We’ve seen them everywhere. They’ve become increasingly popular on your Twitter timeline, your Facebook Fam’s status updates, even your favorite talk shows have touted them. Books have been written and movies produced about them. I’m talking about dream boards. Positive affirmations. Does “positive affirmation” honestly lead to “positive life transformation?” Are your dream boards becoming your reality?

A few years ago, a friend recommended I read “The Power of Your Subconscious Mind” by Dr. Joseph Murphy. It is a self-help book geared towards helping you realize the power in your subconscious thoughts. The book gives examples of this power:

a simple example

A woman seeing a handbag which she cant afford in a store and willing her mind to see the handbag as hers. Miraculously the next day her BF surprises her with the same handbag she had seen in the window.

the extreme miracle

A man with a sick daughter says he’d give his arm to have his daughter healed and healthy again and a short time later he is in a freak accident where he loses an arm and voila, his daughter is healed.

More recently my best friend KG suggested demanded that I watch the movie “The Secret.” Now I’m a reader, so if something is available in book form that’s my preferred method of information intake. So, I hurried to my local library and picked up “The Secret,” the book. “The Secret” also touts the power of thoughts, but is more focused on bringing money and dreams to reality, while “The Power of Your Subconscious Mind” is applied to more varied scenarios, including healing and health.

how does it work?

Basically, both books say that the thoughts you think bring about the life you live. That the “Universe” submits to your thoughts, good or bad. That as you think, so shall it be…a la “The Law of Attraction.” Your thoughts have waves that reverberate into the atmosphere; those thoughts determine your life. Think about debt and you bring by the “Law of Attraction debt.” Likewise by thinking of success or money you will attract those things. So by learning to change your thought pattern and training yourself to think positively, you will attract a new life.

“The Secret” tells the story of a man who created a dream board. On this board, he placed items such as cars and houses that he wanted to own. For months, he kept the dream board where he could look at it and visualize the items on the board. Sometime later, he stumbled across the board after moving and realized that he and his family were living in the house similar to the one he put on the board and noticed similarities between his dream board and his real life. Had his dream board turned into his reality? Was it because he had put into the atmosphere the things he wanted and thus the atmosphere submitted to his thoughts?

While neither books are referenced as religious they both include a hint of religious/spiritual/faith-based practices. Both acknowledge the existence of a God that should be recognized as the creator. They encourage the reader or viewer to believe that God specifically gifted human beings to have and do all things if only we humans truly understand and tap into the power of our thoughts. They says it’s as simple as changing and training your mind.

So now on to the really big question… Is it true and does it work?

Well, honestly, I’m not sure. After reading both books, I decided to change my thoughts and in turn my feelings changed. I began to feel differently about my life, but I can’t say that my life is different. Maybe I just don’t know how to DO it properly. Maybe my conscious mind is too skeptical for me to release the power of my subconscious mind. Maybe I haven’t been practicing long enough. All I know is that I haven’t won the lottery and Idris Elba has not come to romance me for a night. I also know that I’m feeling more “okay” with those things and about life in general, than not okay. Maybe that’s because I have learned “The Secret” and for me, that is…

As long as I have another day, I have another opportunity. That deserves some positive thinking.

What’s on your dream board? Can you see transformation in your reality?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

L. Renae is a Chicago native. Born learner, world traveler and foodie, and lover of the arts L. Renae has been writing since she learned to put her pre-teen angst on paper. Having worked in the Press Department of Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., and with SCLC, she has developed her skills in the areas of religious ministries and social justice organizations since her teen years. She currently operates her own event marketing business. She is looking forward to the completion of her undergrad degree in Public Relations.