View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Giulia Rosa (@giuliajrosa)

Maybe you’ve already read this book, or perhaps you haven’t, but surely you heard about it.

In a short period of time, it became a global sensation, selling more than 35 million copies worldwide. It was eventually made into a movie and gained millions of dollars in the box offices.

Positive thinking.

This is what the author is selling us. Think positive thoughts, and good things will happen to you. If you didn’t wish it enough, or even if negative things happened to you, then it’s your own fault for not doing it properly.

Now, I’m not saying that wishful thinking is not a good practice. On the contrary, it will do you wonders. It will help you be grateful for all the beautiful things around you, whether it was your health, job, family, or any other blessing you might have.

Unfortunately, positive thinking will only get you this far if you do not put in the effort.

We don’t live in fairy tales; we live in the real world. In this world, if you want something to happen, you have to work hard for it in order to start taking hold of it, not to mention keeping it.

If I spend my days wishing for that awesome red Ferrari, thinking positively about having it, or imagining myself taking it for a spin on the open road, I guarantee you that, at the end of the day, its wheels will not move one centimeter closer to your garage.

I remember it clear as day when Rhonda Byrne—the writer of this book and its sequels: The Power, The Magic, and Hero, and the complete guide on how to elude people into thinking that you’re somebody important and you know how to write deceiving books (I admit that I made the last one up from my imagination, just as Rhonda did)—claimed on a television show that she tricked her own mind in just three days into thinking that she isn’t farsighted, and voilà, she fixed her eyes with a simple trick that puts all the ophthalmologists and optometrists to shame.

This book will try to convince you that you are a failure for not wishing for whatever you desire hard enough; it will tell you over and over again that it’s your fault.

If you don’t believe me, search for Joe Vitale, the “expert” on the laws of attraction and the person who was in the movie. He claims to be a spiritual teacher, but he flagrantly blames you for not attracting positive thoughts about the subject.

How convenient it is to blame other people when your little sham doesn’t work for them!

Don’t fall into the trap of sitting around the house and enjoying easy stuff coming to your doorstep. They won’t.

Most of us will not fall for this work of enchantment and may read this book to pass the time when we are tired of reading the same words on the shampoo bottles.

Unfortunately, some people will take this book to the letter and leave everything to be decided for them based on their wishful and positive thinking. What’s problematic about this attitude has nothing to do with them dreaming of better outcomes in their lives. The main problem is when they give up on making the actual effort to try and conquer the difficulties.

Sitting around and doing nothing tangible to come closer to that better future is going to make them miss going to work—since they are certain that they don’t need it when positive thinking is the only key leading them to success. Their bills will start piling up. They might lose their mortgages or have their phone and electricity cut off due to unpaid debts, and so on.

Why? Because The Secret told them to simply not care about this kind of stuff, to wish their way through life, and they will be rewarded for their magical efforts at the finish line.

My advice to you is to get up in the morning, run through your daily routine, look at the mirror and tell yourself that you can do it, lock your doors when leaving your home, and actually go on and do it.

This is what you and I, and the rest of the entire population on Earth are doing. And look at us! We’re doing fine most of the time. If things were tough in your life, remember that you share this struggle with almost everyone you meet.

Seek guidance, reach for help, talk to people, go see a psychologist, and most importantly, be easy on yourself.

You got this.