These books and websites can help you live more authentically. I’ve read many personal growth books and visited many related websites. This page includes some of my top picks for places to start or continue your journey of self-exploration. They range from books and sites that focus on gratitude to those that pertain to forgiveness and opening yourself to new points of view. I consider these to be some of the best in their field. They all contain information that when applied can help you to radically transform your life. You can order all of the books from Amazon by clicking on the book title or link directly to the websites by clicking on the website address.
The Four Agreements
Don Miguel Ruiz $12.95
This book serves as an excellent reminder for each of us to focus on the only thing we have any power over – ourselves. Ruiz points out that by simply choosing to be impeccable with your word, not take anything personally, not make assumptions, and always do your best, you can end much of your needless suffering. I love what an easy read it is, and how you can start applying it to your own life immediately to regain a sense of control. I like this book so much that I bought two copies, one to keep and one to loan to friends.
Loving What Is
Byron Katie $15.95
Our thoughts and beliefs are responsible for limiting us and holding us back in life. This is an outstanding book to read when you’re ready to start questioning whether your thoughts and beliefs are actually true. Katie maintains that we tend to blindly believe everything we think. Becoming conscious of our thoughts and testing those thoughts for validity opens up new realms of possibility and allows us to begin to accept ‘what is’. Katie calls her process of questioning beliefs ‘The Work’. There is a step-by-step worksheet in the book to walk you through applying this process to your thoughts. ‘The Work’ has changed my life. Loving What Is is a must read for anybody who’s ready to start healing by embracing the truth!
The Dark Side of the Light Chasers
Debbie Ford $14.00
We all have personality traits that we dislike and prefer to try to keep hidden, and as a result we feel cut off from ourselves. Ford encourages us to not only look at our so called negative traits like selfishness, rudeness, and laziness, but also to make our peace with those traits. They each offer some gift to us. Perhaps it is precisely because you can recognize how selfishness has affected your life that you are able to be so incredibly giving. What Ford repeatedly drives home is that the acceptance of all aspects of yourself is what finally allows you to experience wholeness and peace.
www.Braco.net
Braco
On April 1 and 2, I had the opportunity to attend gazings by Braco, (pronounced braht so). I felt such love, acceptance and gratitude during the gazings and tears of joy ran down my face. I could feel energy course through my body, see an aura around Braco and feel warmth in my open hands. After Braco left the stage, I saw his shadow appear on stage and then sink down through the floor three or four times in succession. I somehow felt safer in the world. And three younger family members reached out to me in new and beautiful ways that weekend.
What might be possible for you if you attended his gazings? Some people experience nothing. Some people are healed of life threatening medical conditions. Where might you fall on the spectrum?
If you are curious, and would like to learn more and see what might be possible for you, you can attend one or more of his gazings here in Indianapolis on Tuesday, October 4th and Wednesday, October 5th. Attend and bring a friend or loved one. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.
For more information about Braco and to purchase tickets for the gazings, please visit Braco.net.
Eat Mangoes Naked
SARK $16.95
Sometimes the easiest way to bring greater joy into our lives is to play! SARK encourages us to look for pleasure everywhere and to take childish delight in everything, even while we’re experiencing difficult times. She shares simple techniques like visiting far away spots in your imagination, complimenting others, and allowing yourself the pleasure of doing some things ‘badly’ in order to increase the delight in your life. This book takes you on a light-hearted romp through some of life’s more trying times.
The Power of Now
Eckhart Tolle $14.00
What I’ve learned is that most of the time we spend grieving is a result of lamenting our past or worrying about our future. We’re rarely considering how we actually feel in this moment. Tolle makes it quite clear in his straightforward question-and-answer format that the only real thing is this moment, the now. The past no longer exists and the future may never come to pass. Everything that happens, happens in the present. That’s where the joy is too. Learn to be more present and you can consciously increase your happiness.
www.GoGratitude.com
Stacey Robyn
We are inclined to see and encounter whatever we look for and expect. So, as we focus on all we have to be grateful for, our opportunities to experience gratitude multiply. Robyn’s Go Gratitude Experiment will help you quickly transform your feelings into joy through gratitude. Sign up for the experiment and she’ll send you 42 consecutive days of e-mails just brimming with grateful ideas, photos, and drawings.