What about authentic emotion?

One thing that concerns me about The Secret is that after seeing the movie & reading the book people may be tempted to rid themselves and their lives absolutely everything negative in order to ‘tap into the power of the universe’ to bring them health, wealth and happiness.

On the surface that may seem terrific. A whole bunch of extremely positive people running around, however, I think it could be quite dangerous for them as well as others.

Negative emotions are part of us for a reason. Our fear warns us of danger. Our depression can be a signal that something has to change in our lives. Our anger can help show us when someone is infringing on our dignity.

I would not want to ‘live in’ these emotions, but trying to get rid of them all together is not healthy either.

I’ve never read anything by Deepak Chopra, but I did happen to catch him on Bill Maher talking about The Secret and he said something really insightful:

“Postive Thinking is the most stressful thing you can do. Have you ever met someone who is totally positive and exasperatingly positive? I think the mistake of some of these people make is that there is nothing more natural than being a human being who radiates a simple, unaffected humanity. A person who is able to express their anger when they get angry, but they don’t get hostile; that is able to get in touch with their emotions and to ask themselves ‘What am I thinking and feeling, what’s the need, how can I fufill that need?’ There is a great confusion today between spirituality – which is insight and intuition and creativity and inspiration — and [so-called] Positive thinking.”

So I urge people who want to tap into the power of The Secret – don’t lose touch with your basic humanity. Don’t deny or try to “pivot” out of your negative emotions — feel them, own them — then you can do your best to reframe the situation in a positive light.

Process your emotions – don’t try to pivot out of them prematurely!

Advertisement