The Secret - I’ve got a secret about The Secret. It’s not really a secret. If you have been living in a cave for the past year, it is possible that you have not heard about The Secret. But otherwise, it would be a little hard to miss. Larry King, Ellen DeGeneres, and Oprah all fawned over The Secret. The Secret has sold over half a million DVD’s. The theory behind The Secret, called the Law of Attraction, basically says that your thoughts dictate what you attract.

I am a little surprised about all the hoopla around The Secret. The flawed thinking behind The Secret isn’t even new. In 2004, author Rhonda Byrne, on whose book the DVD is based was given a copy of a book called The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles. This book was first published in 1906. This may have been the genesis of Byrne’s book, but it is another verse in a very old song.

James Allen wrote As A Man Thinketh in 1902 four years before Wattles’ book was published. One description of Allen’s book sounds eerily like Byrne’s new revelation. “Your thoughts and your dreams determine what you are and what you will be. This little book is meant to stimulate men and women to the discovery and perception of the truth that they themselves are makers of themselves, by virtue of the thoughts which they choose and encourage. Contents include: Effect of Thought on Circumstances; Effect of Thought on Health and Body; Thought and Purpose; Thought Factor in Achievement; Vision and Ideals; Serenity.” Ironically, despite Allen’s recipe for success, he died a largely unrecognized author.

The Secret, The Science of Getting Rich, and As A Man Thinketh, are all different flavors of the “name it and claim it” Kool-Aid that some people have been drinking for centuries. It resurfaces every few years by a different name but the tenets are basically the same – if you can think it, you can have it. If you are a Christian you can even find versions slanted toward your own religious beliefs. Joel Osteen’s book, Your Best Life Now offers up the same type of “health & wealth” prosperity thinking.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am not against positive thinking. In fact I am huge believer in positive thinking. As a person who encourages others to pursue their passions, I know that it is important that we have positive mental attitudes in order to be successful. But speaking something does not make it so. One of the all-time great positive thinkers, Zig Ziglar, has been known to say, he is so positive that he would go fishing for Moby Dick in a row boat and take the tartar sauce with him. But even Zig tells us, “We cannot not do anything simply because we have a positive attitude. However we can do everything better with a positive attitude than we can with a negative attitude.” The difference is subtle but important. Zig, who started out so unsuccessful that when his first child was born, he had to go door to door selling pots & pans to be able to afford to get her out of the hospital, would tell you that he made substantial changes in not only his thoughts be also drastic changes in his actions.

Let me be clear. People who have made bad decisions cannot change the consequences of those decisions, simply by thinking happy thoughts. Christian speaker, Mark Gungor has an analogy that I think underscores this idea. Mark says that, “If you are driving your car 90 mph around a curve with a posted speed limit of 30 mph, something bad is probably going to happen – even if you are listening to Christian radio and you have a statue of Jesus on your dash.” Similarly, I would tell you that if you are making good decisions, you will over time largely experience good outcomes. If you are making bad decisions, you will over time generally experience bad outcomes – even if you are thinking positive thoughts.

Frankly sometimes bad things happen to people who have made good decision and we may not know why this side of eternity. Take the story of Job, whom the bible says was blameless and upright. In the course of three chapters, Job lost all his livestock, all his sons and daughters were killed, Job himself was afflicted with painful sores from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet, and his wife suggested that Job’s best response might be to simply curse God and die. Almost every day in the news, we hear of good people to whom horrible things happen.

Lest you break out the Prozac, let me encourage you. Being positive will help you get through those tough times that we all walk through. Being positive will also allow you to be more creative and see opportunities that you would miss had you seen the glass as half empty. Author and artist, Gordon Mackenzie, in his book, Orbiting the Giant Hairball, talks about visiting elementary schools to talk to children about art. Beginning with the youngest grades, he asks each class how many of the students are artists. In the kindergarten class, almost every hand goes up. But a funny thing happens. In each successive grade with progressively older students, fewer and fewer hands go up. Either all the artists are dropping out of school before they reach middle school, or the students begin to believe that they cannot create art. Ralph Ellison, in his book, The Invisible Man said, “The ability to dream has been beaten out of me by this experience called life.” Life can sap of us our positive attitude if we let it. We should fight against that because it is important to stay positive even knowing that alone does not assure success. We need to learn to count it ALL joy.

I pray that you never lose your ability to dream. God gave you a dream. While you may not be able to simply speak that dream and make it come true, through hard work, focus, and smart decisions, your passions and dreams can come true.

What you passionate about. What are you doing about it?