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You are here: Home / Archives for Self Help Daily / Books I Love

Books I Love

One Can Make a Difference: How You Can BE the Change You Want to See in the World

October 30, 2021 by Joi 7 Comments

The review below is for one of the most inspiring and wonderful books I’ve read and reviewed over the years. I am editing it a bit and republishing it today. Why? Because, frankly, I believe we need bold, brazened, on-fire for the right reasons people more than ever before and if reading these stories lights a fire under even just one person, it will be more than worth it.

After all… well… One Can Make a Difference. ~ Joi (“Joy”)

I want to tell you about an inspiring book I know you’ll love as much as I do. It’s pictured on the right and linked to several times below.  It may sound flowery (fortunately I love flowers, so that won’t slow me down) – but I believe this book will, in some way, touch every single one of my tomorrows.  I’d love to see millions of tomorrows similarly touched, because I believe the result would be a better world for everyone and everything.

So, you find yourself on the fringe of a post telling you why you HAVE to read this book.

One Can Make a Difference: Original stories by the Dali Lama, Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Dennis Kucinch, Russel Simmons, Bridgitte Bardot, Martina … Dozens of Other Extraordinary Individuals is a remarkable book, filled with information, inspiration, and motivation.  In its pages, you’ll read about real life heroes and heroines.  People who weren’t born remarkable, but through determination and compassion did their part in changing the world.

Everyday people just like you and me who put their mind to doing extraordinary things.

A Few of the Stories That Touched Me the Most:

  • Carol Buckley cofounded The Elephant Sanctuary in 1995.  The acres and acres of land in Tennessee are home to elephants who had been in circuses or zoos.  Elephants.com has pictures of these beautiful elephants, as well as a web cam, a gift shop, opportunities for support, and addictively interesting stories about each of the elephants – with pictures to help you fall even more in love with each.   In One Can Make a Difference, Carol Buckley tells about one of her elephants that loved to make Orange Juice.  She also details the very special elephant that led to this amazing sanctuary.
  • Kevin Bacon tells how, at first, he didn’t know what to think about the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.  When he realized that it was, in fact, flattering to have a game named after you, he realized something else:  With a heart full of genuine care for the world around him, he wanted very much to do his part to make a difference.  Thanks to this game, he now had an “angle” or as he calls it a “brand,” to launch a charitable organization and website called Six Degrees.org.  This very talented actor and family man details how this all came about.
  • Reverend Al Sharpton’s essay was also fascinating.  I especially loved his words of motivation:  The only person you ever have to conquer in life is not your enemy, it’s yourself.  And once you conquer yourself, your ego, your vanity, your misplaced overestimation – once you conquer yourself, then you can fight for a higher purpose and conquer what it is you’re supposed to conquer and realize that’s what your purpose is.

We define success by what we have, not by what we did.  But the only success in life is what you did.  Because whatever you have, you could lose, and whatever you have, somebody else could have more.  But nobody can take from you what you did. – Al Sharpton

  • Rebecca Hosking tells of the unbelievable impact plastic has on the environment.  I read her essay twice to make sure I was getting the full impact.  PlanetArk.com helps educate people about keeping our environment healthy, clean, beautiful and, frankly, about what we can to do keep from turning our earth into one big giant dump.
  • Oliver Stone’s essay was another one that was spellbinding.  He, like every single essayist in the book, had me putting pen to paper – I put the words onto paper as they put the words in my heart.  Oliver Stone tells how he has been led by ghosts, how they encourage him to make a difference.  Interestingly enough, he was also one of the first people to sign a petition asking NASA to stop sending monkeys into space.
  • Petra Nemcova tells of her horrible ordeal after the tsunami struck Thailand (she lost the love of her life and suffered a broken pelvis).  The experience made her better rather than bitter and a lot of LOVE, literally came from the devastation.  She now focuses her life on helping children who have suffered loss and pain from hardships all over the world.  She’s a classic example of being as beautiful inside as she is outside – and that’s saying something in her case!
  • Martina Navratilova talks about fair play, Russell Simmons talks about respect, and Willie Nelson addresses the subject of self-reliance.

There are far too many individuals and even more subjects to even think about covering in one post.  I guarantee that they’ll be mentioned in future posts, however.  Their stories have become a part of me.  I’ve always fancied myself one of the overly zealous “We can change the world” crowd… but now? Ready to take the ills of the world with a toothbrush!

One Final Thought:

It’s wrong that, very often, people who are trying to make the world a better place are looked upon as eccentrics.  Believing (rightfully so) that helpless animals shouldn’t be abused doesn’t make an individual crazy, it makes them compassionate.  The author of the book, Ingrid E. Newkirk, is also the founder and president of PETA.  So, she knows a thing or two about controversy.

I admit that when people are on the front lines doing battle for what they believe in, they sometimes seem to go “too far.”  But I’d rather they go too far than to not go at all!   The next time a PETA ad generates a snicker or two, challenge yourself to think about all of the animals that have been saved because of this organization…. of all the needless suffering and pain PETA has brought to an end.  If your own pet were being abused, wouldn’t you want PETA to ride in to its rescue?

I certainly would!

This book is one of the best books you’ll ever read.  So what are you waiting for?!  Order it today and, within a week, you will have opened a whole new world! When you click through to the book on Amazon, you’ll find several options for buying the book. There are many available “used,” which is one of my favorite ways to buy books!

One Can Make a Difference: (Amazon link) Original stories by the Dali Lama, Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson, Dennis Kucinch, Russel Simmons, Bridgitte Bardot, Martina … Dozens of Other Extraordinary Individual

Kleiser Quote

Filed Under: Animal Protection, Book Reviews, Books I Love Tagged With: animal rights, Charities, Making a difference, PETA

Quote of the Day – Quote About Making a Difference

September 27, 2021 by Joi 1 Comment

Quote about Making a Difference

Quote About Making a Difference

“If you bang your head against a brick wall long enough, the wall will fall.  And once you start banging your head against that wall, others will join you.” – Ingrid E. Newkirk, One Can Make a Difference

You know how you normally say, “I just read this book…” or “I just read that book.” In regards to the book this quote was pulled from, One Can Make a Difference, by Ingrid E. Newkirk, the appropriate quote is, “This book recently changed me.”

Amazing book. Amazing Amazing book.


Filed Under: Animal Protection, Books I Love, Daily Quote Tagged With: Making a difference, motivational quote, quote, quote about making a difference

Quote About Fitness and the Life You Could Be Living by Shawn Phillips

September 23, 2021 by Joi Leave a Comment

Staying Fit Graphic

“Eventually, there comes a point in every life where you can no longer ignore the enormous and expanding gap between the life you could be living and the life you’ve settled for…. Every day of your life that you’re not actively engaged in staying fit, eating well, and strengthening your body the gap grows.” – Shawn Phillips, Strength for Life (page 10)

You can read my review of Strength for Life here.

 

Filed Under: Books I Love, Daily Quote, Fitness, Health, Self Help Tagged With: Fitness, getting fit, health, losing weight, nutrition, Shawn Phillips, Strength for Life

The Benefits of Reading and a Great Quote About Reading from Dr. Seuss!

September 5, 2021 by Joi Leave a Comment

Quote About Reading

Quote About Reading by Dr. Seuss

In a recent issue of Better Homes & Gardens, I read that the average 15-44 year old spend less than 10 minutes reading each day. Depressing! Reading offers far too many benefits for people to spend so little time doing it.

We all know how important reading is for our minds, to say nothing of informing us about the world around us, but research shows that reading also reduces levels of stress by nearly 70 percent!

The benefits of reading:

  • Strengthens your mind.
  • Teaches you about people around the world, how others think, and other cultures (all beautifully vital things to know)
  • Improves your mood.
  • Boosts your memory.
  • Improves your thinking skills.
  • Teaches you new words, strengthening your vocabulary.
  • Gives you more things to talk about with others.
  • Sharpens your thinking skills.
  • Relaxes you!

One of the secrets to reading MORE is finding the type of books or articles you like to read the MOST. For me, personally, my favorite things to read are the Bible, Agatha Christie mysteries (I read and re-read her Hercule Poirot books and am always in the middle of one), old Hollywood biographies and memoirs, American History, cookbooks, poetry, and anything pertaining to other favorite subjects…birds, animals, health, angels, spirituality, prayer, cooking, photography, Amelia Earhart, Abraham Lincoln, etc.

One of the ways to become a more prolific reader is to have more things that interest you. If you can’t think of many… read more and you’ll find almost too many to read about in a year!


Filed Under: Books I Love, Mental Fitness Tagged With: benefits of reading, quote about reading, reading

Positive Feedback vs. Negative Feedback and the Effect Each Has on Our Lives

June 21, 2021 by Joi 5 Comments

Quote About Being Yourself

I’m about halfway through a wonderful book, How to Think Like a Millionaire (I hope to have the review up soon!).  It’s one of those books where you find yourself, not only taking notes, but closing the book every now and again just to let everything soak in.  After this morning’s reading, I was basically a sponge.

I just finished a section on Positive Feedback vs Negative Feedback and the impact they have upon our subconscious mind and the absolute power our subconscious mind has over our lives.  Everything rises and falls according to the strength of our subconscious mind, so keeping positive and life-affirming thoughts therein could make ALL the difference.

The Live-Changing Power of Positive Feedback

When I got up from reading to make my husband breakfast, I was still thinking about what I had read.  I realized how, in my own life, positive feedback had a huge impact on me.  My mom and dad were forever telling me what a “good” child I was, how they never had to worry about me getting into trouble, and so on.  That early reinforcement, I’m sure, had a great deal to do with the fact that I never DID get into any trouble.  When I was in my 30’s, a few months before I lost my father – my dad told one of his nurses that the only trouble I ever gave him or my mom was one solitary speeding ticket.

I told him at the time that it was because I was perfect – but I’m absolutely sure that’s not completely honest!

I believe that the same scenario plays out for kids who are constantly told that they’re “bad,” “difficult,” or “spoiled.”  They live down to those words the way the lucky kids live up to the ones they hear.

As I kept thinking, I realized another area where positive feedback affected me greatly.  I believe that one of the reasons I ever fancied myself a writer had to do with things my aunt told me years and years ago.  Penny (my mom’s sister and an aunt I’ve always been VERY close to) and her husband (Bobby – LOVE him too!) had to move to another state when I was really young.  It was really hard on all of us, but Bobby had an amazing offer in Ohio that he would have been a fool to say no to.  He’s the master of corny jokes, but a fool he’s not.

When they left, I missed them terribly, so we started writing a lot of letters to one another – oh, to have had e-mail and social media back then!  When they came home for Christmas, she went on and on about how much my letters meant to her and Bobby.  She said she always looked forward to them and saved each one.  When she said they “made her smile” because they were like visiting with me, I began to associate true, beautiful power with words.

Many years later, when I got married and we had to move to Kansas, I had a lot more letters to write.  I still wrote to Penny, but I also wrote to my parents and my grandmother.  Each one of them always told me how much they loved reading my letters, how they kept them and often re-read them.  My grandmother even told me how she read them to her friends, and that they enjoyed my “way with words.”

Positive Feedback, friends.

Somewhere along the way, I came to believe that all of my loved ones were right and I’ve had a fascination with words and writing since.

When I handed my smiling husband his breakfast, I thought of yet another area of positive feedback touching my life. Early in my marriage, I fell head over heels in love with cooking.  I started collecting cookbooks and even began coming up with my own recipes.  He’d often have his single friends over to our house for supper.  I often overheard him talking about my “wonderful” cooking and it made me believe I was the greatest cook in the world.  The fact that he and our daughters are always so complimentary about my meals, desserts, bread, etc. only makes me love cooking more and more.

I am very, very blessed that the people I love most in this world have always made me feel like I could do anything. It makes me very sad to think there are others out there who don’t have this positive feedback in their life.

A Lack of Positive Feedback

I wonder if one of the main reasons people become discouraged and give up is because they don’t get enough positive feedback. Think about the stereotypical scenario of the couple who has been together for several years. She begins to feel he doesn’t love her or think she’s pretty simply because he has stopped saying the words. The positive feedback, early in the relationship, built her confidence up SO high that when the words stopped, she came crashing down, bewildered and even wondering what she’s doing wrong.

The same could be said of children, co-workers, and just about anyone you could name. Children often give up because they don’t feel appreciated. Co-workers and friends get to the point that they quit trying because nothing they do is ever good enough.

The Pitfalls of Negative Feedback

The only thing more dangerous than a lack of positive feedback is a steady stream of negative feedback. When a spouse, daughter, son, friend, co-worker, etc. only hears negative comments – they begin to believe the words and come to believe that they are as worthless as the comments say they are. Many even tune the negativity out to a certain degree, after all, who wants to constantly hear how worthless, stupid, wrong, irresponsible, or bad they are?!?! But it goes much deeper than them tuning it out. They begin to believe it. When someone believes the worst about themselves, they stop even trying.

However, if they get positive feedback – even if it’s for the smallest possible thing – their confidence and self worth begin to grow. After they’ve gotten enough positive feedback, they begin to give themselves MORE of the same feedback, then… look out!

The Most Important Feedback of All

As important as the feedback we get from others is, it’s not the most vital feedback. That feedback is the one we feed ourselves. The words we say to ourselves, usually inside our own minds, determine how successful we will or will not be. We are, basically, what we think we are.

The words below are just some of the words we use to cripple ourselves:

  • I’m too old
  • I’m too fat
  • I’m not smart enough
  • I never catch any breaks
  • I don’t have enough money
  • Nobody loves me
  • I’m lonely
  • I can’t do anything
  • I’m so depressed
  • I am so sick and tired of…
  • My live sucks!

When we feed ourselves words like this, we’re feeding ourselves a type of poison. Anyone who feeds these words to another person (especially someone they supposedly love) should be even more ashamed.

Start thinking more about the feedback you give to others and to yourself.  The words you say to and about the people around you makes them better or makes them worse.  If you beat them down, that’s where they’ll stay.  If you build them up, that’s the direction in which they’ll grow.

Now let’s change the pronouns a little:  If you beat yourself down, that’s where you’ll stay.  If you build yourself up, that’s the direction in which you’ll grow.  How far can you and I grow?  As far as we want to!

How to Think Like a Millionaire

The book below, How to Think Like a Millionaire is a must-read as far as I’m concerned. It’s all about altering your mindset – the millionaire part has absolutely nothing to do with it. What matters is believing that you deserved the best from life… because you absolutely do.


Filed Under: Books I Love, General, Helping Children, Relationships, Self Help Tagged With: affirmations, getting along with co-workers, motivational writing, negative feedback, parenting, positive affirmations, positive feedback, Relationships, self growth, Self Help, self help article, self help blog, self worth

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My name is Joi (“Joy”)! I am the animal lover behind Self Help Daily.

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