Choose your words Powerfully - Book Review

Book: Power Words by Sharon Anne Klingler

Amen!  That is the first power word that comes to mind for this book review (after realizing that it means, "this is so").  I have loved words deeply for quite some time, but this book has opened my eyes to so much more detail regarding the words we choose and the energy that results.  The simple exercises the author uses to let the reader actually experience the energy of various words are great and enlightening!   We should ... wait, erase that..  poor choice of word energy.  May we all choose our words carefully and enable ourselves to live out our best intentions.

My copy of the book now has a rainbow of notes, highlighting, and doodles for easy future reference to the areas that encouraged me the most, along with several dog-eared pages.  As Klingler states, "seeking new words doesn't only change your vocabulary, but it also changes how you see and define yourself and your world."  I thought I had been pretty cognizant with my word choices prior to reading this book (based on affirmation practices, focus on intentions, etc), but this book has broadened my awareness regarding how words impact us and how some words that are often considered to be positive in nature may not always be what they appear.

The author's in-depth descriptions, exercises, and insights are well worth the time invested with this book.   I have also noticed a difference in my interactions with my children based on the words I choose when speaking with them.  Klingler gives a welcome new perspective to the power of words.  I have already recommended this book to friends and family! 

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Hay House Publishing for this review.  This review is unbiased and reflects my honest opinion of the book.

May love conquer fear! Book Review:

Book: Tune In, Let your intuition guide you to fulfillment and flow by Sonia Choquette

This book is a keeper!  Literally, I had intended to pass it on when I finished reading it, but I couldn't resist taking notes in the margins and highlighting particularly well phrased passages and ideas.  Now, I can flip back through the book and find encouragement quickly in areas I've marked to re-visit.  I also really appreciate when authors excel with the use of language to ignite passion and sound poetic at the same time and Sonia Choquette does a good job of that in this book, Tune In.  The is the first of Sonia's books that I have read, but I look forward to reading another soon, specifically, the one about helping children tune in.

Though I have read several books in this genre, I truly think that daily input matters.   Just like a healthy diet of food to nourish the physical body, I can't just make healthy choices one day and expect to stay healthy.  Rather, I need to continue to make on-going healthy choices each day to remain healthy.  Similarly, with the information I put into my head, I need to continually make positive choices and re-enforce healthy habits and constantly remind myself how to live a healthy life mentally and emotionally.  For that reason, I continue to read books with similar messages and would recommend this book, even if you've already read quite a bit of this sort. 

Even when I've read other books on a topic, I often find something new or a new way that something has been presented by an author that might finally "click" for me personally and enable me to better incorporate a particular idea into my life.  For example, I've read several books recently that address fear, and not that I sought out or that were intended to focus on fear in particular.  This book seemed to highlight the lessons I've been digesting regarding facing fears and leaving fear behind in order to enjoy living. 

In addition, the author encourages the need for self love and how to start really loving yourself and your life.  This is another message that has been re-iterated across books I've been reading recently and, I think, a much needed one for people to realize the difference between selfishness and self love!  I had just read the book Dying to be me by Anita Moorjani before this book and Sonia's book, Tune In, was a great follow-up to Anita's book to offer practical methods to assess and inspire self love.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone, regardless of faith, culture, career, etc. because the message is so applicable to all of us sharing this journey of life, especially at this particular time on our planet.  In Sonia's own words, "When we stop judging, overthinking, worrying, and separating ourselves from others and from God, and simply follow our natural design to love without hesitation or fear, life becomes a blessed symphony of miracles."

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Hay House Publishing for this review.  This review is unbiased and reflects my honest opinion of the book.

Book Review

Book: Money, A Love Story by Kate Northrup

Initially, I reacted to the author with cynicism and doubt because she was pretty, young, had no kids, and her mother's name.  I was also skeptical of the author's method of financial freedom (network marketing) due to my own experience with a different network marketing company.  I was also uncomfortable with the book title, which I realized while reading the book was due to my own limiting beliefs about money.   In spite of my resistance (I passed on the book at least once), I found myself drawn to the book intuitively.  I was quite surprised to actually find much of value in the book (and ashamed of my prior criticism and judgment).

The book definitely contains quite a bit of valuable content and wisdom.  I started marking many pages and actually doing the suggested exercises on paper (not just in my head as is my norm with this type of book).  I had intended to donate the book to the library when I was done, but I couldn't resist making notes in the book itself and highlighting particularly relevant information!  Having just finished the book, I already want to go back and re-read the areas I highlighted.  I think I will make a note sheet to read regularly with some of the most impactful nuggets of wisdom.

I especially found the message and connection the author made between money and self love/value to be very important and awakening.  In addition, the author's examination of beliefs and spirituality and physical health as these pertain to our finances really got through to me.  The author's approach to attitude and generosity was a very healthy and refreshing one that speaks right to my soul!  The idea/comparison of money to fertilizer is so accurate.

Though I found the book very worthwhile, I did have a few slight issues with it as well.  In particular, the author's suggestion that kindergarten/school is free.  Public school is not free.  We all pay for it with taxes, even if we choose not to use it (we homeschool).  Also, the frequent plug for USANA, the author's network marketing company of choice, seemed overdone.  A single mention is one thing, constant selling is another.

In spite of the few small details mentioned above, I would highly recommend this book.   I think it is probably the best book I've read about money and finances and I was a finance major in college!  I was familiar with all the formulas, budget ideas, and practical issues related to finances, but the author's way of acknowledging the personal and spiritual aspects makes this book special.

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Hay House Publishing for this review. This review is unbiased and reflects my honest opinion of the book.

Book Review

Book: Directing Your Destiny - How to Become the Writer, Producer, and Director of Your Dreams by Jennifer Grace

Within the first few pages of Directing Your Destiny, I felt it spoke to both the skeptic and believer in me!  I really like the author’s willingness to address issues with just sitting on the couch and wishing as she shares her own experience with the law of attraction, both without and with success.  She writes from a casual, friendly voice and somewhat humorous as well.  I recently read the Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and after reading the first section of Directing your Destiny by Jennifer Grace, it reminded me a bit of Cameron’s book, yet with a broader appeal to everyone, not just professional artists.

 

My first encounter with manifestation books was the Secret (as was the author of this book).  However, I’ve found myself resistant to read many of the ones that I’ve come across since.  The titles or descriptions often sounded too greedy I suppose.  I am not opposed to blessings and beauty and abundance and wish it for myself and everyone, yet, I do feel that not all material desires may be in line with what’s best for people or our planet.  The author may disagree with me here, as she stated that one of her own goals/visions for herself was as a wealthy woman. I admit that I wouldn’t mind being a wealthy woman either; though the vision depends on how we define wealthy, how we get wealthy and how we use that wealth.  Prior to this, the only other book (after the Secret and before this) about manifestation that I have chosen to read and finish was The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer, which is mentioned in Jennifer Grace's book as well.  

The emphasis on storytelling was right on time as I had just been introduced to storytelling as a method of healing from something I stumbled upon online.  In the introduction, the author says, “I hope this book finds exactly at the point in your journey when you need it to arrive.  In fact, I’m sure it has.”  I think she may be correct as it seems to support and further several recent lessons and explorations.

While I noticed some similarities and ideas that I’ve tried before in the suggested tasks, sometimes things need to be repeated to remind us and for us to finally get it.  I think people reading this book without having been exposed to much of this sort of thing before would find this to be a very comprehensive choice as the author has already done much of the work of compiling lots of information from various sources and experiences!   The author has managed to include so many ideas that took me several books from all sorts of genres (photography, art, spirituality, health, the list goes on) to discover into her book that is very easy reading (even if the personal work to be done requires time and attention).   I’ve kept a gratitude journal for some time (suggested by this author as well) and highly recommend it to others.  I’ve tried affirmations before, but lost interest or enthusiasm due to my approach, the author’s ideas to align one’s energy with one’s intentions have inspired me to try this again with more confidence and understanding.

Overall, I’m glad I took the time to read the book and intend to utilize some of the author’s ideas and suggestions to deepen many of the practices I was already doing and add a few or tweak a few others.  The way Jennifer uses the movie and director analogy to approach the topic of manifestation is probably the best description I’ve seen and easily understood.  I would recommend this book to anyone interested in researching manifestation, the law of attraction, self growth and development, etc.

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Hay House Publishing for this review. This review is unbiased and reflects my honest opinion of the book.

Book Review

Solomon Speaks on Reconnecting Your Life By Eric Pearl and Frederick Ponzlov

I just finished the book "Solomon Speaks" by Eric Pearl and Frederick Ponzlov. I have not personally read very many books of this sort, with a medium or different entity speaking through one of the authors, so it was a new format for me. I tend to be a bit skeptical, yet spiritual and open-minded. The information presented in this book seems sincere and genuine, especially from the stand-point that the authors have little reason to share this information for any manipulative motives. The book is a summary of the authors’ experience as doctor and patient with a different entity, Solomon, speaking through the patient, Frederick, with a message for Dr. Pearl. The authors thought the message might be applicable to others as well, asked Solomon’s permission and opinion to share, and this book is the result.

I keep a reading journal and tend to mark pages that I want to come back to and take notes from in my journal. I marked about 30 pages while reading this book to come to for reference notes. The book did have a rather slow start for me, but it contains a great message and reminders once past the introductions. At times, the message felt too specific to Dr. Pearl with client references and such, but much of the message felt applicable to most people, whether or not someone is in the healing professions. I especially liked the part about an awakening and growing up to become our own parents and the transition from dependence to independence and self-reliance. This is discussed in chapter 30 about creating our lives as our artwork. Yet, much of the book also refers to our connections and interdependence and finding a balance with the experience of an individual self within the whole universe.

Finally, the biggest reason I would suggest this book as a worthwhile read to others is for the healing benefits. After reading about the healing energy and reminders that we can heal ourselves, I tried to focus on healing energy to relieve the headaches and tension I often wake up with from stress and clenching my jaw. To my pleasant surprise, the headache went away before I got out of bed that morning and I was able to skip taking Advil. This happened again this morning, the second day of waking up and choosing to invite healing energy to flow through me and ease the pains in my neck and head. While I have tried this in the past, something seems to have changed (perhaps in my willingness to believe) since reading this book and it is working better than I can remember ever before.

FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from Hay House Publishing for this review. This review is unbiased and reflects my honest opinion of the book.

This book is available from Hay House at http://www.hayhouse.com/details.php?id=8275

I am

trying to focus on love and kindness and being a light in the world. trying to be at peace with myself and others and nature and Mother Earth. grateful for the message shared in this documentary by Tom Shadyac: http://www.amazon.com/I-AM-Tom-Shadyac/dp/B005U0ZP46/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375639039&sr=8-1&keywords=i+am+dvd+tom+shadyac and trying to get back to blogging. :-)

RePeace & THRIVE

Today, a facebook friend shared a link about "RePeace".  I was unaware of this until a few minutes ago, but it is a great concept and goes along with the issues presented in the Thrive movie. Check out their website: http://www.repeace.com/

The 3 primary suggestions for action on their site are choosing to:
*Reward businesses that focus on sustainable, local products and services, not on buying influence.
*Reward politicians who are accountable to me, not to corporations.
*Reward countries that promote and defend freedom of expression.

For more info about RePeace:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=162532667143416
From the founder of RePeace, Andrea Tosi:

"Repeace is not trying to push down anyones throat a new symbol of peace, but quite the opposite, wants to create synergy with the old movement, whose focus is to fight against wars and nuclear armaments, while Repeace fights agaist greed and corruption.

I was never an activist... they made it sound like you're a radical or something. I care for others and I feel responsible towards all life forms I interact with. I realize peace. But I was also tired to sign petitions, and give money to non profits. I had it. I gave enough....  But...I didn't want to give up and become a cynic.

I wanted to believe in something. I didn't want to shut down the news about people, animal or environments being abused or exploited. Everybody gets to the point when that becomes necessary, shutting down the rest of the world, and surround him/herself with better news, good people, and love. For almost 3 years I have sifted through the U.S. news, and, while I lived in San Francisco, I saw the nation go down the toilet, thanks to private interests and corrupted politicians selling off democracy.

But now the whole political environment is polluted, and only people can fix it, if it's not too late. Repeace is not here to do the work for you, nor to tell you what to do. Like we need another non profit asking for money, or another political party, right? I came to the conclusion that all the efforts of the world should go towards getting money out of Washington and I believe that all it needs is the right message to bring people together, and use the power of the purse to lure businesses away from buying politicians. That is not just my belief, but apparently it has become an irrefutable fact! Just remember, don't expect politicians to change that! 

Hope is yours if you take it back from politics. Change happens if you change.

Is it a good time for accountability? If the 70s were a good time to Peace, is 2011 a good time to Repeace?

I am a Repeacer. I hold accountable. I realize peace."

The RePeace site recommends this book (which I will be reading next!  It is available on amazon and kindle):
"The Leaderless Revolution" by Carne Ross explains why our government institutions are inadequate to the task of solving major problems and offers a set of steps we can take to create lasting and workable solutions ourselves. In taking these steps, we can not only reclaim the control we have lost, but also a sense of meaning and community so elusive in the current circumstance. In a day and age when things feel bleak and beyond our control, this powerful and personal book will revive one's sense of hope that a better, more just and equitable order lies within our reach-if only we are willing to grasp it.
[description from RePeace site]

Highlights from an article (by Deena Stryker) about Iceland illustrating these ideas in action:
No news from Iceland?… why?
…
In Iceland, the people have made the government resign, the primary banks have been nationalized, it was decided to not pay the debt that these created with Great Britain and Holland due to their bad financial politics and a public assembly has been created to rewrite the constitution.
And all of this in a peaceful way. A whole revolution against the powers that have created the current global crisis. This is why there hasn't been any publicity during the last two years: What would happen if the rest of the EU citizens took this as an example? What would happen if the US citizens took this as an example.

This is a summary of the facts:

2008. The main bank of the country is nationalized.
The Krona, the currency of Iceland devaluates and the stock market stops. The country is in bankruptcy.

2008. The citizens protest in front of parliament and manage to get new elections that make the resignation of the prime minister and his whole government.  The country is in bad economic situation.
A law proposes paying back the debt to Great Britain and Holland through the payment of 3,500 million euros, which will be paid by the people of Iceland monthly during the next 15 years, with a 5.5% interest.

2010. The people go out in the streets and demand a referendum. In January 2010 the president denies the approval and announces a popular meeting. In March the referendum and the denial of payment is voted in by 93%. Meanwhile the government has initiated an investigation to bring to justice those responsible for the crisis, and many high level executives and bankers are arrested. The Interpol dictates an order that make all the implicated parties leave the country.

In this crisis an assembly is elected to rewrite a new Constitution which can include the lessons learned from this, and which will substitute the current one (a copy of the Danish Constitution).  25 citizens are chosen, with no political affiliation, out of the 522 candidates. For candidacy all that was needed was to be an adult and have the support of 30 people. The constitutional assembly starts in February of 2011 to present the `carta magna' from the recommendations given by the different assemblies happening throughout the country. It must be approved by the current Parliament and by the one constituted through the next legislative elections.

So in summary of the Icelandic revolution:
-resignation of the whole government
-nationalization of the bank.
-referendum so that the people can decide over the economic decisions.
-incarcerating the responsible parties
-rewriting of the constitution by its people

The Icelandic people have been able to show that there is a way to beat the system and have given a democracy lesson to the world.
(end article)

I hope we will be seeing more and more stories like this and see the changes necessary to THRIVE!

The website www.thrivemovement.com also has a section for suggested solutions.

Check-out the "what can I do" link: http://www.thrivemovement.com/solutions-what_can_i_do
Top 10 Actions listed on that page:
1. Get Informed, Speak Up & Connect with Others
2. Bank Locally
3. Buy and Invest Responsibly
4. End the Federal Reserve
5. Keep the Internet Fair & Open
6. Support Independent Media
7. Support Organic, Non-GMO Farming
8. Require Election & Campaign Finance Reform
9. Advocate for Renewable and "Free" Energy
10. Take Part in Critical Mass Actions

My family will personally be making changes regarding our banking as a result of learning more from the Thrive movie and suggestions on RePeace site.   We already support organic, non-gmo farming and have started trying to buy local as much as possible and grow some of our own. When searching for non-gmo corn seeds, I was shocked how difficult it is to find them now (due to
contamination/cross-pollination from gmo corn). We need to be encouraging open pollinated seeds (which actually reproduce from saved seed, unlike gmo seed that will not). Many other countries have banned GMO's due to the threat to food supply.

Especially, we need to end the Federal Reserve and return the control of the nation's money to the public (government) versus the private banks!  I don't understand why any U.S. citizen would oppose this, regardless of political affiliation, if we truly understand the current situation (most people I have discussed this with did not realize who actually controls the Fed Reserve and still thought it was the public representatives in government, myself included until I read Ron Paul's book several years ago and my husband read Creature from Jekyll Island book). If you have additional thoughts to shed a different light on this, I welcome them.

We also need to call our senators and request they vote NO on the CISPA bill to control the internet (http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/223067-cispa-is-the-new-sopa).

What are you willing to do to defend freedom and seek peace?!?

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
- Nelson Mandela