So I just finished watching “The Secret”. Interesting…yet nothing that I didn’t already believe. I’ve always believed in the power of positive thought, of healing thoughts, of visualizing what you want. There were a few new views on this introduced to me such as the idea that we are being composed of energy, that the law of attraction works with everything. Even though I believed this, I didn’t really think about the fact that me dwelling on debt or a bad situation simply compounded the problem. This, of course surprises me as I write it down because I have in fact told others how I’ve been around negative people who constantly think “bad things always happen to me” and yes, bad things always do seem to happen to them. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy.
As I watched “The Secret”, there were many little things that reminded me of instances in my life where “the secret” revealed itself to me.
First, let me say that I thought the term “the secret” was a bit hokey and I almost cringed every time I heard it. It almost cheapened it to a cheesy infomercial.
Anyway…I digress…
I’ve always believed in my abilities to have my body be a quick healing body. And you know what, it always has been. You wouldn’t believe the abuse I’ve put this poor thing through over the years, scrapes, cuts, bruises, breaks, tears…pretty much everything imaginable. I just go “damn, this sucks. Better hurry up and heal so I can get back out there” and it happens. I never really thought anything about it, but people have marveled at how quickly I can heal myself.
Ok…what else? What about the other things in life? I’ve always been proud of the groups of friends I’ve had, the people I surround myself with. Was this an accident? Hell no. Just as the film stated, it’s the law of attraction. It sounds simple enough…like attracts like. And it really IS that easy. I used to take it for granted…and I also used to think everyone had a myriad of great friends to support them when things weren’t great and to share the good moments with. However, as I went through life and people would tell me “you’re so lucky to have so many good friends”, I came to realize not everyone had that. Yet it seemed so natural. Laugh, enjoy life, be with those that enjoy life, that circle continues to grow and there you go. I guess there are people out there however that believe the world is out to get them so they’re always distrustful of someone’s intentions and they in turn end up surrounded themselves with the same negative, distrustful people. I prefer to find the good people in life…
Relationships? Yup, I’ve seen “The Secret” manifest itself in both positive and negative ways. When I truly believed I had the best thing and she believed it…ah yes, life was grand. When given the news that one wanted to move back home, I dwelled on the negative (“damn…she’s leaving”) and even though this possibility of her moving away was a year from then, the constant dwelling ate away at an otherwise wonderful relationship and over time it just wasn’t there. Damn those negative thoughts! So instead of dwelling on the bad, think of the good that you’ve got. Good will attract more good. Instead of saying “you’re too bitchy when you get home”, try saying “I love how you’re always there for me”. I’ve often said “it’s the little things in life” when dealing with a relationship and that continues to hold true…in both the good and the bad. The bad little things will chip away at the relationship, the good little things can make their day and that in turn will bring more happiness to the relationship in general.
“The Secret” says “just think about what you want, not how you’re going to get there. Let the Universe figure that out”. Ok…as a human, I know this will be hard for most of us to swallow. Hell, I am/was (not really sure where I stand now…I guess it all depends on who is judging me) a control freak and had to know how I was going to get there, do this, plan for that, blah blah blah. But you know what? My most successful and happy times in life were when I just said “this is what I’m doing” and I did it. For example, when I moved to Santa Cruz for the first time, on paper it looks like I should have been miserable. I was in the midst of a divorce, quit a cushy job, and moved 3000 miles away to a place where I knew only one person to start an Internet company just after the Dot Bomb. WTF? Not only that, I had to take out a personal $6k loan just to get the divorce and pay that back within a year. You know how much I made that first year out there? $9K. Yes, NINE thousand dollars. Now take the fact I paid off that $6k loan. How the hell did I live? Honestly, I don’t know. But the really great part about this is that it really was the happiest year in my life. I wanted to start a company. I wanted to get to Santa Cruz. I did it. And I was happy.
Same thing happened with college. I wanted to go to a good school (I remember looking at Berkeley). My parents said it was too expensive. I ended up going to Carnegie Mellon. At the time, it cost as much to go to CMU as it did to go to Berkeley. Could I really afford it? No. But I wanted to go to a good school. And I did. I ended up with enough grants and scholarships to make it possible.
So anything really is possible. If you want it, if you believe that you can have it and that you WILL have it, well…believe it or not, you will have it.
Sometimes I need these little kicks in the pants to remind me. I’m human and sometimes I get stuck in the rat race or allow the murmur of negativity around me to affect me and I too fall prey to the trap of “well society dictates this so this is how it will be”. Nahhh…not really. Imagine if the great inventors of the world actually listened to people when they said “you can’t fly” or “you can’t send your voice over the air”. They believed they could find a way, and they did.
One of my favorite quotes of all time was from Henry Ford and it goes “whether you believe you can or you cannot, you are correct”. So so true.
Remember…this goes both ways. Think positive things and good things happen. Think the opposite and you will bring bad things to your life. And a “thing” can be anything…job, money, relationship, health…anything.
Think back in life. When were you the happiest? When did things just seem to go right?
Now think back to when nothing seemed to go right? Do you see a pattern? I sure do.
Now I shall sit and ponder my life for a bit. I know where I want to live. I just have to envision myself there now. I think I’ll update my resumes and profiles to reflect exactly what I want (and not just what I can do).
I’m not exactly sure who reads these ramblings but I do know that some good people in my life do. The fact I’ve got these good people makes me happy. I don’t feel lucky…I chose to have these people in my life. I’m just plain happy that I’ve got ’em. And I hope I can be a source of inspiration to them, I hope that I can achieve the things that make me happy while they watch and smile and go “Yeah, that’s our Chia” and that it inspires them to do the same thing. For the readers who I don’t know…same goes to you. That’s all I really want in life…to inspire others to achieve their goals. To pursue true happiness.
