Happy New Year 2008 : Make Up Your Mind to Be Happy

THE ULTIMATE RECIPE

STOP: Trying to find happiness outside yourself by accumulating
more things and more money.

START: Being that joyful, happy person inside you now - this will
inspire you to do what you need to do to have what you want. Focus
on loving and appreciating where you are which in turn will inspire
you to move toward all you want on this journey called life.

PAY ATTENTION TO HOW YOU FEEL: Consciously and deliberately
chase opportunities to be happy now and all that you want will be
yours. It is the Law of Attraction.
[Taken From Living The Secret Everyday: My Secret Workbook]

Most people are just about as happy as they make up their minds
to be. -Abraham Lincoln

'The Secret' of Finding Happiness

Here is one of my favorite quotes from Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

"...that people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that maybe will descend on you like fine weather if you're lucky enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it and sometimes travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into the happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don't you will leak away your innate contentement. It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments."

Sorry, but gotta give a plug here because this is the essence of Living The Secret Everyday. It is a workbook that shows you not only how to achieve happiness but rather how to stay happy each and everyday. It is my 'bible' that guides me, teaches me and reminds to stay on the path I want. Joanne

Is Eat, Pray, Love about Living The Secret?

Yes, yes and more yes. There is no doubt in my mind that Liz Gilbert's journey to find inner peace and happiness is all about her journey living The Secret. This is truly one woman's journey that is every woman's journey to find that life of joy waiting for her. Inspiring, honest and beautifully written we are able to get into the mind of a woman who is focused, faithful and on a mission to find beauty in her own world. This is a book I will read over and over again- can't say that about a lot of books. It is on the top of my list.

Her travels to Italy, India and Indonesia are only the backdrop for her quest to find herself. We don't need to travel round the world to make such a journey- all we have to do is search inside ourselves so we too can open the doors to our life as we open the doors to our mind and heart. We must focus each and everyday as Liz did. It does take effort and practice in order permanently change our lives :"to prevent leaking away of (the) innate contentement." (E.Gilbert). She says it so elegantly in her book, "The best we can do ...in response to our incomprehensible and dangerous world is to practice holding equilibrium internally- no matter what insanity is transpiring out there.' '(p.206 Eat,Pray,Love). This translates to living our lives with conscious awareness and deliberateness. That is The Secret.

Thank You Oprah for All Your Gifts

Yes, we challenged Oprah 4 days ago and yes now we want to express our gratitude to her. We all know that Oprah is a very powerful woman (yeah !) but there are many powerful people around the world. What makes her unique is how she uses her power: her mission- always to 'make a difference' in this world and benefit others. Just view her TV shows and all the value they bring. That's why we challenge her.
No better time than Christmas to thank you Oprah for giving the world your most recent gift that does 'keep on giving'... The Secret. Oprah has been a major force in spreading the beautiful messages of this book and the principles of The Law of Attraction on her show and by living it:

"It's making its way around the world. For years on this show
this is what I have been trying to do. It is the secret to creating
the life you truly want. This is life changing." Oprah on The Secret (2/07)

What a difference it has made in so many lives, including ours. We are personally thankful to her for being our role model and the inspiration behind our creation: Living The Secret Everyday: My Secret workbook , a book that has brought so much joy to us which in turn we hope will do the same for others.

The Next Step: Writing the Book

And we did...calling it Living The Secret Everyday: My Secret Workbook. It started out as a curriculum guide for schools but then turned into a personal quest shared by Sis and I. We had the greatest time creating this book because it was going to be our manual for permanently transforming and living our lives. We wanted something documented- a process, a path so we didn't forget...so we didn't lose our way on our journey. After all I can't tell you how many wonderful self-help and inspirational books we've read and then 6 months later- they're simply a memory, then a blurr... with little permanent benefit to changing our lives. We were determined that our book was to be different from the rest out there-a 'bible,' so-to-speak, to keep by your side... and if nothing else, we would end up with our own personal map outlined so we could stick to our route.

We loved the book The Secret but after reading it, still had questions we needed answers to- simple but practical ones like:

How do I get started?
How do I embrace it into my life on a daily basis?
What do I really want?
How do I change the way I've been thinking for so many years?
How do I rid myself of my life-long negative beliefs and doubts that I've grown up with when they creep into my head?

My Secret Workbook was born...a book that continues and will continue to change our lives each and everyday. Our dream NOW is to share it joyfully with the world.

Author Challenges Oprah to Bring The Law of Attraction to Schools

Shouldn't we be teaching our youth in the classroom how to use their powerful minds and to be responsible for their lives ? What do you think? As a veteran educator, I believe that the principles of The Law of Attraction/The Secret should be part of every school curriculum. So what better person to challenge to make this happen but Oprah. Check out the news story that puts forth our challenge... www.i-newswire.com/pr137855.html (scroll down the page)

What Attracted You to The Secret?

We like many of you grew up in a caring but negative environment. The focus was on worrying, discontentment, problem solving and criticism. Anger was a means to control each other. There was little emphasis on joy, hope or on a 'you-can-do-anything-you-want' attitude. Don't get us wrong- our parents meant well but this was their approach to life in general.

Then came the Law of Attraction/ The Secret into our lives. The messages were mesmerizing- the exact opposite of what we learned growing up. But boy! the thought of them was inspiring and hopeful. A new perspective on life: taking responsibility...realizing that when you change the way you see the world, your world does change. We needed to wake up and live our life deliberately and consciously focusing on what we wanted, looking for the positive in what is, giving praise and appreciation, and being thankful for what we had. We found that this took and still does take alot of effort but the rewards are great....especially the happiness part. When you believe you CAN create the life you want...you do realize the journey is yours: wherever you are, you can get to where you want. All it takes is positive thinking about yourself, others and your world...which isn't always that easy- but we keep working on it!

It is the true secret to a joyful life...and boy it feels sooooo much better.

Our Mantra

A Personal Declaration

I am a powerful creator.
I can be, do, and have anything I want.
All I have to do is choose those positive thoughts that make me feel good.
I focus on what I want, what I appreciate, what I am thankful for.
My feelings will guide me to create positive thoughts and release all negativity from my mind.
These positive thoughts will bring more positive thoughts, experiences, and people into my life, transforming my desires into my physical reality.

Taken from http://livingthesecreteveryday.com/

Welcome to Our Blog

Hi, I'm Suzanne, the one on the left. Welcome to our blog. I was first introduced to the Law of Attraction by my sister who was very interested in the work of Esther and Jerry Hicks at the time. So when The Secret came out, it only reinforced my beliefs in these principles.

In our blog, we hope to give you a little glimpse at our own personal journey and some of the recipes that worked for us. We hope that you enjoy reading it and look forward to hearing about your experiences with The Secret and the Law of Attraction as well.

How I got started:

I quickly was successful in applying the principles to an issue that had plagued me for much of my life. Yo-yo dieting was a part of me. Every Monday I would begin a diet only to fall "off the wagon" by Wednesday. Unknowingly I continually focused on being fat and how difficult it was to shed the extra pounds ; which only attracted more of the same. After reading The Secret, I began approaching the weight issue totally differently. I verbalized my desire positively; I creatively visualized scenarios in which I was at the weight I wanted- pumped up and happy. I saw myself shopping and buying clothes in smaller sizes; wearing them and receiving compliments from friends; and feeling so healthy. I didn't think the weight loss would happen; I knew now that it would. And yes, I did take action which involved a weight control program ...but this wasn't a first. Something else was on my side...maybe me. Suzanne

A First Time Blogger

OK...I've never done anything like this before. This is a first but then again I've always liked 'firsts.' Adventure has always been an exciting thing for me to embrace. For others adventure and change can be threatening- not me. The older I get, the easier it gets because I tend to care less and less what other people think. Trying new things is especially appealing at my age- an age I'm not quite ready to divulge for fear that the millions of readers I hope to attract to this blog would prefer my age to be different. I'm thinking a contest to guess the age of this blogger might be fun. Can you guess by my witing style or streaming of thoughts how old I am?

Well here goes. I can't beleive I'm writing this blog on my computer for the whole world to view...but then again it's doubtful that anyone other than my sis, husband or daughter will actually read it. It does feel good even if no one reads it- very cathartic putting thoughts on paper- you never know what will come out or what you will learn from your words on paper. Its like having a conversation with someone 'hanging on your every word' -words really spill out.

In all honesty, there is reason behind this madness. I do have a reason for my blogging. My twin sister and I have been sucked in (well actually better wording- 'attracted to') the messages of the best -seller book The Secret are changing our lives with each passing day. Blogging will serve a 4-fold purpose: to share our experience with The Secret or Law of Attraction , spread the word on HOW to live it; convince you that this is a path to a joyful life and hear about your experiences with The Secret.

Lastly, I promise that future blogs will be much shorter. Joanne