Keith Lightfoot Blogosphere

At what point do we totally stop believing in outside forces, spiritual guides and the law of attraction?

As children we were open to the idea that people/fairies/angels existed for our enjoyment, our benefit and our protection.

We wrote to Santa Claus and described in intricate detail the gifts we required to survive another year, we ceremoniously placed our lost tooth under the pillow or in a glass beside the bed, we openly prayed for help and we truly believed we could accomplish anything.

Our parents encouraged us to believe, they smiled and applauded when we innocently said Grace at the table, they told us that our dreams and goals were possible and they did their best to make every day special for us.

In 2006 a new book swept through the United States of America and went on to become a best selling publication in many countries.

The book was simply called “The Secret” and apparently contained recently uncovered information relating to a long forgotten secret of success that could transform all areas of our lives.

The story was featured on nationwide television and the authors appeared on major talk back shows, testimonials of individuals who had applied the techniques began to flood the internet and the air waves.

Even the first paragraph of the dust cover literally obligated us to clutch our copy of the book to our bosom and head to the check out counter:

“Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and in philosophies throughout the centuries.

For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life transforming for all who experience it.”

The book contained powerful words of wisdom from some of the world’s most well known authors, speakers, personal trainers, philosophers, money making experts, visionaries, life coaches and psychologists.

Examples of people who used the Law of Attraction included William Shakespeare, Robert Browning, Ludwig van Beethoven, Socrates, Plato, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Sir Isaac Newton. 

Parallels of teaching the Law of Attraction were drawn with various religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

Surely then, this was a new and remarkable discovery!

Given that you have read this far, it is likely that you think that I am being somewhat flippant and potentially negative about this amazing book called The Secret.

And yet the absolute opposite is true!  The authors of the book are not the first to write about The Law of Attraction and they are likely not to be the last.

There is an old saying: “There is nothing new under the sun” and the older I get, the more I begin to understand the truth in that statement.

You can find books of all shapes and sizes, some new, some very old, all doing their very best to teach you The Law of Attraction.

Napoleon Hill wrote about it in his famous book Think and Grow Rich: Published in 1937.

“At last here is the one, sure way to overcome all obstacles, achieve any ambition, bring success as though provided from an every-flowing river.

Our brains become magnetized with the dominating thoughts which we hold in our minds and, by means with which no man is familiar, these magnets attract to us the forces, the people, the circumstances of life which harmonizes with the nature of our dominating thoughts.

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.”

The internet is overflowing with PDF files, documents, videos, songs and poems showing you how you can succeed by using the combined forces of the universe, God, your tongue, invisible angels, interconnection, spirituality, Saints and your attitude.

If this is true then why do so few succeed. Why do millions of people go through life searching for happiness and success? Why are people still rushing to buy a book with information that has been in print for hundreds of years?

People who have believed and adopted the secret of success have been successful, those who have not, remain frustrated and unhappy.

Everybody is looking for the instant fix, the lotto cure, the microwave motivation, the perfect partner, the no-exercise weight loss program and the magic guaranteed pathway to mega fame, fortune, good looks and friends.

Everybody can see what is wrong with everybody else and everybody wants everybody else to change.

The story is told of a Middle Eastern mystic who wanted to make a difference and like many of us, thought that everybody else needed to change their ways except him.

His prayers when he was young, bulletproof and always-right were “Lord, give me the energy to change the world!”

At middle age when he began to realise that perhaps change takes place one-house-at-a-time, then one-street-at-a-time, then one city, his prayers were “Lord, give me the strength to change all those who come into contact with me!”

As an old man when he was blessed with wisdom instead of pure knowledge, he prayed “Lord, please just give me the grace to change myself!”