Yesterday, I watched The Secret. Maybe you've heard about this DVD because Oprah did a show about it and I think it was on some news show as well. Larry King, maybe? I can't remember. Anyway, I highly recommend watching this DVD. It has fabulous information.
The Secret really doesn't say anything I hadn't heard before, but it was a fabulous reminder, and for people who haven't been following a spiritual path, it might be the first time they hear this stuff. The gist of the movie is that we are the creators of our own realities and what we focus on, we get. The Law of Attraction. And if we put emotion behind the thought, it happens faster.
For an example, if we're thinking "I don't want to be late," the universe doesn't hear the don't part and so will create circumstances that will make us late. So we don't want to be "anti" anything, we want to be "pro." "I have enough time to get done everything I need to get done without stress or worry." See the difference? One is positive and the other negative.
It's also easier said than done--I know it. I'm naturally a glass-half-empty kind of person, although not as bad as a lot of pessimists are, and retraining my brain to think differently has been a battle. That's why watching this was so good for me--it reminded me that I'd slid into a negative place again.
One of the ideas that was in the DVD and that I think will be helpful is the "gratitude rock." This man would carry a rock in his pocket, and every time he touched it, he'd think of something he was grateful for. I'm going to try this, but with my jump drive. I always have that with me anyway, but from now on, whenever I touch it, I'm going to remember to give thanks for something in my life.
Do I think The Secret works? I know it does. Let me tell the story about selling my first book. Being a published author has been my dream since I was a fourteen-year-old kid. I spent a lot of years not writing, but while part of me regrets that wasted time, a bigger part of me knows that I spent that time becoming a fuller, richer human being and that makes my stories better.
Anyway, I was working on Ravyn's Flight in 2001 and I just knew I was going to sell it and have a book out before the end of 2002. Now my logical, rational side said there was no possible way that was going to happen. The world of publishing creeps along with all the speed of a glacier and I knew this. But I refused to worry about the hows; I just trusted that it would happen. Besides what could I do? I have no control over the speed with which any editor reads my work, I could only focus on my story.
So anyway, I started entering the revised opening chapters of Ravyn's Flight in contests in August while I continued to work on fixing the rest of the book. I finished it in early December 2001 and within a week/week and a half of this, I received a letter from the contest coordinator of the very first contest I'd entered back in August. I'd won and I should contact the final editor judge about sending my full manuscript to her.
I did. The editorial assistant suggested I wait till after the holidays and I mailed it December 30th. It arrived at the publisher that Friday, and 10 days later I left for Hawaii. At one point, I thought, wow, I forgot to leave an away message on my work telephone, maybe I should call from here and add one? Then I thought, well, I don't get many work related calls and the people who would call me know I'm on vacation. That first little voice said, yeah, but maybe the editor who has your story will call. The logical voice said, you know how slowly things move, do you really think you're going to get a call before you get back from Hawaii? The answer, of course, was no, so I didn't leave an away message.
I came back from Hawaii and discovered I had two voice mails and an email from this editor. I called her back the next day and sold my book. It was out in Nov 2002.
What I'm trying to demonstrate here is that we shouldn't worry about the hows or what our logical mind says is possible. Sometimes we just have to trust and believe. I used to do it all the time and I still manage it in certain areas, but this movie reminded me to take it out into all areas of my life and that's what I'm going to try to do.
Another of the men on the DVD talked about making a "vision board." You cut out pictures of what you want, paste it to this board and look at it every day, sending energy to what you want. I'm going to try this, too. I think it's a really great idea.
The other thing is that when an opportunity is presented, you have to take it. To use my book as an example, winning the contest wouldn't have done anything much for me if I hadn't 1) had the book finished and ready to mail off 2) I hadn't contacted the editor and arranged to send it 3) actually put it in the mail.
Action is most definitely required, but not just logical brain, this-is-what-I-should-do action. It's going with your gut even if your gut is kind of giving you signals that your logical brain is scoffing at.
Anyway, I highly recommend watching The Secret. Yes, there will be times your logical mind goes, "yeah, right" and I thought a couple of the speakers were slightly on the smarmy side, which made them difficult for me to listen to, but it helped that this was a message I've heard many times on my journey. I'm definitely glad I took the time to watch it (Netflix has it available to rent) because it was a message I definitely needed to hear right now.
