The Secret of "The Secret"

My sister gave me an early Christmas gift this Thanksgiving; it was the DVD version of "The Secret".  I am, and always have been, a self-help junkie so I was thankful for her thoughtful gift and was looking forward to watching the video.  I did take me a couple of weeks to watch it -- movies like "I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry" and "Live Free or Die Hard" took precedence.

"The Secret" is about the law of attraction.  Which basically states that your thoughts and feelings are what ultimately create your life.  Negative thoughts and focusing on what you do not have will lead you to an average life at best, whereas focusing on your desires will often bring those desires to fruition.  First let me preface by saying that this is an issue that is very subjective and open to interpretation, opinion, faith, and belief.  I am about to share with you my opinion and personal experience with "The Secret".

In the opening scenes, I saw what I expected -- a cinematic dramatization of the principle described.  This is fine -- it was fairly well done and kept my interest. Much better than a boring lecture for 90 minutes.  But I soon discovered the "cheese factor" was higher than I expected.  At times, I thought I was watching an cable infomercial with all the images of happy people frolicking about in slow motion, images of money, fancy cars and mansions reminding us all of our materialistic inadequacies. In this case, the "cheese factor" refers more to the attempt to persuade through exaggeration and bad acting.  Watching this 90 minute video with my wife and my dog made me uncomfortable.  Not only because of the cheese factor, but also because my dog had really bad gas that night. 

Here are a few issues I have with "The Secret":

1. When it comes to success, there are no secrets.  The idea of a secret is a marketing gimmick.  Wouldn't it be great if there were a secret that you did not know, that if you did, you would be healthy, wealthy and wise?  The law of attraction is one of the many success principles that help people succeed.  It has been a major topic of many self-help gurus since Dale Carnegie popularized the Genre.   It is as much of a "secret" as Britney Spears' personal life.
2. Over simplification.  It would be nice to have all the things we desire in life just by doing A,B and C?  It is our nature to look for the "easy way", that is why over simplifications SELL.  Why work hard for something when you can get it by watching a 90 minute video?  I don't believe this oversimplification gives people hope, rather it makes people feel inadequate and turns them off from pursuing true success.
3. Too metaphysical.  I am a believer in the law of attraction.  However, I do not see this law as a some mysterious communication system with the universe. To me, the law of attraction makes perfect psychological sense.  When you focus on what you want, you take action toward the attainment of those desires on both a conscious and subconscious level.  It is that simple.  It is YOU that is making things happen, not some genie in a lamp or mystical force.  For those of you who believe in a higher power (God, Allah, Sacred Grasshopper) perhaps it is that higher power that gives you the courage, strength and wisdom to attain the earthly desires you seek.  I think God has more important things to do than help me get a gold watch.

Criticisms aside, "The Secret" contains some good stuff.  My favorite part of this video is the idea of how your thoughts control your health.  I am a huge believer in the mind-body connection.  I do not see this as "miraculous" or even metaphysical -- just undiscovered science.  It is proven without any doubt that our minds are responsible for serious disease and even death.  The most obvious example being how stress effects us, or how the loss of loved one can cause a chemical reaction in our brains that results in depression.  Why is it so hard to comprehend that our minds can keep us healthy, speed our recovery from illness, or even cure the "incurable"?

"The Secret" does convey the very important success principle of the law of attraction first popularized by Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich" back in 1937.  It was well illustrated in the video (despite the the extra cheese) and I believe sharing this principle in the form of a cinematic adventure will positively effect the lives of many people.