The Power by Rhonda Byrne

I've been reading a book that many of you might fine really fascinating. It's called The Power, and it's part of a series of books by Rhonda Byrne. The other books in that series include The Secret, The Secret Gratitude Book, and The Secret Daily Teachings. I hope to read each of these because I believe this series has some very "powerful" philosophies to consider.

If you've ever heard the phrase, "What goes around, comes around", you'll understand the basic idea behind The Power. Simply put, what you give in life determines what you get. For example, if you give love in abundance, you will receive love in abundance. Alternately, negatively breeds negativity. If you go through life with a cynical or bad attitude, happiness will not come your way often or easily, and bad things will happen more often than not. It's the law of attraction--good thoughts, good actions, and good feelings attract good things. Bad thoughts, bad actions, and bad feelings attract bad things. This book is also absolutely loaded with quotes from all kinds of different philosophers and prophets--everyone from Jesus and Saint Paul to Mahatma Gandhi and Buddha, from the ancient philosophers to New Age thinkers. Being the quote collector that I am, I definitely enjoyed those!

There are a few lines in The Power that took me aback briefly. For example, Ms. Byrne suggests that a person's bad mood may be the reason why his/her car broke down. That seems to me to be taking it a bit too far. But other than those few brief moments, I really can see what she is trying to get across, and to be honest, it makes sense.

I've also found another one that I'm considering reading to balance out The Power with my own personal beliefs a bit more closely. I've found There is More to the Secret: An Examination of Rhonda Byrne's Best-Selling Book "The Secret" by Ed Gungor. According to the sample pages I read, Mr. Gungor is a big fan of The Secret series and the philosophies behind it, but in his book, he compares his own Christian beliefs with what Rhonda Byrne talks about in her series and shows how the two do or do not agree. I think that would be quite interesting to see.

(By the way, I understand that The Secret has been made into a documentary and can be purchased on DVD. That's something else I need to look into. If any of you have seen it, what is your opinion?)

All in all, I think The Power is a great read. It's hard to get through even one page without feeling really good about the life you've been given and what you can do with it. If you are looking for a book that will lift you up a bit and make you feel more positive about things, this one might be the one you are searching for!

Enjoy!

Sherry