Thanks Sand for your insight. I completely agree with so many of your points and have been wondering how on earth positive thinking (alone) can make someone accomplish or overcome certain things. I kept thinking that it was just me...I could never REALLY, truly, and sincerely follow the secret b/c if it's supposedly works as they say, I am too cautious (I like to say that rather than pessimistic  ) to "believe." Like the parking spot example....really, every time?
On the other hand, I do think that there are valuable messages presented in the book, as in many other books out there of a similar genre that I cannot claim to have read. Thus far I have found myself to be a better mother and wife after reading some of it because even though before I always tried to keep perspective on the little complaints in life, something about the "being grateful" chapters made something click for me. It is so easy to get caught up in the small things that shouldn't even matter when you have so much more to be thankful for. I find myself living more for each day, and thankfully with my IBS more under control, I really want to LIVE. For me, these last 6 months have been such a growth...as I mentioned in another post...it's the conglomerate (sp?) of all I've been doing I think (the hypno, the diet, acacia, yoga, reading, anxiety meds.). I always like to listen to other people's perspectives on things and just take them in. Other posters on this thread...thanks for your insight too.
Two other messages have impacted my growth also over these past months. They are food for thought for anyone else out there who is struggling:
1- I read an article about a particular author (can't remember the name) who described a situation where a person was driving to work/a meeting (something quite important) and was in that usual harried state of mind that commuters get in when the car in front of her suddenly stopped. It upset her b/c she couldn't believe this person was not moving, holding up traffic and she had to be somewhere!! So the driver of that vehicle got out of her car and was fiddling around her back seat for awhile. How could she do this right now? Doesn't she know people have places to go? People to see? Anyhow, turns out that the driver's baby was choking in the back seat of the car in her car seat and the mother had stopped and gotten out to help her. (Sorry if I have done the author any injustice in my retelling) Point being: the second driver was quick to complain and make a judgement when she didn't even know the circumstances. From that point on, she decided she would use the acronym BIBS (Baby in the Back Seat) whenever she encountered someone who was rude, etc. We never know what other people have going on behind closed doors and now I stop and think, "I wonder what that person is going through" instead of cursing them out. I'm not perfect at it, but if we all thought this way more often, the world be a little friendlier place. I take a deep breath and think, "BIBS", whenever I'm about to lose my cool. Not directly IBS related, but who knows...maybe that rude person has just had an attack or is stressed about something???
2- Whether you're a Drew Barrimore fan or not, I think what she said on the TODAY show about a month ago is worth remembering. She was explaining why she had run naked in a field in Ireland (or something wild like that) and she said, "I don't want each year of my life to be a carbon copy of the last." BINGO! I stopped right there and thought about how my IBS is holding me back from really doing the things I want to do in life before I die. I realized that although each year has been mildly different, each day often seems to be a carbon copy of the last for me. I vowed right then and there to do something exciting and new/more adventuresome with my children DAILY...even if it just means reading our evening stories under a blanket tent instead of sitting on the bed. I'm not necessarily running through a field naked, but it's a start.
Well...I've gone on a tangent, but I am so excited about the possibilities that lie ahead and I suppose that is the main message of the Secret and all those other books out there. As for the impact of the message boards, it is true that reading a bunch of posts about difficulties may not be as uplifting as reading the success stories. Lucky for me the latter has weighed more heavily and the genuine concern of everyone here keeps me plugging along.
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Originally IBS-D for a million years!
Then IBS-A, Now a transformed slightly C
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