The Secret and Creating a New Story

I've been having fun watching the debate about The Secret grow as it seeps into the popular consciousness.  It's fun for me because a) the ideas of the Law of Attraction are really starting to go mainstream and b) when someone argues about their interpretation of the ideas in The Secret, I often get an intimate peek into their deepest held world views.

There are people who believe The Secret is pure hooey.  They know that in order to get the things you want in life you have to work hard.  They know that sometimes things just happen and we have to deal with things that happen for good or for bad as they come into our lives.  Maybe there's a plan for us, maybe there's not but the idea that we can affect reality with our thoughts is ridiculous New Age crap.

There are people who believe The Secret is absolute truth.  They know that their thoughts are powerful and they know it's important to hold positive intentions and take full responsibility for everything that is in our lives right now.  They know that if there are things they don't want in their lives, they are somehow responsible and need to find better ways to think about things.  They find empowerment in the idea that if they think hard enough they can generate what they want from the Universe.

There are people who believe in the Law of Attraction, but feel strongly that The Secret over simplifies how it works.  They say that it's too focused on money and doesn't really give practical answers for relating to other people.  Many of these people feel angry about the movie—from annoyed to outraged—because they feel it trivializes how the Universe creates our existence.  Many feel that the movie makes it look too easy.

Then there are people who are on the margins.  They saw it and it affected them in some way but they either are inclined to think that it's probably not true or they're inclined to think that it probably is true but both sides probably have their own spin on the underlying message.  Maybe they view the ideas from a psychological standpoint and believe that nothing mystical is going on, rather, people tend to do better when they believe they will do better.

Whatever the case, people are talking about it and that makes me happy.  I think one of the reasons people are so touchy about The Secret (aside from the fact that it discusses how life, the universe, and everything works) is that it hits the money nerve (a decidedly loaded topic in the U.S.) and the ideas in it require that people take full responsibility for every aspect of their realities.

I've written about this before, but I personally rebelled against the idea that the crap that was in my life was all my fault.  I was much more comfortable believing that the crap "just happened" even though that's a disempowering thought.  If it was my fault that meant that I brought it all on myself and that I was going to have to change how I was doing things.  I was much more inclined to let god or the universe take credit for everything—even the good stuff—than I was to take responsibility. 

I was also angry about the idea that the best way to live was positive … all the time.  In an abstract way that thought still annoys me.  First I think, "that's impossible!" then I think, "even if it is possible, do I want to live a life of the chronically  happy?  How can I participate in life to the fullest, if I can't share in joys and sorrows?"  Of course, I only say those things when I’m not happy or when things are hard for me or when I'm scared.  When I am happy and riding the wave of Divine Love, I'm perfectly content to be happy and wish happiness for other people all the time.  I think that's telling.

The money thing is a big deal too.  We live in a country that was founded on puritanical ethics.  Good for goodness' sake.  Work hard and don't want too much because you will be rewarded in heaven.  Money doesn't grow on trees.  There's only so much to go around.  Money is not important, love is important (as if they are mutually exclusive).  People who focus on money are greedy and/or evil.  A pious life is a poor life.  If we focus on money, we're saying that people don't matter.

The Secret is so controversial because it is challenging the stories we've been telling ourselves about who we are and what is important to us.  Do we need pain and sorrow to live full lives?  Are we willing to give up control of our happiness to someone or something else?  Is the desire for money inherently evil?  Just questioning those things that we have held as deeply held truths is bound to stir people up in one way or another.

We have reached a place in history where we are required to question everything in our lives.  The world and the people in it are changing in dramatic ways—no matter what you believe it's hard to deny how much change is around us.  Communication, infrastructure, economy, resources, science—you name it are all being renegotiated as technology powers through our lives and people are closer than ever to each other.

For me, The Secret is a way in to questioning how things work and how we live our lives– it doesn't have to be the way through.   Love it or hate it, it's waking people up.  Even those who reject it outright are changed by it.  Even those who have never seen it are affected by the way it is changing those around them.

I challenge everyone to really take a look at your lives and the things you tell yourself. 

What stories do you tell yourself about the way things work?
Which stories have you just accepted and which have you chosen? 
Do those stories make you happy or sad? 
Do those stories empower you or make you feel helpless? 
Do you want more in your life or less? 
What if you changed those stories? 
What would your new stories be?
Who would star in these stories?
What is the best thing that could happen if you changed to these new stories?