Everyone anticipates blockbuster Saturday – especially when it is Ernie’s turn to pick the films. Ernie simply has the talent to choose not-so-ordinary-flicks and true to his description, he did not fail us when last Saturday he decided on The Secret as our movie for the night.

The Secret movie was so good that we had to watch it thrice in a row. But what is the film all about?

• The Secret movie is about an idea that has been circulating around the world for ages and this idea is the law of attraction. When the power of this law was discovered, people who were in authority tried to control it. But great and famous individuals got around such control through hiding this secret law of attraction in their masterpieces and in literature, which experts later unraveled.

• The Secret tells viewers, in detail, how to control the law of attraction in order to accumulate wealth, recover or prevent diseases and ultimately, become successful in life.

• The film also informs us of our power to create our reality by modifying our mindset. According to those who practice the law of attraction, when we have clear intentions coupled with consistent action geared toward these intentions, we are encouraged to achieve our SMART goals.

• All of us use the law of attraction on a daily basis but many times we do it without necessarily noticing that we are doing it. Our thinking and our beliefs attract certain things, either good or bad, to our lives. For example, when we truly believe that we will be given a particularly elusive research grant, our thoughts tend to influence our behavior and thus in the end we act in ways that are directed at our craving.

• If we want to get the life that we really yearn for, we can ask the universe for it and the universe will provide us with the answer, which is generally aligned with our yearnings.

• We should visualize whatever it is that we want and take to heart this vision for it to materialize in reality.

• All of these however would not happen unless we have gratitude. We should thank life and its co-conspirators for the things we have been given. A grateful soul with a grateful heart is always blessed with more.

Putting it simply, The Secret movie, which is now my favorite, tells us that the law of attraction can be summarized by Henry Ford’s words “whether you think you can or you can’t, either way you are right”.

Have you seen The Secret? Have you discovered the secret the movie offers?

You are in a financial mess – your bankbook is staggering with a less than mediocre interest rate, your credit cards are almost maxed out, and your cash spells ZERO. But your debt continues to be BIG, HUGE and INCREASING. Your love life is no different; your career has become stagnant. Your left door neighbor on the other hand seems to have a very big break in work, love and wealth. And you wonder about her luck. Your other next door neighbor tells you that she’s married to Mr. Prosperity. Mr. Prosperity indeed! You feel jealousy consuming the inner you. Put simply, you are envious. So with envy, you end up making a scheme on attracting prosperity, Mr. Prosperity.

Are you the scheming envious person mentioned above? Are you planning on attracting prosperity as well? With the global downhill direction of our economy today, I wouldn’t be surprised if you see yourself in the above given scenario. Most of us might find ourselves woeful about our financial states. We ask ourselves, why are some people luckier than us? But consider this, does the issue lie in their luck or does it lie in us? Regardless of our answer to the question posed, we still find relief when we learn that there are those who lead an existence that is worse than what we have.

Prosperity is not based on chance or faith alone, nor is it only exclusive to people who are perceived to be luck worthy or special by external forces. Each one of us actually has the ability to become prosperity magnets – and the ability to attract prosperity lies on attitude. If you find yourself becoming the person in the above statements, then maybe you can help yourself to some of these easy ways of attracting the good things in life.

• Know what you desire. Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, says that “thoughts are things” and are powerful when they are accompanied with the desire to have these thoughts translated into materials. If you are aware of what you want, chances are, whatever actions you engage in would be geared towards the direction of your desire – thus the translation of thought to material. See our article on the power of the subconscious mind for more information on this topic.

• Live your life. Living your life does not mean that you have to waste it with all those fun filled exciting activities that you do to get more out of life. It does not mean shopping sprees, luxurious vacations, or all night partying. Nor does living your life indicate being tied up with doing more work than allowed in order to prosper. Living your life simply means that you have to recognize the fact that life is a cycle of ups and downs. You win some. You lose some. When you recognize these events and when you are really aware of these events, then it would be easier for you to adapt what is called for in a certain happenstance. Then you will find yourself on the road to attracting different prosperities.

• Take the risk and when the risk results to down fall, plunge in it. There is no better opportunity for learning from your mistake than risking the things that you think are tough, and considering the mistakes that might come out from these risks as stepping stones to prosperity. No one prospers as effortlessly as the snap of the fingers. The mistakes you commit shall guide your future actions.

• There is always something in nothing. Violet in Lemony Snickett’s A Series of Unfortunate Events believed this motto. She believed that each hopeless case offers more room for new ideas and actions. If for instance you moved to a depressing and uncivilized area, then you ought not to consider this as frustrating. Instead, think that its lack of civilization is its best gift to offer you. You can form groups that could help with progress like business ventures or you can put color into the locality’s mundane life by starting things on your own fashion and passion. Attracting prosperity thrives in limitations, after all you would not have room for more prosperity if and when you are already at the top of the mountain.

• Consider the law of attraction. This maxim is rather common – especially because it seems to connote the idea of getting rich in a quick effortless way. In law of attraction, the principle of like energies attracting each other takes place in the person. As long as the person acts positively, behaves optimistically, then that individual will attract good things into their life. This goes the same for the person whose cup is half-empty. He should start thinking of it as half-full!

• Recognize the differences between “temporary gratification” and “lasting contentment”. Temporary gratification is an immediate satisfaction of what you desire – at a certain moment. At that certain moment, you feel happy because you got what you wanted. But such happiness is more often than not short lived so you seek for more again. On the other hand, once you try to take the time to actually examine what you really desire, and persevere to fulfill that desire, then you get to achieve the contentment that is lacking in people who seek for immediate gratification.

• Conquer your resistance to inevitable change. This way of attracting prosperity can simply be done by going with the flow. If your lifestyle no longer fits the conventional – then change it. Most of us probably are very much comfortable with our current situations that we feel afraid of leaving our comfort zones. If we are in the teaching position for example – we might choose to remain secluded in the academe and isolate ourselves from field experiences. How can one prosper if one does not change in various aspects of our life.

• Lastly, we ought to cultivate continuity. One cannot prosper when one would not influence other people as well. This is more or less like networking, but the important thing is that prosperity comes when one is in touch with others. When you’re happy because you’re lucky in investments for instance – you have to share it. It is never healthy to be isolated and self-absorbed in ones’ own world. If misery loves company, then so does happiness. Besides, this idea of continuity is a form of gratitude that we could give back to life – especially when life is kind to us, or even when it’s not.

There, you now have the list of the possible things you can do to go about attracting prosperity. Why don’t you try them and see if they work for you? You can’t remain skeptical forever anyway. Besides, you’ve got nothing to lose here. So go ahead – plunge in the good life – plunge in prosperity.