The Secret by Rhonda ByrneMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
“The Secret” is one of those cultural phenomenons that I knew I would eventually give into and read. What is written in this book is not new information – the ideas are simple, and the life lessons are solid. As is to be expected with self-help books, the author is dramatic and takes too much liberty with the connections she says all boil down to the “law of attraction.” Also, as C.J. brought up (see blog comments), all the positive thinking in the world does not change some life circumstances no matter how much we think about things changing. How we react to them is the key. That said, I am adopting some of the basic principles, a lot of which have to do with positive thinking, into my own life. I am always up for ways to be better and to live a more fulfilled life.
4 comments:
Ahem, let me climb onto my soap box, which I've affectionately nicknamed "Self Importance",
I have a problem with "The Secret", in that what Byrne is, if you only want something badly enough, and think about it hard enough, it'll be yours. First and foremost, this simply isn't the case. Bad things do happen to good people, and --I think--it's not for us to know why. As someone who's seen the death of loved ones, and war, I find it hard to take her explanations seriously. I also worry about the implied criticism: if your life is unhappy, it's because you're not thinking about it hard enough. This might work for simple problems (dealing with a difficult coworker), but not for life's more serious problems (fatal illness, divorce, suicide, or, indeed, any of the socioeconomic problems currently plaguing rural Afghanistan). Second, intention is, of course, profoundly important--but so is action. It's not enough to think positive thoughts; often, in the long runs, the winners are the ones who keep pressing forward in the face of repeated failure.
OK, I'm getting off my soap box now...
*I meant to write, "what Byrne is saying is..."
Thanks for your comments! I really appreciate them, and they mean a lot. It's nice to know somebody cares what I think!
Interesting. I have very mixed feelings about The Secret. It seemed very atheistic but had a few good ideas if not taken too literally.
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