Is “The Secret” Fact Or fiction?

Let me start by saying that I am a firm believer in the laws of universal attraction – a.k.a “The Secret”. At the same time however, I must add that there is so much about this law that I do not understand. I’ve seen the law in action in both my own life as well as in the lives of many others that I know personally. At the same time, on a daily basis, I read about or hear about things that happen which leave me scratching my head in disbelief.

For example, I remember watching a show on lottery winners and how their windfall dollars had changed their lives. There was an older man highlighted on this show who, throughout his life, bounced around from one job to another. He was never able to hold on to meaningful employment. The exact amount of money that he had won escapes me but it was a multi-multi-million dollar jackpot. At the time of his winning he was working as a ride operator for a traveling carnival. The ride he’d been working was one that would spin riders upside down. I remember him saying he’d considered this very good fortune because it meant that after the carnival had shut down for the evening he could walk around under the ride picking up the lose changes that had fallen from people’s pockets.

Next thing you know, he was on the receiving end of a lottery jackpot that made him an instant millionaire. The law of attraction states that we attract everything we receive in life through our internal energy vibrations. The law also states that there is no such thing as luck – either good or bad. So the obvious question I was left with is how can someone who considered picking up loose change to be good fortune hit a multi-million dollar lottery jackpot? What kind of internal energy could this man have been vibrating to attract such a huge, financial windfall? This can not be reconciled as just good luck – the law of attraction says there is no such thing.

The law also says to fully expect to receive that which you deeply desire. I recall an interview I heard with Carrie Underwood shortly after she’d won the American Idol contest. In this interview, she said how she didn’t even expect to make it through the first round let alone going all the way to win the full magilla. Now I’m not taking anything away from Carrie Underwood – she’s an amazing talent who deserves all the good fortune she now enjoys in life. But if she didn’t expect to even make it through the first round, how did the law of attraction play out so that she wound up the grand prize winner?

On the flip side, I recall a time a few years ago when I accompanied my niece Olivia – then 6 years old – to a daddy / daughter dance. (My brother in law was out of town and my sister asked me if I’d like to step in and go in his place.) Upon entering the dance, every little kid was given a ticket for a raffle that was to be held at the conclusion of the dance. A table was set up displaying all the prizes that were to be raffled off. Olivia was fixated on this radio cassette player that was among the prizes. I swear she spent a good part of the night standing there staring at this little boom box. She even went so far as to tell my sister and I repeatedly how badly she wanted it.

My sister and I, being the knowledgeable adults, proceeded to explain to Olivia that there were several hundred kids at the dance and only 20 or so prizes that were to be given out. We explained to her that she had a really long shot at winning and not to get her hopes up. This, we felt, was logical but what does logic mean to a six year old? When raffle time arrived, one item at a time was pulled from the table and the winning ticket received that particular item – the winning ticket was not permitted to choose the item they wanted. Wouldn’t you know, as God (and my sister) is my witness, Olivia’s number was called and she won that very prize that she was fixated on. When the dance was over, Olivia insisted on carrying out her new prize on her own even though the box was almost as big as she was. She wanted to make sure that everyone saw that she had won that prize. It still makes me smile to this day thinking about that special evening.

Yes, I’ve seen the law in action and I’ve seen events unfold that leave me incredulous. I am a firm believer in the law of attraction and I hope, before I die, I’ll have it fully figured out.