#8

I was recently watching the movie The Secret with a group of women I meet with every week. After watching the movie we took some time to chat about what we liked, what hit home with each one of us, what got our attention, what excited us and what made us think twice. During the movie, one of the speakers said, "Energy flows where attention goes". That got a few nods and it was something we discussed afterwards. Another quote that really made a number of us "sit up straighter" was one by Henry Ford. He said, "whether you think you can or you can't, either way you are right".

Now, if you are sitting in a group of entrepreneurs, then these quotes will talk to you in a way that helps shape your entrepreneurial thoughts. If you're in a group of creative artists, again, these sayings will be seen and discussed with the view of being able to create. Our group is made up of 7 women. We are all in our 40's and we all have children. Some of us work outside the home, but no one works full time. What brought us together is our common goal to lose weight. However, weight [although the elephant in the room] is not the major reason we get together. We all are in a place in our lives where we have given [and still do] so much of ourselves to child rearing, family obligations and work, that we have lost a little bit of ourselves. In this group, we do different types of exercises where we try to learn more about ourselves. We ask questions that help us figure out our priorities like - who we are, what we want, who we want to be, why we do what we do and where do we want to go [besides Hawaii]. Needless to say, our interpretation of those quotes lead our thoughts in a different direction than the two groups I mentioned above.

Where weight is concerned, a number of us realized that we put a lot of our energy and attention into wishing we weren't the size we are, or being upset that we don't fit into last years clothing or that our appetites are uncontrollable. If you believe in The Secret and what it is trying to teach, then all that attention needs to be redirected to the positive and away from the negative. So instead of wishing we weren't so big or fat or flabby, we need to focus attention instead on seeing ourselves as thin, in shape, fitting into clothing from last year and eating in a normal and healthy way. The Secret says you need to shift your thoughts and feelings and with that shift, the key to changing your life has been given to you. I think intuitively we all know that. If you think bad things will happen to you, then usually they do. This quote not only helped some of us with our weight issues, but it also helped a few of us redirect our energy in dealing with issues going on in our homes and personal lives. One member even decided to use this in regards to her sex life. She will put more attention on feeling good in her relationship and her feelings towards her spouse and less attention on her body and how she wishes it was thinner. We're all waiting to hear if the "attention" followed where she directed her energy.

The other quote "whether you think you can or you can't, either way you are right" was another ah ha for a number of us. Again, in regards to weight issues.... DUH!! How many times have you started a diet and then when you didn't lose those 20 pounds in the first 2 weeks you just gave up saying it's never going to happen. Well, you thought you could lose 20 lbs in 2 weeks, found our you can't lost 20 lbs in two weeks and found out you were right. However, the path you follow after that realization is the make or break path. If you follow The Secret's teachings, then you know that you need to shift your focus to the positive and say, "Ok, I didn't lose 20 lbs, but I lost 5 lbs and that's still better than gaining 5 lbs so I'm going to keep going and see another 5 come off in the next two weeks". Now, instead of bemoaning your lack of weight loss you are thinking and putting your attention to the positive. If you continue to feel and think positively, your energy will flow there and the shift will have happened. You will have found the key. For those of you who think this is mumbo jumbo - and I know there are a lot of you out there - give it a try, or not. However, this may work for those of you who need a nudge right now to help bring focus into your life, in any area.

Some people swear by The Secret and it's teachings. There are a number of you already living this way and have just never thought about it. Another quote from the The Secret says, "Man becomes what he thinks about". So, our small group is working on redirecting our thoughts, desires and wishes. If this works, watch out! There are going to be 7 stunningly thin, creative, fulfilled and very happy women out there real soon.