Books. We all have our favorites - whether a compelling mystery, a deliciously lazy beach (or sitting by the fireplace) read, or the latest about a special hobby or interest. Books can entertain, educate, uplift, inform, transform . There are even those books which can be a turning point for our life. They seem to speak directly to us.
One of my favorite things to do is to open one of the books I love to a random page, then read the special message waiting there for me. Sometimes I do this in seeking an answer to a specific question. At other times it is simply to get a message to take into consideration. Yes, I do think books speak to us. They feed our souls. Angels come in many forms, you know.
Today I want to share with you about books that have been trans formative in for specific people and why they think this is so. I am hoping you will find something in readinf this that is just right and especially meaningful for you.
Louise Hay, founder of Hay House and the self-help movement. She was a pioneer in the understanding of how the mind/body connect. In fact it was over 30 years ago that she wrote Heal Your Body which has sold 30million+ copies. Ms Hay understands, utilizes and writes about creating our reality with our thoughts. The book that first brought it all together for her is "The Game of Life and How We Play it" (Florence Scovel Shinn). Written in 1926, Shinn was already saying "If you don't realize that thoughts create things, you are behind the times". 1926!! Her book uses many Biblical references for those who are interested. This kind of information may seem "new age" to some, but new age in my book isn't at all "new". It has been taught for thousands of years.
Rudy Ruettiger, the man behind the inspirational movie "Rudy". At 5'6" and 165 pounds it had been his childhood dream to play football for the University of Notre Dame. Yep, I said 5'6". And of course during his whole life he was told how he could never reach his goal. He was told he wasn't smart enough, big enough or strong enough. But he was smart enough to realize that those (or any) repeated messages become self-fulfilling prophesies.
The book that helped changed his life is one of my own favorites: Maxwell Maltz's "Psycho-Cybernetics". Unlike the title sounds, it is an easy read and Ruettiger said that to him it made a lot of sense. He wanted to get out of the box of the life he was living - shift work at a power plant. He wanted to live his dream. "The book made it clear that I hadn't gotten what I wanted in my life because I didn't believe I could do it." He also shares from Maltz's book the secret of taking action and not worrying so much about having a game plan all worked out. Sometimes we waste a lot of time and can miss opportunities as we fine tune our game plan. The message: take action and opportunities will start to open up.
Doreen Virtue PhD ~ author of more than 25 books, Doreen teaches metaphysics, psychic development and angel therapy classes world wide. She has been interviewed by everyone from Oprah to CNN . Her turning point book is from one of my personal favorites, Viktor Frankl: Man's Search for Meaning.
Frankl was a WW II prisoner at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Even with unspeakable losses and inhumane conditions, this amazing man made up his mind that his tormentors could not take away his right to choose his attitude, his thoughts and his emotions. He made up his mind to choose happiness ~ yes, happiness (! ) in life threatening, demeaning situations. And he also trusted his intuition, which saved his life without a doubt.
Dr. Virtue applied what she took in from Frankl's book and it changed her life, giving her the courage to teach what was in her heart, even though she had suffered ridicule for it while growing up. From this book she gained the courage to tell people about the power of the mind and spirit for our healing and creating the life we dream of. But first she had to overcome her fear just as Dr Frankl did.
We all have our own fears - faith is taking the steps to overcome them.
Jack Canfield ~ best known as co-creator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series. He has conducted seminars all over the world in regard to personal transformation.
Jack shares that for a major portion of his life he was pretty much cognitive- he lived inside his head and divorced himself from emotion and spirit. He'd had a negative religious experience with his pastor; concluding his study of the history of religions at Harvard he was pretty much an agnostic.
The book that changed all that in a truly remarkable way was Dr. Raymond Moody's "Life After Life." Moody's book is based on his research as a medical doctor into NDE (Near Death Experiences). Most of you are familiar with this concept as it has since been well researched, documented and written about.
Canfield goes on to state that what struck him in "Life After Life" was a comment from one of the people Moody interviewed. The Being of Light had asked him two questions and then watched along with him a review of his life on earth. Of course I wanted to know - what were the two questions!?
1. What wisdom have you gained from this life?
2. How have you expanded your capacity to love?
Dr. Canfield goes on to say that this book and particularly these two questions profoundly affected him. He went from not believing in God to knowing that we are spirits in the flesh and that there is life after this one on earth. Further, he came to realize and dedicate his life to what he now sees as the main purpose for our being here: to gain more wisdom and to truly become more loving, even to love unconditionally. He began to feed his soul as I like to say. The ways in which he does that are prayer, meditation, reading and service to others. He now dedicates his life to learning and teaching about wisdom and love. His Chicken Soup books are from accounts he has gathered that embody those ideals with the purpose of enlightening and inspiring others.
I hope this blog has been inspiring to you. If you want to read more about the books that have inspired others check out "You've Got to Read This Book" by Jack Canfield and Gay Hendricks.
If you have a book or books that inspire you or have changed your life, value them as the treasures they truly are. And if you would like, share a copy with someone. Remember, each of the people I have written about had someone share a book with them ~ and the book not only fed their soul but changed the course of their life.
Blessings and love~
Until next time,
Dr. DyAnn
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