The Magic (The Secret) Paperback – March 6, 2012

Having been someone who has consistently battled chronic depression (and having been on every type of anti-depression medication while trying "techniques" in depression books) I can tell you that following the strategies in The Magic will help you overcome any anxiety, depression, sadness, or loss of hope that you may have in your life.

I'm a pretty successful person on a financial level. I've always done really well in business and in investing.

However, I've always suffered on a personal level with family/friends and with battling depression. In fact, not only have I not been successful in those arenas but I can honestly say that I've been a dismal failure.

I've tried "overcoming depression" books and I've run the gamut with anti-depression medications. Those remedies just mask the problem. They don't actually overcome it.

While reading The Magic and slowly (and quite easily...almost effortlessly) began implementing the very basic and easy-to-understand strategies presented, I INSTANTLY began to feel better...about everything. Mind you, beforehand I had found myself slipping deeper and deeper into a "gloomy" state of mind, thinking perhaps I was going into a midlife crisis (at the age of 38...go figure) wondering...is this it? Because if it is, this really blows!

I didn't pick up this book to "change my life" or anything like that. I really didn't know why I got this book except that maybe I was intrigued by the description and the other reviews of this book. I read the book with an open mind, beginning to follow the exercises immediately upon reading the first chapter.

I instantly began to feel uplifted. I felt hope and a desire to do things in my life that I've long forgotten about or chalked off as a "waste of time" to bother with.

Within just a few days of feeling this uplifted "church-like" feeling, I realized that it was my own weighty, heavy thoughts I was throwing needlessly upon myself that was pushing me down into a depression. Now, don't get the wrong idea. This isn't some "positive thinking" clap-trap type of self-help book. This goes BEYOND positive thinking because I didn't have to force myself to say, "Don't think that negative thought, Monica, focus on what you can be grateful for." Instead, I automatically pushed away the negative thoughts that were bringing me down immediately as they entered my mind in an automatic "I-don't-have-time-for-this" type of fashion.

And this is way different than how I have been thinking my entire life!

After a week of going through the exercises, I found myself bouncing out of bed and having this exciting feeling in the pit of my stomach that I didn't remember having in a long time. It's that exciting feeling that I remember having when I was a kid, maybe right before Christmas or going to an exciting place.

And I feel this way all the time now! How amazing and awesome is that?!

So, I can't say that I've experienced "miracles" in the physical world such as a pile of money coming my way or winning the lottery because it didn't happen that way. Instead, I got a much greater gift out of the deal! I truly got The Magic back in my life...child-like magic that I've long forgotten about. And it's back making me excited about life, energetic, and giving me my "groove" back.

One thing I do have to say on the "business" side of this is that because I've gotten this Magic in my life, I have found that my businesses are "taking care of themselves" since I've lost the daily stress and anxiety I've had over every detail of both my businesses. And because I now have a renewed interest in "life" while being excited about going to the office everyday, I have been blessed with new creative ideas for marketing, products, and managing my operations that I would have never dreamed of getting before (since I was sunk so low in a cesspool of depression). One business that I wanted to drop is automatically dropping away while the other I have a stronger interest in is really starting to take off. This is something I've been trying to forcefully line up for years and it's now taking care of itself automatically now that I have "let go" of the process.

If you're a business person and you feel trapped, get this book. If you want to make any major life change but don't know how and need guidance, get this book. If you are battling depression and pills, books, and shrinks aren't helping, get this book.

I should mention too that I didn't do all the exercises in The Magic as Rhonda Byrnes mentions. I don't care for sitting in a corner writing out my thoughts in a journal. I type 85 WPM and my handwriting is slow (and sucks) plus I don't have the time to commit to that part of the process so I don't do that part of the exercises as she suggests. As long as I "feel" the gratitude deeply, genuinely, and joyfully as she addresses in her books, The Magic is working.

I can see how using this book with the book Excuse Me, Your Life Is Waiting: The Astonishing Power of Feelings can truly change your life on both spiritual and financial levels at the same time since they both talk about feeling those "feelings" at the pit of your stomach to start changing the universal energy around you (and thus changing your life in the directions you want to go).

Great stuff! Highly recommended!

I have to say from the outset that I am a big fan of Rhonda Byrne's work; but I'm a fan of it because her books and film have literally transformed my life. Although I was always a naturally happy and optimistic person, now I would describe myself as a joyful person (most of the time! We can't and are not meant to always be joyful). The joy comes from knowing that absolutely nothing is impossible for me and my life, from knowing the power of goodness and love, from knowing that nothing just 'happens' to me, and from knowing that I can affect any change of circumstance that I wish for my own life. Also, The Secret led to my now strong spiritual faith - a knowing that this physical world with its miraculously precise laws is not an accident of evolution, and that there is much more to life, the world, and our place in it than our senses would have us believe.

So, it was no surprise to me that I loved The Magic. It was, though, a surprise to me that I loved it as MUCH as I did and do. In fact, I can confidently say that The Magic is my favorite of Rhonda Byrne's books so far, and, I truly do think, her best book. I also felt that The Power, her most recent book before The Magic, was better than The Secret, so in a way I feel that Rhonda's books are getting better and better.

If you haven't read any of Rhonda Byrne's books, and are wondering whether you should just read The Magic, or all three of her books, I would describe them this way: The Secret is the basic and fundamental work that explains the theory and philosophy of law of attraction, and how to apply it to each area of your life (relationships, health, money, work, etc). If you don't know a lot or anything about law of attraction, I would read The Secret first. If you are already familiar with the concept and application of law of attraction, you could easily jump to The Magic, or read both The Power and The Magic. That said, it is obvious The Magic is written for all people, whether they have ever heard of the law of attraction or not.

The Power takes the law of attraction to a much, much deeper level, and is a more 'spiritual' book than The Secret; it has less of a material world focus than The Secret (less about getting the house, car, job, etc. that you want, and more about love, happiness, and realizing the beauty and meaning of life), and encourages the reader to think beyond the physical world.

The Magic is like the best of The Secret and The Power combined, AND it has something that neither of the other two books have - a day-by-day practical application of the knowledge. There are 28 days of gratitude practices, and collectively they cover every area of your life, targeting the power of law of attraction through gratitude at your health and body (and your feelings about your body), your relationships, your job, your money, your daily life, and any problems or negative situations you might be facing. With every passing day you will feel an ENORMOUS difference in your mood and emotions, you will see a big difference in how your days unfold (they seem so much easier, smoother, and more fun and joyful), and with your changing feelings and attitude you will see each of those areas of your life improving, flourishing, blossoming.

There is no doubt that the practice of gratitude (what The Magic is all about) is the absolute fastest way to a magical, joyful life. It's also, for me, the most natural and enjoyable way of making my life better! I would much prefer to write a gratitude list than visualize something I want to happen. Practicing gratitude just FEELS so good - and the more you do it, the more you want to do it!

I definitely recommend this book. It's another life-changer from Rhonda Byrne.

I love how this book challenges you to get away from stagnant thinking, and stretch your imagination. As a writer I find it especially useful.

This work by Rhonda Byrne is a beautiful journaling exercise to transform anyone from being oblivious to thinking of all we have in our lives to a complete transformation to learn the laws of attraction that if you truly feel gratitude for the relationships, the wealth, our health then we will receive that gratitude right back. The journey is certainly worth taking to become more intone with the magic words thank you that need to be spoken every step our lives foe everything in our lives, breathing, eating, walking, loving, having comfort, shelter every beautiful sunset, every moment has it's magic in it and it is waiting for us to reap the benefits of gratitude.

This book has changed my life. It has been several years since the first time I read it. But it always is close by. We also enjoyed the first chapter where she references people in history that have tried similar practices. Get a cheap journal or notebook with it. You'll need it to complete most of the lessons. I have brought many copies for others in hopes they will find the truth as well.