Can one book change your life??!

[babysunshine]

My Mom has for the past couple of years given me tons of self help books. Anthony Robbins, Jack Canfield.... you name it she sends it to me. I read them (All of them have to do with living healthy (Mind, body, spirit) and they do have some great information in them. But my experience has usually been to read them and then not really implement them in my life, especially the negative thinking part.

 

Well, a couple of weeks ago I was at a bookstore and just looking around and came accross a book about negative thinking and health. It was cheap so I bought it. All I have to say is I read throught the entire 500+ pages in two days and since then I have been amazed. My mood, my train of thought, everything has changed. My family noticed, my friends noticed, I'm feeling so good. Can this actually happen? Can one book really do this. Sorry if I sound like an idiot but "it seems to good to be true" keeps popping in my head.

 

Anyone have any experience with anything like this?? Like a mini epiphany?

[kuiks8]

what was the book called?

[redhearts]

Ya I want to know what its called too!

[babysunshine]

Hey Kuicks, it was called You Cant Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought. I mean, it's a cheapie little paperback book but for me it was crucial in understanding a lot about my behavior.

 

But, like I said I have always been bombarded with self-help books like these and have read them and taken some stuff from them but this one I read like the author wrote it just for me. Am I crazy, or can this one little book that I almost didnt even buy really have helped me? I mean I still have a lot of work to do but I feel like something has been lifted.

[redhearts]

It can help though, I did read a book once a while ago, it helped, but only for a while. Then back to old me.

[kuiks8]

I think that's awesome and totally possible...different things speak to us at different points in our lives...I believe when we are open to grow and change and learn that good things come of that...

sounds like you have that desire to grow...and if that is you in your avatar can i just say you are stunning!

[unabashed]

Maybe when something hits you, at the core, as being the truth, it validates things for you on many levels and changes how you feel about yourself and the world. I think that there are a lot of things that people know, innately, but it sometimes takes reading or hearing something to bring it back to the surface.

 

I'm curious, too. What was the book?

 

Whatever happened, don't let anything invalidate your experience. It's perfectly possible to have something happen, like an epiphany, and change your whole world view. I'm happy for you!

[babysunshine]

Thanks guys, I think it is a combo of me being ready to absorb this information and also reading it at the exact time I needed it! I put little post-it notes on pages so I can go back and re-read certain parts that helped me! Yay! Im excited!

[babii doll]

i remember being down and out at one point in my life, i found myself venturing into the self help section at the library where i came accross a book called "secrets of a millionaire mind" that really changed my outlook on life. i think some books can definitely be lifechanging.

[browneyedgirl36]

I think a book can definitely have a deep impact on someone to the point that the person makes changes in his or her life. I think you're right, though, that you were probably also *ready* for these changes to occur.

 

I've read a couple of books that had this effect on me recently. One is "The Secret of Letting Go" by Guy Finley, and the other is "Feeling Good" by Dr. David Burns. Both deal with how our thoughts shape our reality, and how, for the most part, we make ourselves unhappy with our negative thoughts. A few years ago, I would NOT have been open to these ideas; I stubbornly clung to the idea that I was unhappy because stuff *happened* to me, because people did and said things *to* me -- basically, I was a HUGE victim. The truth, which I had a hard time realizing, was that I was a victim of no one but myself and my own negativity and fear. I actually read these two books AFTER I started on the road to change, but they gave me a much needed, very healthy dose of perspective, and I am glad I read both of them.

 

I applaud you for being open to change. It is the first step toward wonderful things!

[DropToZero]

Life is 10% what happens to us, 90% of how we react to it.... attitude is everything. It's just a matter of whether or not you put it into action.

[JenniferSNJ]

I read that book! I enjoyed it also; although, it didn't drastically change my life. Two books did change my life though- Tuesdays with Morrie: it motivated me to become a teacher when I was 16 and I graduate at 22 years old this spring with a ba in lit and a ba in education. And I just read one chapter of the book- write it down and make it happen just this past week and this book has inspired me to join americorps, which I'll start this coming Sept! haha, books really drastically change my life sooooo you're not alone

[lostandhurt]

I have done more reading in the last six months than I had done in the previous 10 years! My sister does what your mom does. I came to realize that the books and ideas in them were like tools in a tool box. Many of the things I have learned weren't all that complicated but they were profound. I took the tool out and applied it to my life. I cherry pick the parts of these books that really speak to me and let them become part of my life. I have actually gone back and re-read portions because as I changed and learned about myself the passages took on more/different meanings.

 

I also think finding that little gem yourself helps. No one knows you better than you, so it stands to reason that you would find the book that speaks to you the most.

 

I have 3 books waiting to be read right now.....

 

lost

[babysunshine]

Thanks Jen! So good to hear! and of course, good luck and congratulations on joining the corps!

[babysunshine]

I agree Lost, the fact that I found it on my own probably helps =) Love my mom though, and her crazy self help books!

[chigal28]

Sometimes the way in which one author expresses his thoughts, and the way he/she sees the universe, just resonates with us in a way that nothing else could. I have certainly had that happen!! It's an awesome experience.