• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Self Help Daily

Inspirational and Self Help Blog with a Save the World Complex...

  • Home
    • Tour Self Help Daily
    • Self Help Daily’s Archives
    • Privacy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
  • Contact
  • Inspirational Quotes
  • Self Help
    • Positive Thought
    • Health
    • Mental Fitness
    • Relationships
    • Self Growth
    • How to Be Happy
  • Book Reviews
You are here: Home / Archives for self help books

self help books

BawB’s Raven Feathers: Reflections on the Simple Things in Life

October 13, 2015 by Joi 1 Comment

Bawb's Raven Feathers Books

BawB’s Raven Feathers Volumes I-V Set

I was sent an absolutely beautiful BawB’s Raven Feathers Box Set a while back to review on Self Help Daily. While I told everyone I knew about it right away, I actually put off blogging about it for awhile simply because I wanted to get a little closer to Christmas shopping. These books – whether you buy them as a set or individually for stocking stuffers or for filling in gift baskets – would make perfect gifts. They’re beautiful, timeless, inspiring, and would be cherished for years to come.

One of the things I love most about giving books for gifts is the fact they can be used and enjoyed and re-used and re-enjoyed for years and years. Want to know a beautiful little bonus? They’ll think of you each time they pick the book up!

The BawB’s Raven Feathers Box Set I was sent includes Volume I – V – the first five volumes of BawB’s Raven Feathers.  Each beautiful little hard-cover book is filled with inspirational poetry that will surround you with peace and contentment as you read the words. Truth be told, they’re more like beautiful lyrics than words.

Everything about these books is perfect – from the beautiful illustrations to the equally beautiful words.  The author does more than inspire readers, he causes them to reflect on their lives, their choices, and the world around them.

His words then prompt the reader to cherish the past and relish the present, while looking forward to a future that’s filled with hope.

Yes, the books are that wonderful.

From the Inside Cover of Each Volume:

Bawb’s Raven Feathers is pure and simple. It kick-starts moments of self-reflection and inner peace by drawing on nostalgia and pushing the reader to live in the present and dream of tomorrow. Alternating brief chapters of prose with perfectly rhythmic adult rhymes, and room to write down your own thoughts and inspiring ideas, this book holds appeal for the masses.

Bawb's Raven Feathers

BawB’s Beautifully Inspiring Raven Feathers

Whether you buy the volumes individually or as a set and whether you buy them for yourself or as a gift – you’re going to love each moment spent with BawB and his Raven Feathers.

The clouds will always be up in the sky,

with nothing to portray.

How you choose to look at them

is what determines your day. – BawB’s Raven Feathers Volume II, Page 31

About the Author:

Robert (BawB) Chomany is the author of the BawB’s Raven Feathers series, pure and simple inspirational books. He was born in Calgary, Alberta, with a clear view of the mountains to the west. These mountains eventually drew Bob in, and he spent many years living in the company of nature, exploring his spiritual side. Bob pursues his many interests with passion. You are just as likely to find him twisting a wrench, or riding his motorcycle, as you are to find him holding a pen, writing. Bob still lives in Calgary, where he finds happiness by simply living with a smile and sharing his words of wisdom with others.

The books are available individually, as well. Below is a link to each volume for more information.

  • BawB’s Raven Feathers Volume I
  • Bawb’s Raven Feathers Volume II
  • Bawb’s Raven Feathers Volume III
  • BawB’s Raven Feathers Volume IV
  • BawB’s Raven Feathers Volume V

There’s also a BawB’s Raven Feathers Volume VI which I don’t have yet… but plan on getting.

Everywhere you walk today,

every step and every mile,

choose to see something that stays with you

and attach it to a smile.   – BawB’s Raven Feathers Volume V, Page 36

Bawb's Raven Feathers Books

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Books I Love, Positive Thought, Self Growth Tagged With: book review, inspirational book review, inspirational books, recommended books, self help books

Activate Your Abundance by Kim Caldwell

October 24, 2012 by Joi Leave a Comment

Activate Your Abundance Remembering Your Power to Create What You Want - Kim Caldwell - Paperback

“Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.” – Wayne Dyer

Whenever I’m in the middle of a great book, I always think of one of my favorite quotes, “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”  I’m honestly not sure who originally said it, but I’m certain I’d love to sit down with them for an afternoon, drinking coffee and talking books.  Or tea, if they’re British. Tea… coffee… I go either way.

I recently told you about a great book by Kim Caldwell, How Green Smoothies Saved My Life (click the link for the review, if you missed it).  I just finished another book by Kim called Activate Your Abundance: Remembering Your Power to Create What You Want.

“Listen for the magic word of motivation and you will hear it. Then the sky is the limit.” – Norman Vincent Peale

I talk on a regular basis to a lot of authors and publishers about books and book reviews. One asked me a few years ago how I approached a book review. I told her that I let the book, itself, lead the way…. then I try very hard not to get IN the way.

Some books need to be guided along in a review – I’ll feel the need to explain certain concepts because they aren’t truly clear until you, yourself, have read the book.

However, with Activate Your Abundance, no guided tour is necessary.  I could honestly say something like, “This is the book that can serve as a spark plug to your self confidence and fuel to your success (in all the ways you define success).  Activate Your Abundance will act as a broom to sweep away the cobwebs of negativity in the corners of your mind and life.  If you want to release yesterday, embrace today, and improve tomorrow, make this the next book you read.“

That, and that alone, could be the review because it truly sums it up.  However, it doesn’t seem fair to sum up such a wonderful and potentially life-changing book with one paragraph.

Besides, we all know I am not a gal of few words.

From the Introduction of Activate Your Abundance:

One of the most important messages this book offers is how negative emotions become trapped in our body, creating disease and problems in our lives. Many of us have lived with these problems for years, unaware of the root cause. These include weight, relationship, health, and financial problems.  You are probably thinking, “If I need to lose weight, how will clearing negative thoughts help?”  Let me assure you that releasing these heavy emotions will lighten our load both mentally and physically.  I have found some of the best techniques available to heal and clear these negative emotions. I present them here to you with the knowing that they will make wonderful shifts in your consciousness if practiced consistently with an open mind.  The dividends for releasing these stuck negative emotions are endless. You will discover yourself in a new way as all your best qualities start to emerge. – Kim Caldwell

In Activate Your Abundance, you will experience a 44-Day program designed to help you get in touch with YOU and the world around you. Not the you that you think you should be, and not the world you think you should have.  The program strips away all the extras, along with all the negative cobwebs.  Some that you never even knew were hanging around!

“Always leave enough time in your life to do something that makes you happy, satisfied, even joyous.  That has more of an effect on economic well-being than any other factor.” – Paul Hawken

One of the things I love most about this very positive, up-lifting, and give-me-the-toothbrush-while-I-take-on-the-hounds-of-hell book is the fact that it’s all about ATTRACTING great things to you.   It’s about realizing that you are worthy of everything you dream of.  You are not chained by past mistakes or heartaches. No one and nothing is holding you back or in place.

I’ll confess, I did not take 44 days and treat this book as a day by day program.  I was only in “Day Two” when I realized that the “meat” in this book was too good to put the fork down!  I kept finding myself saying things like, “Oh, that’s good… Amen to that!” and “Where’s my pen, I have to write that down.“

Something else I told an author once was the fact that the hardest thing about writing book reviews is giving enough information without giving too much away.  Books aren’t just paper and bright covers. Books are experiences and the best experiences in life are those you don’t see coming.  To this book lover, giving too much away is like opening a Christmas present early, then wrapping it back up.  It takes the joy out of the whole thing.

Each “Day” is like a powerful devotion and gives you something to think about and work on. Each one is designed to chip away at negative forces in you and in your life. Some you would never have thought of on your own – I guarantee it.

How effective can it be to get rid of negativity?  Think of a cloudy, over-cast day.  When the dark clouds move out of the way, the sunshine feels brighter and more beautiful than ever, doesn’t it?! Think of negativity as dark clouds.  Activate Your Abundance can help clear the clouds out of your sky and leave you with brightness and beauty.

A final word about the sneaky effects of negativity:  Most people don’t realize they even have a problem with negative thoughts.  They think there’s some big mystery that explains why they aren’t happy, satisfied, or living up to their potential. They may blame other people, their circumstances, and even God.  They look everywhere except the place they should look!

The following illustration, I think, brings it all home.

I recently read about a woman’s diagnosis with Thyroid Disease. It made me think back to when my own thyroid went haywire.  I had no idea, whatsoever, what my problem was. I just knew I had a big one.   My hands were shaky and always sweaty.  Before holding one of my little girls’ hands, I’d always have to dry my hand off on something first.  I could just walk across the room and my pulse would jump up to 106 beats a minute. It felt like it was beating right out of my chest.

One night I was reading a book (knowing me, it was an Agatha Christie novel… I ALWAYS have one going) across from my husband in our den. I shook my head and put the book down.  He asked what was wrong and I told him the words weren’t words all of a sudden, they were just a bunch of letters that didn’t make any sense.  He, of course, looked alarmed.  I picked the book back up and they were words again.

I went to the doctor the next day.

This particular doctor didn’t catch my problem. He treated my asthma with his favorite medicines and told me not to read when I was overly tired.  I said, “Okay” out loud and added, “moron” under my breath.

The weird symptoms continued to pile up.  My weight dropped, I was thirsty 24-7, my brain was foggy, and my heart continued to race. My poor mom nearly worried herself silly and the only words my husband seemed capable of saying at the time was, “Call another doctor.”

I was a young mother of three very young and active little girls. I kept thinking, “I’m just extremely tired.” My dad was going through a nightmare with his own health, and I rationed away my problems as stress on top of exhaustion.

One day, my husband, our daughters, and I were in a nearby city around lunch time.  It was raining and he had to run into a store. I was (as always) SO thirsty.  I rolled my window down, wiped rain water off of the rear view mirror and put the water into my mouth… like four times in a row. The thought now makes me kind of sick, but I felt like I was about to die of thirst!

I went to another doctor the next day.

I think my mom suspected diabetes and I’m pretty sure my husband thought I had some sort of crazy, yet to be named disease with a grim outlook.  As for me, I didn’t know what it was but felt certain it was bad.

Even my doctor seemed overly concerned!

Turns out I had a ridiculously overactive thyroid that needed to be destroyed.  The hospital said they’d never seen one so out of whack – I took pride in that.  The hyperactive, crazy thyroid was dealt a final blow and I began taking a simple little pill every morning.  No biggy.

 The thing is, the solution and the cause were so simple! I kept getting worse because, honestly, I think I was kind of scared of what doctors would find because I felt SO bad.  Turns out the answer was quick, painless, and… in every way possible… gave me my life back.

I’m sure you see where I”m headed with this. Negativity is like an undiagnosed disease.  It’s victim will think the problem is something else.  Heck, they may be so scared that it’s something HUGE that they try to cover it up.  They know the cobwebs are on the window, but they throw curtains up over it.  Personally, I think a lot of people are scared that their problem is anxiety or depression.  Like me with my haywire thyroid, they’re certain the problem is bigger than it actually is.

You can deal negativity a fatal blow!  Your cure could be just a book away and the answer is quick, painless, and… in every way possible, will give you your life back.

See Activate Your Abundance: Remembering Your Power to Create What You Want for more information.

~ Joi

[toggle state=”open” title=”Accompanying Meditation Audios”] Go to www.togetherpublishing.com for meditation audios that accompany the book. [/toggle]

Filed Under: Book Reviews, How to Be Happy, Positive Thought, Self Improvement Tagged With: inspirational books, self help book reviews, self help books

Finding Your Way Back to You by Lynne Saint (Review)

September 27, 2012 by Joi 1 Comment

Finding Your Way Back to You

One of my favorite e-mails to receive is one containing the words, “Could we send you a book to review on your self help blog?” Beautiful words to this book lover – absolutely beautiful.  More times than not, if someone offers you a book to read and review, the book will be great. People with so-so or even bad books don’t seek reviewers. Why would they?!

Finding Your Way Back to You by Lynne Saint is a very special little book.  Very. It takes real talent to pack so much information, motivation, and inspiration into a mere 141 pages. I’ve read books 4 times as long that didn’t leave even half the impact this fun-to-read and even funner to live book does.

From the Back Cover:

Are you at a crossroads in life, lacking in motivation, looking for a new direction, or just plain ‘stuck’?

Finding your Way back to YOU is a practical resource written specifically for women who have found themselves in any of these positions.

Written by Lynne Saint – experienced Life Coach, NLP Practitioner and Hypnotherapist – this is a hands-on book with an accompanying downloadable journal and weblinked exercises.

Lynne’s straight-talking guidance, drawn from Coaching, Neuro Linguistic Programming and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, will help you to change your behaviour, and motivate and support you throughout your personal journey of self-discovery. This book will help you to develop and achieve the goals that you have dreamed of.

This book is written to and for women because we are the ones who are most in danger of “losing ourselves.”  We wear so many different titles in life…

  • wife
  • mother
  • daughter
  • employee
  • etc..

We’re supposed to be, literally, ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE. Whether we’re caring for aging parents, raising small children, trying to make ends meet financially, or simply trying to be the best wife and mother we can be – we very often neglect something that’s just as important: Trying to be the best us we can be!

That’s where this wonderful, upbeat, and inspiring book comes in. The words, quotes, and exercises cause you to think… I mean really think… and that’s the point.  We can’t hope to reunite with our true self if we fail to realize she’s missing.

Here’s a scenario most of us are familiar with:  When we were teenagers, and even into our early 20’s, we wouldn’t be caught dead in public (especially in front of that special someone) without just the right clothes on, our hair done, make-up perfect, perfume in place, and nails looking NICE.  Fast forward a little bit.  Add a child or two or three to the picture.  There’s laundry to do, bathrooms to clean, meals to cook, a family to care for – often on top of working.

Nail polish? Perfume? Ha!

We tend to lose ourselves in all the chaos and chores.  We become someone’s mother, someone’s wife, someone’s grandmother,  someone’s employee…. I did something alarming one time which, quite frankly, served to wake me up.  As I sat at home on the couch one night, in sweatpants and a huge t-shirt with my hair a hot mess, I wondered, “What would the 18 year old me think if she’d looked into the future and saw this?”

My initial reaction: She’d cry!  To say that I was all about looking my best when I was a teenager would be the biggest understatement in the world.  I was always armed with extra nail polish, perfume, make-up, and even a spritzer bottle I kept filled with scented water to spray on my naturally curly hair.

Scented!  I honestly added a little of my favorite AVON fragrances to this “miracle water” (Sweet Honesty until I graduated to Soft Musk).

We tend to lose track of the real us – the one who wants to look, feel, and be her best. Sadly, many women allow their dreams to die because they become so preoccupied with helping others live their dreams.

“You aren’t going to change your unique personality, and neither should you want to, but the new skills you will learn in (Finding Your Way Back to You) will give you the awareness to manage your traits to become your best and most successful self.” – Page 2

How committed are you to your marriage?

How committed are you to your children?

How committed are you to your parents?

How committed are you to your job?

How committed are you to your home?

Now, the tough question. How committed are you to you?

Finding Your Way Back to You isn’t just a book, it’s a journey. That may sound very self-helpish and it may be dripping in “guru juice,” but it’s true in every sense of the word.  You don’t simply read and discard Finding Your Way Back to You, you WORK and GROW through the book.  You take a journey and the destination is the you that you dreamed of being when you were 18.

  • Learn to recognize what or who is holding you back.
  • Learn to identify destructive thoughts and reprogram them to help rather than hurt.
  • Learn to block limiting beliefs.
  • Regain your confidence and even your swagger!
  • Find balance in your life that’ll allow everyone around you, including you, to live the life of their dreams.
  • Get motivated and find out how to STAY motivated.
  • Boost your self-esteem.
  • Become the person the little girl version of yourself would be proud of.

As you read the book, you can find free worksheets that’ll help you along your journey.  You can download them on the publisher’s website.

Finding Your Way Back to You is available on UK’s Amazon in paperback, but on our Amazon (USA) I can only find it as a Kindle Edition. If you have a Kindle, this is awesome news for you because the Kindle edition of Finding Your Way Back to You is only a couple of dollars!

One way or another, just get your hands on Finding Your Way Back to You!  This is the sort of book you’ll pass around to every female you know.  I can’t wait for my daughters to read it – I think it’ll keep them form ever “losing” any part of themselves.

What better gift could a mother give her girls?!

“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Elliott, Author

~ Joi

Also See: Love reading? Live for books? I totally recommend She’s Got the Book for Fiction Book Reviews.

Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Book Reviews, self help book reviews, self help books, self help books for women

The Swiss Cheese Theory of Life

December 10, 2011 by Joi Leave a Comment

The Swiss Cheese Theory of LIfe, by Judith A. Belmont, MS and Lora Shor, MSW, is such a fun, delightful, and thought-provoking book that I only wish I could put a copy into each one of my reader’s hands.  I was sent my own review copy a few weeks ago and I’ve really gotten a kick out of it.

Don’t get me wrong. Just because it’s fun, delightful, colorful, and has a killer personality doesn’t mean there isn’t a great deal of substance here, because there is.  The fact that it has a great deal of fun serving up the wonderful nuggets of self growth simply means that you’ll stay with them all the way to the end.  I can’t imagine anyone bailing on this book midway – you’d be too afraid of missing what might come next!

From the back cover:

Take The Swiss Cheese Theory of Life Challenge

  • Are you trying to make changes in your life, yet find yourself digging deeper into a hole?
  • Do you “know better” but still continue unhealthy patterns and habits?
  • Do you often have “why does this happen to me” thinking?
  • Are you looking for happiness in all the wrong places?
  • Are you ready to make healthy changes in your life…. physically, emotionally, spiritually?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions – this book is for you!

The Swiss Cheese Theory of Life is a book about resiliency. Using Swiss Cheese as a metaphor for life itself, you will explore ways to get through life’s holes without getting stuck in them.  Swill is not like any other cheese – and neither are you!

Top 10 Things I Love About The Swiss Cheese Theory of Life:

  1. The book has such a positive vibe it floats off of the pages.  There’s no negativity, scare tactics, or heavy handed advice.
  2. The authors treat important matters as important matters but don’t take things overly seriously. Life’s fun and this book doesn’t just “get” that, it celebrates it.
  3. I look at reading as sitting down and having a friendly visit with an author or authors. These authors are great company and I’m hoping for more collaborations.
  4. This book is highly interactive, inviting the reader to think, solve, and resolve.  We don’t grow when others do all the thinking for us!
  5. There are many fascinating quotes, illustrations, and examples. The lively writing is compelling.
  6. There are FUN illustrations and even comics. LOVE that!
  7. The book reads very fast, but doesn’t at all feel like “fast food.”  It’s fine dining quality but can be read by even the busiest person in no time at all.
  8. The authors show you how to take complete control of your life and bring the changes about that YOU want – not the changes someone else wants for you. Very important.
  9. The authors take good ole human emotions and short-comings into consideration. Very often they hit you with your excuses before they’ve even completely formed in your mind! Best of all, they offer solutions.
  10. Last, but certainly not least, this book shows that it is never, ever too late.  Lifelong mistakes or even even consistent shortcomings can be turned around.  The ship can be “righted” and.. guess what… we’re at the helm!

About the Authors:

Judith A. Belmont, MS, is a national speaker and corporate wellness trainer, with over 30 years of experience as a psychotherapist. From college teaching to working with Fortune 500 companies, Judy uses practical, action-oriented strategies to get people through life s obstacles. She is the author of two professional books, 86 Tips for the Therapeutic Toolbox and 103 Group Activities and TIPS.

Lora Shor, LSW, is a psychotherapist, work/life consultant, and national speaker. She has helped thousands learn and implement resiliency skills and transformation techniques for happier, healthier, balanced lifestyle. Lora is an international consultant to Fortune 500 companies, the federal government, and non-profits, and also maintains a private clinical practice in the Philadelphia area.

The Swiss Cheese Theory of Life is JUST the book I want each of my readers to have by their side when the new year rolls in.  When you’re sitting at the table with pen and paper, making your New Year’s Resolutions, I want this book to be there with the three of you!  It just may be the glue that’ll make those resolutions stick.

Take a closer look at this very special book: The Swiss Cheese Theory of LIfe

Filed Under: Book Reviews, Books I Love Tagged With: Book Reviews, self growth, self help book reviews, self help books

Five Wishes: A Gift That Changed My Life…

November 1, 2010 by Joi 4 Comments

Below is a guest article by author Gay Hendricks. To read my review of Gay Hendricks wonderful book Five Wishes, click here.

Five Wishes — A Gift That Changed My Life (and Can Change Yours Too)  by Gay Hendricks, author Five Wishes

When I was in my thirties, I had a conversation that ignited a hidden power in me and revealed to me my life-path. I tell the story of this profound moment of my life, an experience that set me on a path to having all my dreams come true, in my new book Five Wishes. My hope and intention in sharing this moment with you is that it gives you not only a story you’ll enjoy but also a powerful tool you can use to make all your dreams come true.

The Conversation That Changed My Life

Oddly enough, the conversation that changed my life took place at a party I didn’t even want to go to. I’m not a party-person in general, and I had some personal stuff going on in the relationship realm that made me not want to be at a big, festive event. I was feeling anything but festive.

I was in the early stages of my relationship with Kathlyn. I was deeply attracted to her, but I was already feeling the early warning signs of the relationship’s demise. I could feel an old familiar fear of commitment stirring within me. It was a fear that filled my mind with doubt and caused me to look for things to criticize about her. I was achingly familiar with this pattern; it had caused the deterioration of several relationships in my past. I would get involved with someone, then about six months into the relationship I would start to pull back, usually just about the time the woman wanted me to make a deeper commitment.

Kathlyn was relatively new in town and wanted to go to the party so she could meet people. I had agreed to take her, and I didn’t want to face her reaction if I changed my mind. That was another pattern of mine: To do something I didn’t want to do in order to avoid the unpleasantness of the other person’s disappointment or anger. Finally I decided to put aside my resistance and fulfill my obligation. I suited up, rehearsed my party-smile, and marched forth into the cold November night. Little did I know I was about to have a conversation that would change my life forever.

After an hour or so I was getting tired of being convivial and participating in party-chatter. To get out of the fray, I sidled into a quiet den that was lined with bookshelves. There I found another “escapee” who was browsing books on the shelves, a tall fellow with a shaven head, about sixty years of age. We greeted each other and exchanged names. He said he’d gotten tired of small-talk and was taking a breather.

I told him I felt exactly the same way.

That’s when the conversation shifted into a new dimension.

“Well, since we’re here and we don’t like small talk, let’s not have any,” he said.

“Done deal,” I said, thinking our interaction was over.
Instead, he said “Then let’s either have some Big Talk or no talk at all.”

I took a deep breath and plunged into the unknown. I told him I was up for some Big Talk.

Right away he offered a piece of information that definitely qualified as Big Talk. He said he’d had a near-death experience, but that it turned out to be possibly the greatest experience of his life. He said that through the experience he had received the gift of a profound question.

I asked him to tell me more.

He told me the details weren’t important, but he offered to ask me the question that had come out of the experience.

“It’s big,” he said, “Are you absolutely certain you want it?”

I could feel the icicle-butterfly sensations of fear in my stomach, but I could also feel a heightened sense of excitement and alertness all over me.

“Yes,” I said.

“Okay,” he said, “Imagine you’re on your deathbed.”

I gulped. “Okay.”

He said it might be today or tomorrow or fifty years from now, but whenever it was, imagine that he came to visit me on my deathbed.

He asked me to picture him standing beside the bed, telling me goodbye. From this perspective, he said, ask yourself this question:

“Was your life a complete success?”

He continued: “You might say ‘Yes, my life has been a complete success’ or you might say ‘No, my life has not been a complete success.’”

“Right,” I said, intrigued by the direction this was taking.

“If you said ‘No, my life was not a complete success,’ you would have some reasons why it wasn’t. For example, J. Paul Getty, who was the wealthiest man in the world, said on his deathbed, ‘I’d gladly give up all my millions for one experience of marital happiness.’ If he’d been given a wish, that’s what he would have wished for.”

I was fascinated by what he was saying, but I could also feel a growing sense of anxiety in my belly. What did all this have to do with me?

“If you told me on your deathbed that your life had not been a success, what would be the things you’d wish had happened that would have made it a success?”

My mind went TILT. What an amazing question! Right away I knew the main reason my life was not a success:

Because I never enjoyed a long and happy marriage with a woman I adored and who adored me…a lifelong blossoming of passion and creativity with a woman.
Ed asked my why that was important to me. The words seemed to tumble out of my mouth. First, to have this kind of relationship would accomplish something I’d never seen in the world, and certainly not in my family of origin. Second, to enjoy lasting love with a woman would mean that my moment-to-moment experience would be rich and joyful. Third, I had a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in the field of counseling psychology and had counseled thousands of people on their issues and concerns. What good was all that training and practice if I couldn’t figure out how to experience genuine, lasting love with one other human being?

“Okay,” he said, “turn the wish into a goal, and put it in the present tense, as if it’s happening right now.”

I rearranged the words in my head. My life is a total success because I enjoy a happy marriage with a woman I adore and who adores me. I’m enjoying a lifelong blossoming of passion and creativity with her.

“Is that something you really want?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“And is that something you’re willing to commit yourself to, body and soul?”

I immediately felt a gut-dropping sensation of fear, but in spite of the wave of terror I said, “Yes.” Remarkably, as soon as I said yes the fear disappeared completely.

I felt my whole body light up with an inner smile. I had no idea if I could accomplish this goal, but I knew I would die unsatisfied if I did not commit myself body and soul to the quest. Getting clear on this goal and its importance to me awakened a burst of energy and aliveness I could feel all over.

Fast Forward To Now

In my book, Five Wishes, I share the whole journey with you, all the ups and downs along the way to seeing my five greatest wishes come true. I’m about the same age now as my benefactor was when he asked me that powerful question. I think his great value in my life was not just the question—it was that he held a space for me in which all my dreams could come true. Now, I know it’s possible. I’d like to hold that space for you, so that your deepest wishes and greatest dreams can come true. From my own life and from working with people for the past thirty-some years, I’ve found that human beings have a great deal more capacity for achieving our dreams than we usually give ourselves credit for. I believe we can attain all the important wishes of our lifetimes—if we get our hearts and minds in harmony about what those wishes are.

For assistance in helping you clarify your own Five Wishes, you’re invited to use the resources of www.5wishesbook.com, where you can download the Five Wishes worksheet, the Five Wishes movie, and other useful resources.   –  by Gay Hendricks, author Five Wishes

Bio
Gay Hendricks is the author of more than 25 books in personal development, relationship and conscious business. With his wife, Dr. Kathlyn Hendricks, he is the author of Conscious Loving, Spirit-Centered Relationships and The Conscious Heart. The Hendricks Institute, based in Ojai, California, offers seminars around the world in conscious relationship and bodymind vibrance. He may be reached through www.5wishesbook.com and www.hendricks.com.

Filed Under: Books I Love, Positive Thought Tagged With: Five Wishes, inspirational books, self help books

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Self Help Blog

Cat on Pine Mountain , Kentucky

Welcome to Self Help Daily, a blog devoted to helping you get the most from life by getting the most from yourself!

Read the story behind the picture above in How to Live in the Moment.

Positive Affirmation Cards


Positive Affirmation Cards (Amazon)

Contact Joi

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

To contact me, please do so through e-mail (joitsigers @ gmail.com). Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you! ~ Joi

Self Help Blog Updates

  • Finding More Time for Reading in a Ridiculously Busy Day!
  • The – Almost – Lost Art of Greeting Cards: A History of Sentimentality 
  • Top Tips to Avoid Catching Winter Bugs
  • Remember How Free it Felt to Be a Kid? Yeah… Let’s Tap Back into That!
  • Always Have an Attitude of Gratitude ~ Sterling K. Brown
  • Managing Bladder Inconsistency in the Elderly
  • John Wooden Quote About Optimism
  • WhatIf Foods and Their Planet-Positive Mindset: In Our Spotlight for Vegan Month!

Featured Quote Graphics

Don't Quit Quote Graphic

Dr. Seuss Quote About Being Who You Are

Booker T. Washington Quote About Hate

Wayne Dyer Quote About Karma

Quote About Habits

Footer

Inspirational Quotes

  • Abraham Lincoln Quotes
  • Billy Graham Quotes
  • Booker T. Washington Quotes
  • Dale Carnegie Quotes
  • Maya Angelou Quotes
  • Mark Twain Quotes
  • Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes
  • Norman Vincent Peale Quotes

More Inspirational Quotes

❖ Self Help Daily Updates



Overcoming Empty Nest Syndrome

One of the questions I hear the most from my readers is, "How can I cope with empty nest syndrome?" I'll try to deal with this sensitive subject as often as possible. If you have any suggestions, I hope you'll contribute to the conversations!

  • Coping With Empty Nest Syndrome
  • Don't Just Cope in an Empty Nest, Thrive!
  • How to Be Happy in an Empty Nest
  • Overcoming Empty Nest Syndrome
Copyright Self Help Daily 2023