The Secret... Really Is

It took me quite a long time to sit down and watch “The Secret”, which if I recall correctly was all the rage a few years ago. And I probably would have never watched it if a client of mine (I’m a psychotherapist) had not kept urging me. So I viewed it with a jaundiced eye. The first few minutes confirmed my suspicions that this was just another quick fix, superficial answer to the key to a better life. Then slowly I was seduced. “The Secret” – or at least the DVD – is attempting a quick fix and it is superficial, BUT like many other self help approaches to finding meaning and living life well – there is truth here. I recalled that about 20 years ago my life was turned around, not by religion or psychotherapy or even an epiphany, but by a chic psychobabble book of the times – “A Return To Love”. What all of these tomes have in common is a belief that the power and the answer lies inside of you. And more importantly, that you can attain happiness. “The Secret” posits that the law of attraction is the basis for this power – we attract what we send out into the universe. We are all energy forces that attract or repel other energy forces. What bothered me about this secret is that it could lead a viewer to believe that all he or she had to do was believe that they could make a million dollars or become a superstar and it would happen. At least that was the impression it left me with. But what did resonate is the idea that you have to envision what you want for yourself and live your life accordingly. You cannot sit around and hope or pray for your life to change. If you focus on your victimization, you remain a victim. If you begin to construct a new relationship with yourself – you will slowly construct a new relationship with the rest of the world. And positive change will occur.

Roni Weisberg-Ross
2009
http://www.roniweisbergross.com
Westside LA therapist