Positive thinking, visioning and sending "good vibes" into the world doesn’t necessarily guarantee a thing if you don’t take the right action steps and work hard. Good execution is just as important as having a positive vision.

As you may know, the 2006 film "The Secret" has spent a great deal of time in the limelight. It still, at this point in time, is being praised, as well as criticized, depending on who you talk to.

In case you aren’t familiar with it, "The Secret" is a documentary presenting a concept called The Law of Attraction. The law, which is really only a theoretical concept, says that if we focus on and create a mental replication of what we want, then we will get it.

Say, for example, that you want to get rich. If you believe that you are rich and try to feel what it is like to be rich, then you will create an energetic environment that is conducive to richness and it will call the riches into your life. Well, if you’re unemployed and don’t bother looking for a job or networking with other people, what will that do?

Say you simply seclude yourself in your house and sit there doing this mental exercise to call the riches into your life. It isn’t likely going to come. You need to put some effort into it all and make yourself available to opportunities.

Again, the movie is trying to say that what we want and hope for should be focused on and believed to already be true in our life. That, it claims, will cause our brain waves to emanate into the universe and create circumstances to come about and serve us in the ways that we were hoping for.

I’m a bit skeptical about that, though. I can agree with some of the concepts, but then again I think some of the claims being made are misleading, if not altogether bogus.

One thing I can actually, completely agree with is the idea that our minds and our physical being and physical surroundings are connected. The thing I take issue with, however, is this idea that we have a cosmic vending machine at our fingertips.

Basically, the 21st-century interpretation of the law of attraction seems to be, "ask and you shall receive, no matter what."

It’s almost like saying, "Insert sincere wish here; pull out shiny new Ferrari here."[an error occurred while processing this directive]

That kind of thing just doesn’t work, at least for me it doesn’t. Is it because I don’t believe good enough or hard enough or sincerely enough?

Probably not. There’s something missing from this latest interpretation.

If we are at least noticing what is happening in and around us, we can anticipate problems and recognize opportunities. In that way, we can work toward our goals and eventually achieve what we desire.

So, in a sense, I do believe we all can, indeed, call success and happiness into our lives, but I doubt that it has much to do with mysterious quantum physics concepts.

I suppose I cannot completely discredit the movie’s explanations of quantum physics being involved, though, because there is a lot we don’t yet know about all of that. So, perhaps someday we will find out just how much our brain waves are capable of doing. For now, though, I am still sticking with my intuitive understanding that the universe is self-service _ not delivery.

My feeling about the movie is that it’s far too convoluted. What is being presented is more of a common-sense kind of thing rather than the scientific mumbo jumbo it is presented as.

The common-sense interpretation of the whole documentary might be that where our minds go, our emotions and actions often follow.

Think about it in practical terms. If we believe we lack the ability to do something, we’ll likely feel helpless or hopeless and end up failing. It’s easy to get discouraged and allow that to hinder our progress, even if we are truly capable. If we think that we just haven’t tried hard enough, on the other hand, we are likely going to be fueled by our setbacks and persevere through the challenges. Do you see how it all goes back to the concept of the mind-body connection?

So what you focus on is, indeed, what you often get or create for yourself. The only hook is, that you have to create your own momentum to get yourself from your starting spot at point A to your desired outcome at point B. The universe, unfortunately, doesn’t have a silver platter to hand you your goods on.

Kate Pavlacka, a graduate of the State University College at Oneonta, has been totally blind for about 10 years.