Before you read another self-help book.

     Consider this:

It becomes awfully tempting to sit in contemplation, perfecting ones’ thoughts.

It is time and energy consuming to constantly monitor and edit inner dialogue to match a Disney script. If you are having a good day, you are in the 'vortex', the coaching is working. If you are having a bad day, then you are not trying hard enough.There is no measurable product. (No Refunds) No control group.

     Do factory workers read self-help and suddenly aspire to become physicist?

     Do prostitutes get a hold of 'The Secret' and become stars of the silver screen instead?

      I have not heard such stories, but these are the stories that need to be told. Christ’s disciples went from laymen to healers and scholars. There was proof of transformation. I’ve been in the 'vortex' for months now .Every other month I am forced to come out of La-La land, make a decision, ask a favor, sell a painting, to hold me over till my vortex dreams manifest. Why? Because I believed Esther and Jerry Hicks. I believed a collective of intelligent benevolent spirits called Abraham were speaking through Esther? Actually no, I just believed Eshter. She sounded like Louise Hay, Iyanla Vanzant, Susan Breathnach and the plethora of other self-help lullabies I'd listened to.

     I cannot say it is the intention of self-help gurus to keep populations in a state of limbo, yet it is what I continually witness from those who adore and quote Abraham, The Secret etc,. These folks are not suddenly living without fear, taking bolder chances, discovering cures or becoming ambassadors for the voiceless. There are two noticeable products of self-help books and seminars, individuals who now paste a smile on their shitty days and those who become motivational speakers themselves.

 The sales of self-help books increased 96% between 1991 and 1996. How is that working for us? Any rags to riches stories of students who became anything other than hype-men, cheerleaders in business suits?

The author of 48 laws of power could not keep a job. By his own count, he had 80!  But Black men read that book, pass it around and refer to it as if light were pouring from its pages. Mind you, I’ve seen these same brothers after the book is read, still riding a bike, still a short order cook, still not a father to their children, eyes glazed over, minds filled with dreams of intrigue and deception.

At no point have I ever read of one of these gurus of positive thinking (nor their pupils) becoming a brain surgeon or astronaut, thanks to the application of the strategies taught. Nor have I been able to find an example of a single person so empowered by the ‘law of attraction’, visualizations and affirmations, that they fearlessly dedicate their lives to ending reoccurring crimes against humanity such as child prostitution and genocide. If one can think themselves out of oppression, deplorable work conditions, and yes, even natural disasters, why aren’t these fearless masters of the universe applying their alchemy where it counts?

I don’t know the answer to that yet. What I do know is this. These sermons of perpetual positivity ring true and feel wonderful. I believe because the message IS true and resonates in our spirits. The problem is the pep talks are only half truth, the pep rally adrenaline wears off. In sports the hype before the game comes after the grueling sacrifice of training and unwavering focus. Successful people Act. They push their bodies and minds to new plateaus. There is pain. The pain of sacrifice is necessary to carve a place for our bounty. In the same way that humanity inhales and exhales, there must be give and take. Perhaps because I am a woman, my monthly cycle reminds me every 28 days that life and death hold hands. I tried for years to just stay positive. It is an unnatural and unyielding state.