The best selling book in Canada last year was The Secret, written by Rhonda Byrne. This is both encouraging and pathetic at the same time. Because although the book deals out a lot of good advice on how people can improve their lives, it's all been said before. The Secret is, in fact, no secret at all. It is nothing more (and nothing less) than "the power of positive thinking" repackaged, renamed, and remarketed with all the Hollywood slickness of our times. Yes, it was made into a movie, too.
The encouraging part of all this is that the best selling book of the year is actually a non-fiction self-help book, as opposed to some superficial thriller full of gratuitous sex and violence. I, for one, am impressed by that fact. Not that I don't enjoy some good sex and violence once in a while. But the best selling book of the year! And no sex and violence in sight! Now that's something.
The pathetic part is the simplistic and melodramatic way the concept of "positive thinking" has to be presented these days in order to get people's attention. The simplistic side of the story would have you believe that all you have to do is think hard enough about something, and it will happen. Oh, if only it were that simple. Just think hard enough about a cheque for a million dollars showing up in your mailbox, and presto - there it is! We hear the "amazing" true story about a young man who wanted to own a big house with a pool and a tennis court, and thought about it - hard - and sure enough, 20 years later, he found himself actually living in a big house with a pool and a tennis court. Proof that "the secret" really works! Well, of course it does! Especially when it's combined with 20 years of working your butt off seven days a week. They don't mention that part. That part is too depressing. That part doesn't sell books.
The melodramatics are even more pathetic. The book is letting you in on a "secret". Shhhh... don't tell anyone. The author admits that the concept has been around for thousands of years, but claims there's been a huge conspiracy to keep you and me from knowing about it. But never fear, just buy the book, and the "secret" will be revealed, and all your troubles will be over, and you will become rich and happy for the rest of your life. Never before has the simple concept of positive thinking been wrapped in so much mystery, and intrigue. It's like a real life Da Vinci Code unravelling before your very eyes, and it's all very exciting. The book is careful not to mention that it's just telling you the same thing (in its own special way) that your parents and teachers and countless other books and movies have been telling you all your life. That would be much too mundane. That would be dull and boring. And that wouldn't sell very many books.
Then there's the whole compassion issue. According to the book, everything that happens to someone is a product of their own thoughts, good or bad. If something bad happens to someone, it's their own fault. They brought it on themselves. So don't pity them. Don't help them. They must have been thinking bad thoughts, and there is certainly an element of truth in that. But there's also an element of truth in "shit happens".
So here's another "secret" for you. Yes, the power of positive thinking can move mountains. It's been proven over and over throughout the ages. The power and potential of human thought is staggering, and the study of quantum mechanics is beginning to explain just how and why that is. If you really seriously put your mind to something, you can make it happen. But until we evolve into superhumans, which is still a few years off, you will still have to augment the power of your thoughts with a good amount of hard work, a healthy portion of karmic awareness, and hope the Fates don't have other plans. You heard it here first.
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