Where Is The Promised Sequel to The Secret ??

Normally I like to write about things that I might have answers for, or at least suggestions.

The folks behind The Secret were originally saying that we might expect to see a sequel to the movie as early as August/September 2007 time frame. Well since it is almost 2008 now we can say that that was not even close.

They did come out with something different recently, around the subject of gratitude. I doubt that there are many of us who could not benefit from cultivating more gratitude into our lives; but this is not the sequel and does not claim to be the sequel. Also I have not seen any announcements whatsoever about the sequel and I am wondering at this point if perhaps they will cancel it altogether.

Perhaps some of the criticism has just been too harsh. I personally believe that Rhonda did this movie originally as a labor of love and I am quite sure that she was not expecting the popularity that the movie received nor the shrill criticism that it has brought against her personally. It must be kind of weird when millions of people are expressing appreciation to you in the form of buying your book or movie but at the same time hundreds of people are throwing all the mud in your direction that they can find. If Rhonda had really wanted this part she could have just run for political office.

So now I wonder if she has a debate going on in the back of her mind as to what can now be accomplished with a second film. Certainly more criticism will come, and I am not saying that this would necessairly scare her off, but I bet that she is doing a cost benefits analysis in her mind if not on paper as to what a second movie/book could accomplish.

It would obviously sell millions of copies or DVDs. That part is clear.

But it would also start round two of the smear Rhonda campaign, which is unfortunate. I do not believe that she deserves much of the negative criticism that she gets.

There is some evidence that she has distanced herself. She used to post early on to the Secret Forum at powerfulintentions. She has not posted there in quite a while now and she does not respond to PIs there. I know, because I have sent them to no response and others I know report the same. She is rarely interviewed anymore, and in fact I have not seen her anywhere since her appearence on Oprah, which was almost a year ago now. I could have missed her somewhere obviously.

One thing I have learned is that time dilutes all effort. If they do not come out with a sequel at some point, the effort that they put in with the first one will be diluted further and further by the normal passage of time, until hardly anyone remembers it. The press seems to now think the entire thing is yesterday's news.

Perhaps Rhonda likes the quiet, but this work is just too important to just fade quietly into the background. If Rhonda would like my assistance in any way in bringing the sequel to life, she should feel free to contact me. The Secret is a story that needs to be told.

Again.

Joseph

Then I Will Be Happy ??

The first time I watched the original edition (with Esther Hicks) of the DVD The Secret, I had not previously heard of any of the presenters except for Jack Canfield, and I had just heard of him, I had not read any of his books.

But many of them, especially now that the movie has been so popular, are now doing what I would love to be doing, and that is writing books and doing paid speaking engagements. I look at them and I think to myself: Wow, that is a great example of where I want my life to be in the future! To me it seems like that when I reach that point, I will have "arrived", and the rest of my life will be spent in the "magic of life", like they talk about in the movie.

But I picked up on something that I did not expect recently, and that is that there is no arrival, nor should there ever be.

Take Bob Proctor as an example. In many ways seems like he would have it made, right?

Right?

Then I wonder why does he do such hard marketing on programs that cost four digits that he is selling? Most recently I was invited to join the "Science of Getting Rich" club. What a bargain! All the wisdom from the book that you can download for free at http://www.thesecret.tv/ , and you can get Bob's opinion on all of it for only $1,999.00!

Heck! If you like to pay that much for opinions, I will give you mine for only half that price! What a bargain! Pay my PayPal account at JOW Research.

At the risk of being an unbeliever, let me state that it is hard for me to imagine how such a program as this could be a good value for anyone! The only thing that you can count on is that two thousand dollars will leave your account and go to Bob's. In return you may get an inspiration or two that may or may not do anything for you.

I have a better idea . . . READ THE BOOK YOURSELF. YOU DO NOT NEED BOB.

James Ray has the "Harmonic Wealth Weekend". There is hardly a faster way to drop a thousand dollars for nothing concrete in return.

If you like these teachers in the movie then buy some of their books. It is really hard for me to imaging how you would need to do anything more than that. WHY??

Because you have to find your own way. The James Ray way only works for James Ray, and the Bob Proctor way does not work as well for anyone else but Bob Proctor. The DVD The Secret is trying to teach you that you have full control over what's going on, so the improved version of your life must originate from you and cannot come from another.

So we are meant to always be learning in this life. If we come to a point of success where we now think that we have "arrived", and this means that we now stop learning, then that is the absolute worst thing that could happen to us! We are meant to always be learning.

So follow me on this: If we are meant to always be learning, then there is always going to be a higher level for us to get to. For me it is to start doing paid speaking engagements. For another it may be to start charging five digits instead of four for their speaking engagements. Point is that is is never going to seem like we have arrived, and like I said, it never should.

So if we are waiting to "arrive" before we are fully happy, there is going to be an issue, because by design we are never really going to get there.

The Magic of Life is being happy where you are . . .

Right Now.

Yes, right now I am still overcoming a pretty bad cold. pretty easy for me to think that I will be so much happier once it is gone!

Maybe. But what typically happens is that one day later I forget all about it, take my normal health for granted, and am truly no happier than before. It is missing that gratitude part that prevents me from really being any happier there.

So what am I trying to say? Only this:

1. If you cannot be happy Right Now, then why will you be happy later?
2. If you are not happy right now, then I bet you will discover some missing gratitude if you look for it.

So for me the path is clear. See and feel the gratitude, so that I can feel the happiness and joy right now. My continued learning will get me where I need to go.

Yours may be similar.

Joseph

Global Warming: The Chicken or the Egg?

In the movie The Secret, we hear James Arthur Ray talking about how the universe does everything that it does with zero effort. Grass does not struggle to grow, it's just this great design.

The same designer who created you and I as well, just so we are clear on that.

So here is a question: Does the Earth struggle to maintain a proper temperature or a proper range of temperatures? Even in the face of us putting additional CO2 in the air than would have ever been there otherwise? Or maybe it's because we have allowed too many cattle to be created, because the methane from bovine flatulance is the number ONE source of greenhouse gases?

If the Earth was such a great design to begin with, and there are so many systems in place to balance each other, why are we thinking that man through any action he takes can really mess it up?

Nobody is for pollution, but is it really creating the dire circumstances that you hear on the news? We could all drive less, but to do something about the number one cause we would have to reduce the number of cattle somehow.

The real question is whether the designer of the Earth had fore-knowledge that man would be here and had fore-knowledge of what man would do. When you stop to think about this for a moment, you realize that it is impossible that He would not have had that fore-knowledge.

So then we ask did He design accordingly, or did He miss that part? It is hard for me to imagine that he missed anything.

The great design that was the creation of this Earth would have taken all of the future actions of man into account, and that should be a comforting thought for any who believe in the Great Designer (read: God).

For those who do not believe in the Godly design, who believe instead that it just all kinda came together naturally, I am afraid I am unable to help you on this subject, sorry.

But now to an important point. "Global Warming" as something to worry about is a real force, not because there was necessairly any validity in it's creation, but because it was reported as news and people believed what was reported. Independent of any truth or untruth behind it, it will be a source of concern for anyone who believes in it.

And the only way to break out of that trap is to let go of the belief that something said on a news program should have some bearing on what your own world is like.

Stop allowing outside influences define your world and your life.

Your entire world is created from within, not without.

Do not contribute to a non-starter becoming an issue because you prefer to allow others to think for you.

There is no salvation in this life for those who will not stand up and think for themselves.

Amen.

Joseph

RightSizing: All In Your Mind?

This topic, which is of interest (statistically) to more and more people all of the time, was not discussed directly in the movie The Secret.

And yet, in the discussion forums, I have seen people posting and saying that they have been successful losing weight (rightsizing) by just using their mind, and NOT changing their eating habits or their exercise habits.

Now this is just what people are saying. Who knows if it is true? People say all kinds of crazy things. Especially on an Internet forum.

The current state of my belief on this point is that I am unbelieving. Because of this unbelief, the plan would not work for me whether there was truth in it or not. I believe that nothing stops the law of attraction faster than unbelief.

And yet I wonder, given all of the other aspects of the Law of Attraction that I do believe, is there something here that I am really missing?

Here are the fours things that the experts say has to be done to right size:

1. What you eat. Critical. The general rule is that if God made it, then you can eat it. If it was invented by man, stay away.

2. How you exercise. Exercise has to be included. Weight bearing exercise should be included in the mix. As always, make sure your health care provider knows what you are going to do.

3. How you sleep. If you do not get enough, then it is really hard to lose the weight.

4. How you handle stress. A stressed body does not lose weight easily.

OK so that's what the experts say. Kind of complicated. I sometimes have the feeling that I have to be perfect on these things to make any progress. In any case that is a lot to remember.

Would it not be easier to just spend 10 minutes everyday visualizing yourself as the size you want to be? Maybe I have wishful thinking that this could be true. Perhaps if we spoke to our bodies and assured them that they would receive the nutrition that they need, so there is no need to hold on to any extra weight.

I do know this for sure. Taking the actions above without changing our thinking at all is 95% doomed to failure. This means that 1 in 20 will succeed on this route. Our brains work on a thinking model, so what we will ultimately do depends on what we think, not what diet we are trying.

I hear the words of James Allen in the back of my mind: "Change of diet will not help a man who will not change his thoughts; when his thoughts become pure, then he no longer desires impure food".

And somewhere in those words I believe is the key that unlocks the door to good-lookingville.

It does suggest that we need to perhaps look more within, than without, to ultimately solve this issue; because I do believe that when the thoughts become pure, then we do not need to stress or pay undue attention to the actions; because the pure thoughts will keep them in line without us putting a lot of effort into it. Some call this "effortless prosperity".

So is losing weight and right-sizing hard to do? If you think it is, then you are probably trying to change actions without changing thoughts. I am a professional at this approach, but it does not pay very well.

So is changing your thoughts hard to do? A very good question. Changing your thoughts requires mental effort, and there are many who will live the physical life of a slave before they will be willing to put in some kind of mental effort.

But it is something that can be practiced, and with practice it is something that can be changed.

And once changed, watch out!

So is right-sizing really "effortless" for someone who has successfully changed their thoughts?

I believe YES. But I cannot yet prove it to you from my own experience. Still working on it.

I would love to hear from anyone out there who changed their thoughts for the better and found that rightsizing was a side effect.

What did you do exactly?

The world wants to know . . . .

Joseph