Why positive thinking is all in the mind

They are not alone; millions of Americans, Oprah Winfrey included, know it too.

They have all bought in first to the book, then the film. Both claim to give them the power to control their lives - and have exactly what they want through the power of positive-thinking.

The Secret, a motivational book and DVD by Australian Rhonda Byrne, is reaching fever pitch in the States. And Sheffield women Kay Gill, Joan Mosforth and daughter Emma are so entranced by what they describe as its life-changing properties, they are bringing the movie to a city centre cinema screen.

It is costing the trio 1,500 to give the film its first public airing in Sheffield - at the Showroom Cinema on Saturday.

But the trio hope to earn almost double that if they attract an audience of 75. People wanting to learn The Secret that so impressed Oprah she devoted two shows to it are being asked to pay 39 to see the 90-minute recording.

They also get to have lunch and take part in an afternoon of workshops designed to teach people how to take heir lives forward by understanding "the laws of attraction."

It sounds a lot to pay - but the women are adamant that it's worth it, and that there will be demand.

"It is not about making money - it is about sharing The Secret so that as many people as possible can enhance their lives," says mother of two Joan.

"I'm confident there will be a full house - because the universe is working with us."

It makes her sound as batty as ninepence, but this statement makes perfect sense to Joan.

She is referring to the key principle of The Secret - that positivity attracts positivity - and that we get what we ask for from the universe.

"It's the laws of attraction," she explains. Joan, a youthful and bubbly 57-year-old, has more reason than most to believe.

Before she watched The Secret, she was in the depths of depression.

The former hairdresser who went on to forge a successful business selling EcoFlow magnetic therapy products "had everything".

Says Joan, of Loxley: "I had a loving husband and two daughters, a lovely home and a successful business. But I never felt I deserved it - and my negative thoughts attracted negative things to me.

"She tells me earnestly: "I had a breast cancer scare, then started an affair and left my husband. Out of guilt, I signed our home over to him. Then my mum got cancer.

After she died, I went into a deep depression - I felt like I was dying inside."

She refused medication and counselling from the doctor - and got worse.

"I even considered suicide," she says. As she chronicles her despair, her bubbliness suddenly gives way to tears. Clearly, Joan's depression has left her in a heightened emotional condition.

She claims salvation came last winter, when fellow EcoFlow saleswoman Kay played The Secret.

Nether Edge mother of three Kay, who had a long interest in motivational seminars and personal development books, had heard about The Secret's success in America. She bought a tape and staged a Secret Evening for girlfriends.

Joan and Emma were among the group, but Joan left unmoved.

Only when Kay made a Christmas present of the DVD for her troubled friend did Joan start to take in the message of the film.

"It suddenly gave me a lift. I felt there was a way forward - a way out of my depression. I watched at least once a day after that," she says.

"I started to focus on the things I needed in my life. In particular, I needed somewhere to live as my house was only two weeks off being sold."

She tells me how she visualised a one-bedroomed cottage with beamed ceilings and a south-facing garden.

Days later, she bumped into a former customer. And a few days on, he rang to tell her a friend had a house to rent.

"It was the cottage, perfect in every detail," she enthuses.

Joan sees this, and other events many would dismiss as either coincidence or of getting what you want because you've asked for it, as proof that The Secret works.

Whether it does or it doesn't, though, friends and family all vouch for the fact that she has managed to climb out of her depression.

Says Joan: "It was the same with the magnets; I always seem to be drawn to the type of things that people are sceptical of. It's because I'm open-minded."

Kay, who hopes that eventually The Secret will become a business venture (currently 5,000 copies of the book are being sold on a daily basis worldwide), says: "People are blinkered by their own belief systems. There will always be those who can't accept The Secret's message.

"But we think the film could help such a lot of people and that is our main aim. We want to get the knowledge out there."

Joan has her own way of spreading the word. She has plastered her canary-yellow Mazda MX5 sportscar with the words: What Is The Secret?

"It gets a lot of attention," she giggles. "Men pull up at traffic lights and ask: "so, what's the secret, then?"

Ever the marketeer, she hands them a card, puts her finger to her lips and says: Sshhhh!

For

more information on Saturday September 8th's screening, call Kay Gill on 0114 2556874.