The Heart Of The Secret 2 - Walk Before You Run!

As I mentioned The Heart Of The Secret part one, what I'm hoping to do in this series of posts is to highlight what I see as the most valuable things which appear in The Secret, the DVD which has done so much to publicize the law of attraction (the idea that we can create our own reality through the power of positive thought). There's a lot in the movie about imagining big houses and expensive cars, and if you are managing to manifest such things, then that's brilliant! (If you can do a bit of work on world peace and saving the planet too, that'll be even better...)

But if, on the other hand, you're struggling with the big stuff, you might try starting with something more modest and work up to bigger things gradually. This suggestion is actually given in The Secret, but it's kind of hidden away, so you might have missed it in your scramble to imagine a Porsche.

What The Secret suggests is to start by imagining parking spaces. Next time you're out in the car, imagine that a perfectly positioned parking space will be waiting for you when you reach your destination. Imagine yourself skilfully parking your car in the space and then focus on the gratitude you will feel to have found it. Then - and this is very important! - put the whole thing out of your mind until you get there. If you're not dwelling on whether or not this will work, there'll be less opportunity for negative thoughts to creep in.

As I explained in the earlier post, these negative thoughts such as "Will it work?" and "Do I deserve it?" tend to get in the way of your positive thoughts and mess up the whole business. The idea is that by starting with something relatively unimportant such as parking spaces, these unhelpful thoughts are less likely to intrude. You are therefore more likely to be successful, so that you can build up confidence in the law of attraction and work up to something bigger.

This also gives you the opportunity to get used to the various elements of the process. It might be useful to run through them here. First of all, imagine clearly what you want, then imagine your gratitude and delight at having it. Next, put the whole thing out of your mind while you set about the all-important business of taking whatever action you need to achieve your desire. These steps can be summed up as follows: CLARITY - GRATITUDE - RELEASE - ACTION. You need the clarity because otherwise - to use an extreme example - you might end up with an elephant instead of a parking space; you need to release your attachment to the outcome to stave off those negative thoughts; and you need to feel gratitude for the simple reason that feelings are more powerful than mere thoughts. If you doubt this, just take a look at the state of the world. 'Bad' thoughts are a problem, but it's 'bad' feelings that are really doing the damage...

And don't forget the all-important final ingredient: take the necessary action. If you watch The Secret, you might be forgiven for thinking that the universe will take care of everything like some kind of  fairy godmother, while you sit at home watching TV. Well yes, sometimes opportunities may arise out of nowhere, but most of the time you are likely to have to work for them. If you use the law of attraction, you may well find that the path of action will be smoother than it might otherwise be, but you'll still have to do what needs to be done . In the case of the parking space, for instance, you'll have to get in the car and drive there. It won't work if you just sit at home going "Vroom, vroom!"

When you've tried out this exercise and managed to get yourself a brilliant parking space a few times, you can build up to something more ambitious, but there's lots of scope for slowly advancing your skills, even with parking places. Once you've started getting convenient spaces at the supermarket, you'll be ready for the high street on a Saturday afternoon...

This post has been about taking the first steps towards using the law of attraction to bring a specific object or outcome into your life. But the law can also be used in other, subtler, less obvious ways: ways which may well be more accessible to those of us who struggle with the classic 'imagine a sports car' scenario. The technique I'm going to discuss next time does not even appear in The Secret DVD, only in the accompanying book, and it's particularly useful for improving our health...

Comments

[Jennifer Mannion]

Hi, Thanks for the excellent post! I talk to a lot of people about the LoA and the nay-sayers are the ones that don't think about the "action" part of it. I used the LoA to heal myself from chronic pain. There are many more important things to use the LoA for other than that Porsche! Without my health I would not have enjoyed any of the other things... Now onto financial wellness! : ) I will definitely refer people to this post to "clear things up a bit". : )Jenny

[Liara Covert]

As you explore your understanding of "The Secret," you may also be interested in the ancient "Kabalion" (by the Yogi Publishing Society) or the 2007 modern interpretation by Doreen Virtue called "Divine Magic: 7 Sacred Secrets to Manifestion." Learn to manifest abundance your way, but take in strategies that enable you to expand on what you think you know.

[Tina Su]

Great Post! Thanks for inspiring me. I really enjoy the content of your blog.
Love & Gratitude,
Tina
Think Simple. Be Decisive.
~ Productivity, Motivation & Happiness

[Sue Ann Edwards]

Most of our projections are not sealed in Peace and that is why they do not manifest.

[Mark]

This is very good. You hit upon the key and that is to practice detaching yourself from the outcome. This will help to eliminate confliciting thoughts which impact the result. Great job!

[Grace]

Simon!! :) I'm so happy to see a new post here. Personally, I struggle with some of the more materialistic aspects of LOA, HOWEVER, I ROCK at getting parking spaces! LOL One thing that I try to incorporate in all of my allowing, is surrendering. Surrendering my plan and my will to the Highest Good of all concerned seems to help in the manifestation process.

And thank you for mentioning ACTION. If we want to harvest something, we better remember to plant the seeds, water and tend to the crops, and not keep pulling the little seedlings up every few minutes to see if they're 'growing'.

:) Call it Faith, I guess...

[Jean Browman--Cheerful Monk]

Great explanation!

I agree with Grace about the emphasis on materialism. And while I do believe that optimism and action can work miracles, I have reservations about the LoA always working. See http://cheerfulmonk.com/2007/11/05/law-of-attraction/ That said, I would love to hear examples of how it has worked for people. Jenny, you say you're using it. Could you please keep us informed? Thanks.

[Sue Ann Edwards]

One of the difficulties with most of our understanding of the LOA, in addition to materialism & Superficiality, involves our tendency to be control freaks.

We fear the 'negative', since we do not know how to cope with it. So we seek to attract only positive. This leaves all the 'fearing of the negative' supressed and repressed within us, yet, still within us. And so long as it is, it WILL attract its like.

[Secret Simon]

Jenny – Welcome to The Secret Of Life! I’m glad you enjoyed the post. As you say, the ‘action’ part of the law of attraction is very important. Sometimes it may not be immediately obvious what action can be taken in order to achieve a specific outcome, but then it is a case of keeping alert for any opportunities which present themselves and making sure that you seize them when they do.

I am particularly interested to hear that you have used the law of attraction to heal your chronic pain. It must be extremely difficult *not* be attached to the outcome of getting rid of pain when that is what you are experiencing, so well done! I look forward to finding out more about how you achieved this (see below).

Liara - Thanks for this recommendation – I shall look into it!

Tina – Welcome to my blog – I’m glad you like it. I’ve taken a look at yours too: some very impressive self-development posts….

Sue Ann – (first comment) As you know, I always love to hear from you, Sue Ann, but this is one of your more inscrutable comments! What do you mean by ‘sealed in Peace’ exactly?

Mark – Thanks again for your encouragement. I certainly think that detaching ourselves from the outcome is the most difficult part of making the law of attraction work as we wish. It is one which I very much struggle with myself!

Grace – Wow, I’ve read your comment several times and I’ve only just realized how important it is. Sometimes when I have that reaction it simply means that whatever I’m reading or hearing is telling me what *I* need to know at that very moment – it may not mean as much to somebody else. But let’s look at what you’re saying here:

As Mark mentioned above, detaching ourselves from the outcome is very important. Yet it isn’t always obvious how to do that. How *do* we detach from something we very much want? It seems to me that ‘surrendering your plan and your will to the highest good of all concerned’ provides an excellent gateway to achieving this. It makes perfect sense to accept that ‘the highest good of all concerned’ should take precedence over your perception of what you think is good for *you* because a) it is good for a greater number, b) ‘all concerned’ includes you, so you’re not getting forgotten about, and c) ‘the highest good’ is by definition ‘the highest good’, a much more dependable standard than what you think is good for you, which may not in fact be good for anyone - yourself included. So why wouldn’t you want to surrender up your little plan in this way?

Thanks, Grace! This seems to me to be really, really useful. I shall look at what I’ve written tomorrow and see if it still makes sense! Any comments are welcome…

I like the bit about not pulling up the seedlings to see if they’re growing too…

Jean – Hello and welcome! I’ve looked at your post and left a comment. I love your blogs! Jenny (whom you mention and who left a comment above) has kindly sent me a copy of her eBook about healing pain with the law of attraction, so I’ll be writing about it in an upcoming post. (Part 3 of this ‘Heart Of The Secret’ series will also discuss the law of attraction and illness…)

Sue Ann – (second comment) Thanks so much for this – it encapsulates my own struggles with the law of attraction, I think. And in the end, it comes down to acceptance, doesn’t it? Are we going to be a control freak or are we going to accept what is? There is only one sane answer to that – but it’s not the one that we usually give.

Thanks to everyone who commented!

[Sue Ann Edwards]

"Walk before you run!"

And get used to stumbling. For we're toddlers.

[Marion]

I thought I had posted here, Simon...guess it's somewhere in cyberspace.

Your example of parking spaces is a very good one. There is such a feeling of glee when, in the middle of an extremely busy parking lot, I always, always find a parking spot. It is truly a feeling of connection.