Hi!

I didn’t read “The Secret” and I honestly have minimal knowledge about the Law of Attraction, but I just wanted to butt in and give my 2 cents on the topic regarding, positive vs. negative thinking…

Lately I’ve been reading a book called “The Happiness Trap” by Russ Harris. It’s about “acceptance and commitment therapy”; one of my counselors recommended it to me. I hesitated to read it because the premise is about accepting every thought and feeling you have; even the negative ones, instead of trying to ignore them, because the more you ignore them, the stronger they get in the background. Instead of dwelling on thoughts, beliefs, and feelings, he encourages people to carry on with their lives regardless of how their minds are thinking or feeling. Eg.- I get anxious a lot, and sometimes that makes me not want to get up and go to dance auditions; but since my anxiety is rooted in worries about the future, it try to root myself in the present moment and just continue with what I was doing. The anxiety is still there, but instead of trying to make it go away, I acknowledge it, rate it, etc, then carry on. Believe me, it’s really hard…

I think the best thing to take away from “The Happiness Trap”, is that it’s not always about positive thinking and blocking negative thoughts. People are always going to have negative experiences. It’s human! It’s about just being able to go through your life without the background noise of constant thoughts. It’s more about fully living in the moment, which I like because it takes the emphasis off the “think positive!!!” theory which I tend to find…exhausting and artificial at times. Not sure what you guys think about this book or the author’s ideas, but I recommend it!