On Monday, a friend of mine told me about a book she had recently read and brought it to me during our lunch on Wednesday. It was Rhonda Byrne's The Secret. To my mind, it is a mixture between a self-aid book and a kind of 'philosophical' contemplation. Wikipedia names it to be a '2006 best-selling a New Age self-help and spirituality book' which I think is a good enough classification.
The book itself teaches its readers about The Secret of how to lead one's life. The main focus is on the Law of Attraction. It says that what ever you want, the Universe will provide you with it, all you have to do is think about it and visualise it. It makes no difference what it is: money, love, health etc.
Although I tend to be a bit critical about all self-aid materials, I still liked the book. Some of the thoughts expressed there are actually worth considering. According to The Secret, you attract what you think about. Thus, if you think about the bad things in your life, you attract more bad things; the worrying will only attract more worrying. If you think about positive things, good stuff will happen to you.
And I must say I agree. There have been times in my life when I think I'm absolutely drowning in deep sh*t: I have had so much to do, and so little time and other resources to actually do everything. And for the few last years I've learned that when I'm in this kind of black hole, the best thing is to let go. I just say to myself, 'F*ck it all, I'll stop worrying, everything will fall into its rightful place in the end anyway!'. And you know, everything does go as it is supposed to go as soon as I stop worrying and let the Universe (or fate or whatever) take over. Whether it is my university work, my dancing things or family business, after a while I discover that everything is running smoothly again.
I believe that it is a knowledge that very many people could benefit from. We as human beings spend way too much time and energy worrying about everything instead of concentrating on the end result. The Secret tells us to visualise what we want and then let the Universe provide the how and when and other details. We just need to believe that it is as good as done.
In a very pragmatic way you can say it works because when you stop worrying, you can see things much clearly and see the opportunities that you didn't know existed before. Moreover, you put more energy into actually achieving your goal, than worrying about 'what ifs'.
The book also reminds us the long forgotten lessons in positive view to life and gratitude. Sometimes we concentrate too much on what is wrong in our life that we fail to notice the wonderful things: our families, friends, careers, the weather etc. When I look at my life from that perspective, I can actually see that there's really nothing missing in my life. I have very supporting family, I have friends that never seize to surprise me, I have excellent results in school and university, I don't have to count every penny, I can afford yhe things I want (because after all, I want simple things: nice things to wear, good food, trainings and entertainment; things I cannot afford are usually the things I'm actually not that interested in anyway). I could go on for a while about the things that are great in my life.
There were some things in the book, of course, that I was not so keen on. For example, there is a whole chapter dedicated to the Secret of money: how to attract money. I do understand that we live in a capitalist (or maybe, when this crisis is over, although I seriously doubt that, in a post-capitalist) world, does everything have to revolve around money? But I guess the book attracts a more wider readership if you teach people how to get rich...
In the end I just want to say is that it is a good book to remind us that we should really stop worrying about every little thing and concentrate on the things that make us happy because if you believe The Secret, happiness attracts more happiness. Everything else will fall into its place sooner or later anyway.
And as for me, I will try and follow the same path. I will try to banish the unhealthy sarcastic thoughts and fears that hold me back and walk towards a happier life.
It is a wonderful world after all...
(I read the book in Estonian. Published in 2008 by Pilgrim)
The book itself teaches its readers about The Secret of how to lead one's life. The main focus is on the Law of Attraction. It says that what ever you want, the Universe will provide you with it, all you have to do is think about it and visualise it. It makes no difference what it is: money, love, health etc.
Although I tend to be a bit critical about all self-aid materials, I still liked the book. Some of the thoughts expressed there are actually worth considering. According to The Secret, you attract what you think about. Thus, if you think about the bad things in your life, you attract more bad things; the worrying will only attract more worrying. If you think about positive things, good stuff will happen to you.
And I must say I agree. There have been times in my life when I think I'm absolutely drowning in deep sh*t: I have had so much to do, and so little time and other resources to actually do everything. And for the few last years I've learned that when I'm in this kind of black hole, the best thing is to let go. I just say to myself, 'F*ck it all, I'll stop worrying, everything will fall into its rightful place in the end anyway!'. And you know, everything does go as it is supposed to go as soon as I stop worrying and let the Universe (or fate or whatever) take over. Whether it is my university work, my dancing things or family business, after a while I discover that everything is running smoothly again.
I believe that it is a knowledge that very many people could benefit from. We as human beings spend way too much time and energy worrying about everything instead of concentrating on the end result. The Secret tells us to visualise what we want and then let the Universe provide the how and when and other details. We just need to believe that it is as good as done.
In a very pragmatic way you can say it works because when you stop worrying, you can see things much clearly and see the opportunities that you didn't know existed before. Moreover, you put more energy into actually achieving your goal, than worrying about 'what ifs'.
The book also reminds us the long forgotten lessons in positive view to life and gratitude. Sometimes we concentrate too much on what is wrong in our life that we fail to notice the wonderful things: our families, friends, careers, the weather etc. When I look at my life from that perspective, I can actually see that there's really nothing missing in my life. I have very supporting family, I have friends that never seize to surprise me, I have excellent results in school and university, I don't have to count every penny, I can afford yhe things I want (because after all, I want simple things: nice things to wear, good food, trainings and entertainment; things I cannot afford are usually the things I'm actually not that interested in anyway). I could go on for a while about the things that are great in my life.
There were some things in the book, of course, that I was not so keen on. For example, there is a whole chapter dedicated to the Secret of money: how to attract money. I do understand that we live in a capitalist (or maybe, when this crisis is over, although I seriously doubt that, in a post-capitalist) world, does everything have to revolve around money? But I guess the book attracts a more wider readership if you teach people how to get rich...
In the end I just want to say is that it is a good book to remind us that we should really stop worrying about every little thing and concentrate on the things that make us happy because if you believe The Secret, happiness attracts more happiness. Everything else will fall into its place sooner or later anyway.
And as for me, I will try and follow the same path. I will try to banish the unhealthy sarcastic thoughts and fears that hold me back and walk towards a happier life.
It is a wonderful world after all...
(I read the book in Estonian. Published in 2008 by Pilgrim)
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