A lot of people think that in order to follow New Thought and the Law of Attraction, you just have to put a big happy face on everything, and accept your circumstances no matter what. I’m pretty sure that when I first watched The Secret all those years ago, I misinterpreted that as well.
While The Secret is what got me into this new line of thinking and metaphysical learning, it is NOT perfect. It’s a great way to get your foot in the door, and obviously it can provide many great benefits to those who are open and receptive. However, it’s way too easy to take their simplified and easily digestible version of things as gospel, and miss the big picture.
For instance, one of the biggest things missing from The Secret is the second to last step in the creative process. The process, according to that film, is as follows:
1. Ask- Think clearly of what you want.
2. Believe- Know you’re going to receive it.
3. Receive- get it.
What’s missing here, and what I feel is really the biggest part, is what comes between 2 and 3: BE HAPPY ANYWAY. It’s that crucial release of control, and getting yourself into a positive vibration, that really seals the deal.
A lot of the time, it’s easy to become frustrated when you have asked and believed, but don’t receive as quickly as you want to. The Secret does address this, and pretty much says “Don’t think that way. You’ll mess it up!” I feel like it’s more thorough to say “Yeah, maybe that’s not the right thing. It’s OK to feel bummed, but HEY! Life is pretty good anyway! Maybe this is how it’s supposed to be.”
One of my favorite quotes I’ve heard since I’ve been attending my church is “This, or something better.” If you become too attached to the outcome, you can quite easily find yourself in a state of anxiety or unhappiness. One must learn how to release this expectation to truly allow results to flow to you.
Bringing it back to the Big Happy Face, sometimes people use the it as a way to prove they’re happy, or as a release itself. But the BHF itself is a form of control! It says “See? LOOK HOW HAPPY I AM! DO YOU SEE? If you believe it about me, then it MUST be true!”
I find it can be really valuable to the soul to say “Damn, this SUCKS!” Sometimes, the only way to release fear and negativity is to FEEL it. By pushing it down and slapping a BHF on it, you’re still giving it power over your circumstances. The only way to give those feelings permission to leave you is to ALLOW them to pass through you.
Once this has happened, you might find that Big Happy Face is actually a quiet, contented, blissed out smile. And then POOF! Manifestation.
Try it, let me know what you think.
LOVE-
Adge
