THE HEART OF THE SECRET: Happiness & The Law of Attraction

"What we all want most deeply is to be what I have come to call 'happy for no reason' - a lasting neurophysiological state of peace and well-being that is not dependent on circumstances. When we are happy for no reason our desires manifest more quickly and effortlessly than ever." - Marci Shimoff


THE HEART OF THE SECRET: HAPPINESS AND THE LAW OF ATTRACTION
by Marci Shimoff

Imagine your fairy godmother is standing before you, ready to wave her wand and make your wishes come true. Suddenly, the world appears a different place, full of possibilities and magic!

Well, it turns out that this imaginary scenario is actually how the process of manifestation works—and is based, not in magic, but in science. The film The Secret vividly explains this powerful universal principle called the Law of Attraction, which simply stated is: like attracts like. Whatever we think, feel and put our energy into, whether positive or negative, we magnetize to us. The universe, like a good fairy godmother, simply responds.

Sounds easy enough. So, why don’t we all have everything we want?

The answer lies in my favorite formula for applying the Law of Attraction that was given to me by my good friend and advisor Bill Levacy. It has three simple, easy-to-remember steps:

1. INTENTION – Be clear about what you want

2. ATTENTION – Experience the thoughts and feelings of already having what you want, AND take the action steps to manifest your intention.

3. NO TENSION – Let go. Relax. Shift from being tightly focused on your specific desired outcome to being wide open to all possibilities. Trust that your highest good will come to you, and feel the happiness of that.

A lot has been written and spoken about the first two steps. Many of us have mastered them, but have stopped there. We end up holding on to our desire like a terrier chewing on a bone. We have to take action towards our goals, but when we push and struggle and hold on too tight, we get in our own way.

The problem is we haven’t taken the last step. We haven’t let go. Surrendered. Said, “Okay, this or something better.” The third step, “no tension,” frees our minds, opens our hearts, and, most importantly, lets us be happy in this moment. If we skip this step, it’s like having a closed fist; how can we receive anything when our hand isn’t open? In our “gotta-get” culture, this is the step most people miss or dismiss.

When we let go and trust that all is ultimately working out for the best, we feel happier. And happiness attracts more happiness.

When I first heard Bill’s formula, I had an “a-ha moment.” I realized that every time I had succeeded in manifesting my desires, it had happened only after I’d done step #3, let go, relaxed and felt happy. In fact, one of my greatest successes is a perfect example of this.

In 1994, I had been working for ten years as a corporate trainer and a professional speaker focusing on self-esteem for women. My career intention was clear (step #1): to inspire and empower millions of people around the world to live their lives to their highest and best potential.

My attention was focused on thinking, feeling and visualizing BIG success (step #2). I was the queen of persistence and had taken all the “right actions” to further my career. Although I had achieved a good degree of success by then, I knew I wanted to take my work to a higher level, and it just wasn’t happening. I had done everything I knew to do and was burned out.

Needing to take a break, I decided to go on a seven-day silent meditation retreat. After a few days of silence - no easy feat for a Chatty Cathy like me - the most amazing thing happened. I began to tap into something deeper in myself, and started to feel peaceful, relaxed and fulfilled. I moved into that state of no tension, where my grip on achieving my goal melted away, leaving me with a feeling of deep contentment.

Then, on the fourth day of silence, while I was sitting quietly in meditation, a light bulb went off in my head, and I clearly saw the words Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul in my mind. This was back in 1994 when only the first Chicken Soup for the Soul book had been published, so the idea of spin-off books for different niche markets was a breakthrough. As soon as the idea came, I knew it was a winner. I was so excited that it was all I could do to sit silently for three more days without shouting the idea to anyone in earshot!

The minute the retreat ended, I ran to the closest payphone and called Jack Canfield, who had been my mentor for the past six years and was the co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul. I told him my idea and he loved it. Before long I had a book contract to create what would be one of the first in the now legendary series of over 150 titles. Within a few years, I had co-authored six New York Times bestsellers in the Chicken Soup series, with over 13 million books sold. I had finally, and thrillingly, fulfilled my original intention of touching millions of people’s lives.

I am absolutely certain that it was by using all three steps of this powerful formula - intention, attention, and no tension - that I was able to realize my dream. Any two of the steps would not have done it.

So, did I live happily ever after? Not right away. After using this formula for many years to attract extraordinary situations, people and things that I wanted, I eventually realized, like many people before me, that having the things and circumstances you want in your life is wonderful AND it’s not enough. It was then that I discovered another essential key: there is more...

Having things and circumstances - money, success, relationships, health - brings a certain happiness, what I call being “happy for good reason.” Unfortunately, this temporary experience of satisfaction or joy soon fades and we have to hurry up and fulfill the next desire to get a new high. To experience true and lasting happiness, we must be free of the need for any external reason to be happy. As Deepak Chopra has said, “happiness for a reason is just another form of misery.”

What we all want most deeply is to be what I have come to call “happy for no reason” - a lasting neurophysiological state of peace and well-being that is not dependent on circumstances. I’ve spent the last few years researching the latest findings on happiness and interviewing truly happy people for my upcoming book, Happy for No Reason. The good news is this is an achievable state.

Ironically, we seem to have things backwards. True happiness isn’t a result of getting what we want; getting what we want is a side effect of happiness. Why? Because, when we are happy for no reason, we have mastered that tricky step #3, no tension, and then our desires manifest more quickly and effortlessly than ever.

Perhaps we need to focus a little less on getting what we want to make us happy and a little more on creating a deep inner state of happiness. When we are happy for no reason, all else is just icing on the cake.

That is the ultimate secret!


Marci Shimoff, one of the nation's leading motivational experts, has shared her illuminating message about the infinite possibilities that life holds with audiences across the world. Marci is the New York Times #1 Bestselling Author of Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul and Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul.

Now she shares her message as part of the life-changing film, The Secret and at The Law Of Attraction Prophets Conference at UCLA July 20-22 along with eight other outstanding presenters from The Secret, and at The Heart Of The Secret Conference in Santa Cruz, California, where Marci will be joined by Howard Martin and Dr. Joe Dispenza on August 3-4. These will be exceptional events that you’ll want to experience.

THE LAW OF ATTRACTION SECRET CONFERENCE UCLA -
July 20-22, 2007

HEART OF THE SECRET SANTA CRUZ CONFERENCE -
August 3-4, 2007

MARCI SHIMOFF earned her MBA from UCLA and holds an advanced certificate as a stress management consultant. She is a founding member and on the board of directors of the Transformational Leadership Council, a group of 100 top leaders serving over ten million people in the self-development market.

A celebrated transformational leader and one of the nation's leading motivational experts, Marci has inspired millions of people around the world sharing her breakthrough methods for personal fulfillment and professional success. President and co-founder of the Esteem Group, she delivers keynote addresses and seminars on self-esteem, self-empowerment and peak performance to corporations, professional and non-profit organizations, and women's associations. Highly sought after, she is a powerful keynoter who consistently receives rave reviews and standing ovations. She has been a top-rated trainer for numerous Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T, General Motors, Sears, Amoco, Western Union, and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Go Gratitude ~ The Master Key To Infinity

[Courtesy of the Go Gratitude Experiment]


GRATITUDE QUOTES

"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." - The Buddha

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others." - Cicero

"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." -
Eric Hoffer

"Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul." - Henry Ward Beecher

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." - John F. Kennedy

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice." - Meister Eckhart

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." - Melodie Beattie

"The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated." - William James



When you accept changes in your sovereign reality
as the shifting persona of the Universal Soul,
you live in greater harmony with life itself.

Life becomes an exchange of energy between you
and the Universal Soul that is allowed to play out;
without judgment, and is experienced without fear.
This is the underlying meaning of unconditional love:
to experience life in all its manifestations as a single,
unified intelligence that responds perfectly
to the projected image of each soul.

It is for this reason that when you project Gratitude
to the Universal Soul, regardless of circumstance or condition,
life becomes increasingly supportive in opening you
to activate your divine imprints.
This feeling of Gratitude coupled with the mental concept of appreciation
is expressed like an invisible message
in all directions and at all times.

In this particular context, gratitude to the Universal Soul
is the overarching motive behind all forms of expression t
o which humanity aspires.

Every breath, every word, every touch, every thought,
every thing is centered on expressing this sense of Gratitude;
a Gratitude that you are sovereign
and supported by a Universal Soul
that expresses itself through all forms and manifestations
of intelligence with the sole objective of creating the ideal reality
to activate your divine imprints and transform your entire being
into Divine Essence.

It is this specific form of Gratitude that accelerates
the activation of your divine imprints
and their peculiar ability to integrate
the disparate components of your body, mind, heart, and soul,
and to transform them to the state of perception and expression
of Divine Essence....

Establishing a relationship with the universe
through the outflow of Gratitude
also attracts life experience that is transformative -
experience that is richly devoted to uncovering life's
deepest meaning and most formative purpose.

(WingMakers)

The Dark Side of "The Secret" ~ by T. Sebastian

You’ve met “The Secret” teachers on Oprah. Now take a look at the “dark side” of The Secret.

Really? A Secret?

Not really a big issue, but this understanding has been around for a while - like a few thousand years. The Secret is a basic part of the mystical teachings of Gautama Buddha and Yeshua the Nazarene (Jesus the Christ). It’s simple to find if you really study.

More recently, this teaching has been popularized by Lynn Grabhorn in her Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting books. Published about 7 years ago. Lynn Grabhorn attributes most of her insights to a channeled being called Abraham. This is not meant to demean this information in any way. Wisdom finds its way into our consciousness in various and mysterious ways. But how do we use this wisdom properly?

The Dark Side!

Check your motivation. When the sages taught this type of practice, their intention was that you understand how the universe works and that you use this knowledge for spiritual maturation and in other wholesome ways. If you look at what most of the present day teachers talked about on Oprah, you will see them emphasizing that “You can have what you want”... or “You can create the life of your dreams.” There was a lot of talk about wealth and prosperity, getting good jobs, finding a mate etc.

In contrast to that, Yeshua (Jesus) said: “You must die to yourself daily to enter the kingdom.” So, what’s wrong with this picture? Basically two things: Balance and emotional maturity. Think about it this way. Would you give your 6-year-old child 20 bucks and send him into a candy store? Too much power and too little maturity can lead to disaster. Take a look at some of Hollywood’s celebrity train wrecks, or how bout rock & roll stars?

This is the main problem with The Secret. People are emotionally immature. People have desires and needs. These desires and needs are almost always driven by the undeveloped parts of us. In other words, our “needs” arise out of the wounds we contracted during our early development. Should we try to use an advanced spiritual technology and apply it to manifesting these desires and meeting these needs? Isn’t this just a way to satisfy our addictions? Without the balancing aspects of these spiritual technologies, we could be in for trouble.

The Balance

How to balance the teachings of The Secret. The first step is to look at your needs and desires. They are windows into your unhealed parts or wounded child. Before you jump into automatically trying to fulfill your needs and desires, use the power of focus to observe the “needy you” behind them. This needy you needs to be re-parented, not to have a lollipop stuck in its mouth. Sorry if that’s a little harsh. But judging by what I’ve seen, this is a sorely needed “tap on the butt.”

Next, process the pain inside. By focusing on the origin of your “needs” and processing the pain, you begin to heal the needy parts of your soul. This leads to emotional maturity. Continued inner work in this arena leads to Wholeness. A Whole person acts from a place I call “energetic responsibility.” After becoming more mature and responsible, we will have a much better clue as to how to manifest that which is really good for us and for mankind.

Learning the details of how to process your inner pain instead of being driven by it is beyond the scope of this article. You can find excellent information here.

Ultimately, traveling down this path, you will find that Wholeness is a state beyond pain based need. It’s a state where all your neediness has been healed and you become the Source for your own peace, power and joy. You become continuously and permanently connected to all things and the Source of all things. This includes the ability to create or generate inner states like Love anytime you want. When you can directly generate inner states, there is no need to go outside yourself for any type of fulfillment. Only then are you really free or mature enough to manifest in a truly energetically responsible way.

T. Sebastian is an author and integral life coach.
Check out his blog!

Highlights from "The Secret" on Oprah Winfrey

[Courtesy of Sparkbugg.com]



APPLY "THE SECRET" TODAY!

Conscious Capitalism? Huh?

What is Conscious Capitalism anyway? Isn't this an oxymoron since Capitalism is evil? Good question. I'll leave it to rockstar entrepreneur John Mackey, Chairman and CEO of Whole Foods, to answer this question.

In his very passionate and insightful essay entitled, "Conscious Capitalism: Creating a New Paradigm for Business," John Mackey laid out his vision. Here are some key quotes from the essay:

“Have you ever asked yourself what is the purpose of a business? It is an interesting question that most business people never ask themselves. If you think about it, what is the purpose of a doctor or hospital? Is their purpose to maximize profits? Well, this is certainly not the purpose that they teach in medical schools or most doctors advocate. The doctor's purpose is to help heal sick people. What about the purpose of the teacher or the school? Do they exist to maximize profits? No, of course not. Their primary purpose is to educate the young and prepare them to live successful lives in society. What about the purpose of lawyers or law courts? All lawyer jokes aside, the purpose of a lawyer would be to pursue justice and our law courts exist to settle disputes in our society and to bring wrongdoers to justice. All of the other professions put an emphasis on the public good and have purposes beyond self-interest. Why doesn't business?”

“I've known many entrepreneurs in my life, and with only a few exceptions most did not create their business primarily to maximize profits. Of course they wanted to make money, but profit was just one of the reasons they started their business. It may be that they were unable to work for anybody else, have strong authority issues, and therefore need to be their own boss. Or they need to be in charge of their own enterprise because that is how they get their sense of self-worth, value, and self-esteem.

It could be that they have something to prove to their parents, siblings, or their friends and creating a successful business will exorcise unconscious childhood demons. It could be that they are very creative individuals who have ideas that they want to see tested in reality to see whether or not they work. It could be that they are idealists and want to make the world a better place, and their primary motivation for creating their business is to improve the world. It could be that the entrepreneurs create their business for the sheer fun of it. There are many, many reasons why people create businesses, and while I cannot deny that there are certain entrepreneurs who create their business primarily to maximize profits, I would say that in my life experience they are definitely a minority.”

“If most entrepreneurs don't create their businesses for the primary purpose of maximizing profits, then what are their primary goals? The answer to this question varies tremendously from business to business - there are potentially as many different purposes for businesses as there are businesses. Entrepreneurs create their businesses for a diversity of reasons. However, I believe that most of the greatest companies in the world also have great purposes which were discovered and/or created by their original founders and which still remain at the core of their business models.

Having a deeper, more transcendent purpose is highly energizing for all of the various interdependent stakeholders, including the customers, employees, investors, suppliers, and the larger communities in which the business participates. While these deeper, more transcendent purposes have unique expressions at each business they also can be grouped into certain well known and timeless categories. Philosophy dates back to Plato the timeless ideals of “The Good”, “The True”, and “The Beautiful” that humanity has been seeking to create, discover, and express for thousands of years. If we add the ideal of “The Heroic” to the above three we have the framework of higher ideals which most great businesses seek to express in some form or fashion.”


So there. Conscious Capitalism is the expression of The Good, The True, and The Beautiful through business.

Read the whole essay here.