focusing on negatives only empowers negatives. The best example is weight loss. Part of the reason why people fail at their goal of weight loss is that their focus is on the weight, they empower the weight by acknowledging it even in the wording or their goal. A more positive goal would be "have a kick ass body that stops traffic (without standing in front of it)." When thinking about finances we've been taught to think about eliminating debt - why focus on the debt? Once the debt is gone you'll be at zero. Focus instead of wealth, think about the money that will be flowing into your account and things you will do with that money. Focusing on wealth creation, and all of the positive things we can do with it, is much more postive that empowering our debt burden.

The Secret and the Law of Attraction really are the Power Of Positive Thinking.

And it works.