Oprah discusses The Secret with Louise Hay.

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A year ago, The Secret was drawing cheers…and even some jeers. The cheers were for the theory's emphasis on positive thinking and living your best life through the idea of the law of attraction—but criticism arose because some believed people would use The Secret to focus more on obtaining material possessions.

No matter any criticism for The Secret , Oprah says she still believes it's valuable. "I'm grateful that for so many millions of people the door was at least opened to the idea that we are each responsible for the quality of our lives," she says. " The Secret was really just the beginning."

Acclaimed author Louise Hay wrote and published her first book at age 50. In 1984, her book You Can Heal Your Life started its run as an international best-seller. At age 81, she is considered the mother of the concept of using positive thinking and the law of attraction.

Louise agrees that The Secret is a good first step. "I thought it's great. It's going to go to lots of people who don't know anything about this. The metaphysical people already know this, but we don't use it for things, we use it to improve the quality of our lives."