Psychology and Motivation Books

The book was in excellent condition, I have no complaints at all, it was everything I expected.

Kingdom Principles: Preparing for Kingdom Experience and Expansion (Understanding the Kingdom) (Hardcover)
There are alot of books written on the Bible by many authors, but I believe this is the best source of truth about the Kingdom of God that I have ever read.

Dr. Myles Munroe is especially Gifted and Called to serve our "today". The Study Guide he authored was led by our Lord and is one of learning the route to a deeper life, experiencing spiritual guidelines for many life changing issues and all is backed with the Word of God. The Study Guide is quite easy to use and any and all should expect spiritual growth when their 40 days are complete.

The "Kingdom Principles Study Guide" is designed as a supplement to Myles Munroe's book "Kingdom Principles" and is made up of 40 lessons to be used over a 40 day period.

Each daily lesson includes: A scripture verse for the day, a daily devotion based on an excerpt taken from the book "Kingdom Principles," several related thought provoking, application questions, and a meditation. These include principles for contemplation, concepts for consideration, and distinctiveness of the Kingdom of God to experience.

I found the devotional thoughts motivational and inspirational, the application questions stimulating and compelling, and the meditations to be rich with a moving, and meaningful focus.

This is an important, comprehensive study guide that will help the reader expand their kingdom living experience as they reflect anew on "Kingdom Principles."

Great study guide about the Kingdom and how God wants us to set up His Kingdom here on earth. God is our King and we are to rule under Him. This 40 day devotional will encourage and enlighten your life.

My parents gave me this book for my birthday. I'm very glad that I finally got around to reading it. The author was
shot down over North Viet Nam, and spent five and a half years as a POW in several vietnamese prison camps. Dave Carey takes the reader through these experiences, the terror, disappointments, the boredom, and even the humor. I've always liked reading stories of how people get through tough times. It gives me inspiration to get through my own, lesser, tough times. In the telling of an experience more devastating than most of us will ever face, Carey provides a wonderful example for getting through the tough times. His five-point checklist will help anyone get through rough times; it is simple, concise, and eminently do-able in any situation. Thanks Mom & Dad for the gift, and thank you Dave Carey for writing it!

Thank you, David Carey, for sharing your POW experiences. The description of how you and your fellow prisoners chose to spend your time and the attitude you had toward your situation are an excellent example of how we all make choices about how to deal with what comes up in our own lives.

This book is an interesting, easy and fun read. Carey is a great storyteller who makes you feel and understand what they lived through along with how they kept their sanity and dignity.

Great insights from a guy that's been there. Dave has an uncanny knack of applying his challenging POW experiences to our everyday lives. A solid read.

Dave was my roommate aboard USS ORISKANY prior to his capture in 1967. As a Naval Academy graduate and Naval Aviator he was assigned to an attack squadron flying the A-4 Skyhawk. I met Dave the day we departed NAS Alameda for deployment to Southeast Asia, and Vietnam. He had his fiance Karen aboard for a short time in the officer's wardroom for coffee and last minute good byes. The next time he saw Karen was 5.5 years later after his release from a North Vietnam prisoner of war camp. I saw him again at his wedding!

This is terrific read along with Zalin Grants "Over the Beach" about the war, it's history, and the toll it took on countless lives.

i thought i had lived through some tough times before reading Dave's story... if life has got you down, choose this book, you'll begin to feel you too can survive and excel even in the most demanding situations. Dave ties in his Vietnam experience to create powerful insights for daily living in part 2.
My advice... READ THIS BOOK!

I can't recommend this book highly enough. I was a student in the class and never read the book until a few months after completing the "Creativity & Personal Mastery" course. It was simply an incredible experience and it's like taking the course again just by reading all of Professor Rao's words of wisdom.

My only regret is that I don't get to hear his great booming voice.

It's really a great book & I couldn't recommend it any higher.

Srikumar S. Rao presents a broad, philosophical context you can use to contemplate the notion of success. Though he covers complex ideas that derive from global traditions of ancient wisdom, the book is accessible and not quite as deep as it might be, given the topic. If changing your personal reality were really as easy as these exercises suggest, the world might be an easier place. Rao includes exercises designed to help you open your mind and confront your preconceptions, as well as a reading list designed to jar loose and challenge the daily realities you may take for granted. getAbstract recommends this to those who are new to the genre of self-awareness literature, and who want to find success through contemplating or rediscovering joy and purpose.

Sri Kumar Rao has simplified the successful tips and they are very easy to follow. The samrt guy will read this often and reinforce the principles until they become part of him. Good luck. Overall, one of the best self help books for a student or businessman!

I have had the joy of reading Dr. Rao Srikumars book: "Are You Ready to Succeed? Unconventional Strategies to Achieving Personal Mastery in Business and Life" - This book has taken me on a journey within myself. This has been very interesting for me. I define leadership skills in levels, and I always urge to define what level I am on, and to what level am I going. The problem is that I do not know what the next level brings or what it contains. I do not define levels in promotions, but in skill and knowledge. When I heard Dr. Rao speak at google, I felt that this was my next path. I have not just read his book, but I have also done the exercises it provides. The result is interesting. Although I am by nature quite like the person Dr. Rao want me to be, it provides me with more awareness of myself and my mental being.

It might be hard to describe the effect the book have on me, because it provides me with no tools on how to become a better leader, but still it makes me a better leader as I am more aware of my mind and my inner dialogue.

The book is very interesting and it appeals to me because I agree with a lot of what he writes in the first place. If you really really badly desire something in life, the universe will work with you to get you there. I have experienced it myself many times. Why is it like this? The book will give you some hints.

Being positive.
I am a positive person; I do believe the best about people. I hear people on a regular daily basis talk negative about others, and I see how people are affected, even about people they have never met, suddenly they think less of the person. I do not think less of a person if other people talk negative about them, I think; "This is not my view of this person" - "I have not had any negative encounters with this person" - "Why do you feel you have the right to influence my opinion of a person in a negative matter?" - And it backfires on the person talking negative. This also helps me to prevent me from talking negative, because it is not in my right to give an opinion that can influence other people's relationships in a negative way. This book point out that mental chatter (This is your inner dialogue) is negative by nature. It does judge people all the time, just think about it. You have a huge bad and ugly critic sitting inside your head. It does not only judge others, it also judges you. This book provides a guard post in your head. It teaches you to identify what is negative, and alert you. It helps you to be more positive.

Sit on a chair.
This book got me to sit on a chair for 30 minutes to try to do nothing. It was an interesting experience. I absolutely recommend you to read this book, not only if you are a leader, but also if you want to be more positive and happy. But I would rather say that you need to do the book, not just read it. It has a lot of exercises that needs to be done in order. And you must follow it step by step.

What did it do for me?
Not so much yet? I still do a lot of the exercises in the book on a daily basis, I do feel happier, and I do feel more aware of my own senses and mental statement. I do feel stronger after events that might be considered negative. My landlord called me the other day, saying that I need to move, because they need the space for themselves. I really like it here. Bad thing, and I need to do the hassle of moving. I did find a new place, with a better standard than this, with a great kitchen, with better location between my son's kindergarten and my job. And it turns out that his best friend from kindergarten has just moved in next door to the new place. So is this a bad thing? Good thing?

And lately I have gotten a proof that the book is changing my life...

101st floor please!
I have been having a dream lately, two times just this week that I am in an elevator and going up high to 101st floor. I tried to Google dream and elevator today and found out that this dream means;

"Dreaming of riding upwards in an elevator may symbolize an easy upward
climb with no obstructions. As you move up in the world, you may feel that you
have the support of someone or the universe. Rising in an elevator may also
symbolize spiritual development or an increase in awareness with an ability to
rise above and view the world from an elevated standpoint."

And after reading this book I do feel an increase in awareness, maybe I am suddenly standing on the next level of my development ladder? The dream interpretation does match my feelings. I do strongly recommend this book.

I personally took Professor Rao's course, which has had a profound effect on me and on the increasing network of professionals who have had the opportunity to cross his path.

The tools he provides and the frameworks he proposes are as challenging as they are breathtakingly life changing. His transformational course helped me become much more effective in my professional and personal life.

My day to day existence is more satisfying and my outlook has changed dramatically making me more capable and determined to realize my full potential in all areas of my life

This book is a distilation of his course.

If you are ready; that is if you have an itch that your life - both professionally and personally - should be much better and you are willing to practise the exercises he proposes (avoiding the temptation to just read the pages) I can guarantee that his book will have a deep effect in your perceptions and actions, making your life so much more satisfiying and enjoyable all round.

Ran across this book while searching for others and i decided to pull it off the shelf not sure I would like it. Out of the four various books i grabbed this is the one i couldn't put down as i read page by read wondering what's next. It was remarkably funny, simple - easy to understand and read, and engaging. The kind of book that you can read and forget that the world outside it existed as you fell deep into it. This book is simple, but profound, fast paced but holding more information than any other book will show in in all it's chapters. Not one bit of it is slow, and what's most interesting is not one of you won't feel like this girl Sara is you, as if the essence of your life has just been captured in a short 29 chapters.

This book is both fantasy and informative with such a succesful blending together that it's not any tedious work at all, and the way it informs you is so different from any of abrahams works that no matter how many times you have listened to her, or anyone else this book will feel like a new adventure. Oh and it's about the law of attraction, enjoy!

I just reread this book for the umpteenth time and it flew me to new places of joy and clarity. This is the most valuable information in the whole world. I love these books and I am so excited to have heard that a movie, with music is in the process and I just can't wait. I am so happy to have these Hicks folks in my life, doing their stuff. Thank you.

This book is amazing, it might be written for kids but as an adult it has opened my eyes tremendously. I have read all of the other books written by Esther and Jerry Hicks and this book is the one that gave me the light bulb moment. After reading every page it was like my soul just opened up a little bit more and I everything, every book that I had read began to mesh, I began to understand everything that I had read in prior books. This book should be in all schools across America and in every home for every child to read along with the parents. An amazing book!!!!!

this first book in the Sara series is an easy way to understand the teachings of the source entities Abraham. i really enjoyed it and an now going to go on and read the other two books. blessing and joy to all.

The Sara books are great for kids! I will buy them all for my daughter. I have to say I'm 28 years old and I adored all 3 Sara books myself. They were really fun to read, providing an inside-the-mind of a child perspective of life and the law-of-attraction with lots of great stuff to ponder. I cherished my time reading these books and felt like the child/young woman in me was nourished.

Highly recommend you read......ageless info....simple to understand and a wonderful compiliation of all that I have studied.....Mr. Collier has it right!

This book as it is published here is an abosulute must read. The first time I read this book I honestly felt happy inside. When I spoke to others I know who read the book, they said the same thing. They really felt happy inside while reading it. I will always keep this book.

Like The Secret and other modern books, Mr. Collier wrote The Secret of the Ages in order to make money. About this there can be no question. One only has to read his famous book (in advertising circles) called The Robert Collier Letter Book to learn this from his own mouth.

The truth is that Mr. Collier (and modern success teachers) loved this concept because people will keep coming back for more of it decade after decade even though their lives do not always improve. It is a clear historical fact that Robert Collier developed multiple series based around this same concept of attraction (The Secret of the Ages, The Life Magnet and The Book of Life early on and the Law of Higher Potential later) and sold the same information again and again with different stories. Since the "Law of Attraction" or "you get what you think" is really just the first step toward success, authors and speakers are sure to keep the flocks coming back as long as they indicate that it is THE key to success rather than the FIRST STEP to success.

In The Robert Collier Letter Book he lays out all of the details of how he tested different letters until he found the one that would get people to buy. In fact, he admits that he had not even written the books when he sent out the letters. The order came in so fast that he "worked day and night getting the books written." He also said that "a lot of books came back. They would, when oversold as much as this letter and circular did oversell them. The idea had been excellent, BUT NO BOOK EVER WRITTEN COULD QUITE COME UP TO SUCH A PROMISE." {Capitalized for emphasis.}

Those words screamed out at me when I read them in the only advanced success book Robert Collier ever wrote - his sales letter book. Of course it is about creating marketing, testing the marketing, using what works and providing the product. Hold on! Do you mean to tell me that Robert Collier - the key source of the modern Secret movement - didn't actually believe that success came through your thoughts but rather through systematic effort? It turns out, in his own words, that it's true.

Please, don't take my word for it. Read a copy of The Robert Collier Letter Book yourself. You can find it here: The Robert Collier Letter Book. It will be one of the most important reads of your life - if you really want success and fulfillment. You'll find that thoughts are WILDLY important, but they never work alone. You don't get back what you THINK, you get back what you DO. That's exactly what Robert Collier really believed himself. The Secret books that he wrote were really just the juvenille steps toward success and he knew it.

Sadly, today, people act like The Secret and the Law of Attraction are at the post-graduate level of success. My friends, I care for you and all humankind deeply, so I must tell you that the Law of Attraction doesn't work unless you are attracted to work. The Secret of the Ages, when simplified without the glorious language (and there is no question that Robert Collier wrote about the obvious first step toward success far better than any of the modern authors) reads like this:

Before you can do anything that will bring you success, you must think upon doing it and how you will do it. If you think about all the things that could go wrong, you'll be discouraged and won't take action.

There you have it. It is an important key to success, but it's only the beginning. I've written five books and am writing my sixth now for the computer industry. But here's the key - I wrote them. I didn't think about writing them... I wrote them. The first step is to stop believing you can't and start believing you can, but once you become a can believer, you have to do it. All success comes by doing in the end.

I know some won't like this review, but it is a review of the author and the truth behind what's in the book. I've read not only this book, but every book written by Robert Collier, Orison Swett Marden, David Bush, Elmer Wheeler, Elmer Leterman, Frank Channing Haddock, and William Matthews among others. I've spent two decades reading, studying and seeking for the secrets to success and all I've learned can be summed up in the following formula:

Think + Act + Think + React = Success

The first think indicates that one must be positive and believe that she or he may achieve the desired end. The second think, however, is quite different. Here, you must technically analyze your results and then react by changing your actions so as to succeed. It's not all about positive thoughts and attracting of results.

I'll understand if some don't like this review, but all I've said is true regarding Robert Collier and his writing of this book among others and can be verified by anyone who is a true seeker of truth. I, too, was shocked and yet the revelation was the most important step in my success journey and searching so far!

This is the book that contains all the universal thruth. All the other like "The Secret", "Think and Grow Rich" are based in this book. It is the number one in self awareness and positive thinking. Any reader who is serious about changing his or her life, must read this book.

Tony Alcazar

La Nueva Raza Latina en America: La Historia de un Ilegal

[...]

First off, let me say the "content" of this book deserves a 5 star rating. I won't rate this aspect of the book since so many other reviewers have covered the content in such a fine way.

It was very difficult for me to give this book 3 stars, but felt it necessary to warn others of the poor re-production of this particular edition. It is in Public Domain, therefore, any publisher can re-produce it at will and without paying royalties. It's a great price at $5.99, but in this instance I think you get what you pay for. The typesetting is probably 8-9 points (a good 1/3 smaller than standard) and the 'leading' (the space between the lines) is much too tight as well. For most people (even with excellent reading eyesight) this alone will eventually cause eyestrain. For those of us who already require a little help with reading glasses, it is quite difficult to read - for any length of time anyway. The focus and concentration required to read this edition takes away from its wonderful content.

PS: While I fully embrace the wisdom of Robert collier, here's just a side-note about about what another reviewer mentioned as a warning regarding his philosophy on health and healing. He died of cancer at age 65. His (along with Mary Baker Eddy's) idea that illness can not survive if you deny its existence (greatly simplified here) didn't work for him - and it didn't work for Wallace Wattles (another noteworthy writer from the New Thought Movement of the early 20th century who died an untimely death). perhaps this is because this basic belief fails to address what may have caused the disease in the first place. Therefore, denying only the disease, does not deny the possible wrong thinking that may have brought it about. In the case of disease, it may be better to focus on changing wrong thinking patterns, along with a focus on drawing the proper health care across your path (doctors, nutritionists, books, etc... all of which played a roll in eradicating cancer when I had it).

Hope this review helps. Thanks for taking the time to read it.

This book was one of many self help books I have read. The only difference was that this book actually inspired me to change my life. From the getgo their is a story called "Acres of Diamonds". If you have not read the story, you must!!! The story helped me to realize that I was living in my own "Acres of Diamonds" without even realizing it! I have read and reread the book several times and I am even introducing the book to my 11 year old niece so that she may learn of the power she holds in her own hands. Thank you Dennis Kimbro.

I read this book when it first came out, and really got a lot out of it. In fact, I even used the book in a university class to argue existentialism and why it's important to keep a positive mental attitude instead of being negative. The original book, of course, is great but I like how this book is tailored to really empower African Americans in a way that really speaks to us.

This is one of the greatest books I have ever read. Next to the Bible it has had a positive effect on me and I share its positive message with everyone.

I speak to groups and this is on my suggested reading list.

A must read.

I am not one who writes or talks much but I have to share with those who I meet.

Think and Grow Rich continues to be a book I would suggest that everyone keep in their library and read at least once a year.

An excellent read for anyone who desired to have it all and wants to truly know how to go about accomplishing that very goal step by step.

Irene Watson is an important figure in independent publishing and an innovator in creating important services to assist new authors, and I approached her new book as an autobiography of someone I admire. "The Sitting Swing" does not disappoint, and the vivid storytelling description of Irene's childhood and later recovery are a delightful surprise.

The book opens in epic fashion with Irene in action, settling into a 28-day recovery program at a facility called Avalon. The interior monologue that is to narrate the story shines out boldly in the first statement, "It was the damnedest thing they thought I'd fall for it." There are many places in the book where I was struck by a raw statement of honesty in Mrs. Watson's reactions to her world, and this opener sets the stage.

The first chapters relate the reasons Irene has come to Avalon, but the story takes flight with the flashback to Irene's past. Mrs. Watson is a true storyteller and takes the readers in hand to see her family and childhood home in emotional color. The descriptions of the hardships lived by her grandparents and parents are poignant and illuminating, and the honest appraisal gives testimony to the healing recounted in the rest of the book.

There is page-turning brilliance in the scenes Irene gives the reader from her past. The descriptions of the Sitting Swing--so named because it cannot swing, and so cannot cause injury--impart not only the sights and smells of the yard where Irene sat stationary before her mother's window, but the confinement and restriction it represented. A life is served before us, one that holds a full measure of the pain life can bring even a child, but is told in a way that invites the reader to reflect on our own individual yet common struggles.

Mrs. Watson reveals the soul of a writer as she makes an engaging and compelling story out of her journey to recovery. This is the heart of the work, and unusual in a book about recovery as such artfulness is rare and difficult, and yet Irene's skillful expression allows the reader to see our own experiences in hers, not by indicating, not by telling, but by bringing the reader along her path to see for themselves.

There is a division in the book when the narrative returns to the present: after the rich detail and nostalgic tones of the flashback scenes there is a jolt to the present. This is the nature of the book: it entertains and surprises as it teaches. Irene doesn't pull any punches in the final scenes describing the showdowns and breakthroughs at Avalon, but the urgency is fading, the lights are coming up, the resolution is at hand.

We all walk our own path, and Irene doesn't offer prescriptions or pat answers. Reflections and truths discovered, yes, but there is not a moralizing word to be found here. It is a fantastic achievement to put in moving words the story of one's journey and to do it in a way that reaches out to others. The hope it offers is not sugar-coated or facile, it is the quiet testimony of a way to healing. Highly recommended.

In The Sitting Swing: Finding Wisdom to Know the Difference, Irene Watson tells a powerful story of a childhood damaged by emotional and physical abuse--and more importantly, the path that leads her to healing and recovery. The book's subtitle refers, of course, to Reinhold Niebuhr's words, so well-known in the Recovery Community as The Serenity Prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

Without preachiness or moralizing or sparing her own shortcomings, Watson structures her story in four parts, making a wise decision to create a mix of one part past childhood trauma and three parts transformative journey in the Avalon Recovery Center in Washington State.

Memoirs often center around the conflict of a personal difficulty that touches on our universal story. Of the three methods of story telling found in memoir--narrative, descriptive, and exposition--Watson most often uses narrative devices such as anecdote, character, and setting a scene. This also is a wise choice as the narrative devices move the story along at a good clip and keeps the reader involved, even during the most painful parts of her story revolving around an over-controlling mother and a too-distant father.

Her childhood trauma is further heightened by the drama of all immigrants who arrive in a new country and do not know how to fit in to the new culture. The conflict of separateness is further heightened by the family's initial location on an isolated farm, thus tightening the tension between farmers and townspeople. Watson's mother was able to establish her rule as one of absolute dominion and one which held her daughter back on all levels.

It was through the healing act of friendship in childhood and later at Avalon that seems particularly to heal Watson's wounds, touch and open her heart, and help her move forward.

Irene Watson left Avalon with a vision for the purpose of her future life: to found Reader Views, a highly successful on-line publicity business for authors seeking mainstream attention for their self-published work. Thus, we can clearly see that the effort this one individual made to turn her life around in turn benefitted many more lives, providing service to a wider community of creative people wanting to get their work out more broadly.

by Janet Grace Riehl
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

When I picked up this book, I honestly have to say I did so out of the feeling to reciprocate a kindness done for me. Just as the author talks about her entrance into Avalon as a way to fit into a group. She didn't expect to really get anything out of it. Well, as a person who reads Historical Romances to escape reality, I wasn't really expecting to have the book be anything that would be of interest to me. Something I was just "doing".

What a shock and pleasant surprise!! Like Irene in Avalon, I found an incredible read that I couldn't put down and I found a meaning! Every once in a while there are those books that just "jolt" you and make you think. I'm not sure if at this point in my life I was ready for that but I guess I was because the author had me from the first page!

Although I was born in a different generation, with a different upbringing, I could identify with Irene's story. I felt as if I was in a room with her and having a discussion with my best friend. The writing was so powerful. It made me reflect on a lot in my life and it made me realize how strong and resilient people are. We are in control of our own destinies. Yes, we all have a story. We have been wronged in some way but it is how we react to and deal with those adversities that make us who we are. We choose the path we are to follow - despite or because of our history - but either way it is our choice. We can choose to wallow or we can choose to survive and thrive.

Thank you Irene, for reminding me that I choose to thrive and enjoy every minute I've been given here on Earth. My higher power has wonderful plans for me - for all of us - we just have to be willing to follow that plan. I was so moved by the book, I know it will be one that I re-read several times and I plan on sharing it with friends and family as holiday gifts this year. Very powerful and heart-felt indeed.

A Wonderful book for any reader!
Author: Kimberly Cheryl - Shattered Reality

Were you raised by overprotective parents? Is there someone in your life who tries to manipulate you by not allowing you to be who you are and find your own path in life?

It's amazing how much influence our parents and other people have over our lives even after we are adults. Breaking that bond can be painful, but very liberating. As a recovering codependent and former therapist, Irene Watson knows this quite well. She's authored this book to share her life story and help others find their path to healing.

Codependency teaches a person that they have no rights or decision making power. Many times the person ends up being mistreated by others because they won't or can't take up for themselves for fear of getting in trouble.

We all struggle for freedom from time to time whether it is in a situation, a relationship, or internally disentangling from a limited, fear-based belief. How do we learn to speak up for ourselves without exploding when we can take it no longer? How can we set boundaries without hurting someone's feelings or should we love ourselves enough not to care what others think? Where is the balance?

If you are in a situation where your emotional life is being snuffed out, The Sitting Swing will help you begin your path to healing and being the person you truly want to be!

Yvonne Perry,
Author of More Than Meets The Eye True Stories about Death, Dying, and Afterlife

THE SITTING SWING begins as Irene Watson enters Avalon, a 28-day recovery center. In the following chapters, Irene relays, through flashbacks, her troubled and abusive childhood.Born to parents who had already buried their first child, Alexander, their over protectiveness appeared to be an attempt to compensate this loss.

For from the time she was a young girl, she was never allowed to be far from her mother's side.Irene's actions also seemed to be measured by her dead brother's potential. "Why can't you be more like your brother? was the unspoken reference point by which I was measured."

A very poignant and telling part of the book was the description of the sitting swing: a swing built up against a rose bush. Any swinging (straying) would result in getting stabbed by rose thorns. "The swing was built so I could be watched and slowly learn that I was to be monitored and cared for without fail."

The first noted abuse book place when Irene attempted to run away from home. Her mother catches her a quarter mile away, and drags her back home.

"As I walked indoors...she threw me onto our couch, picked me up by my feet and beat my butt red. She was screaming as I'd never heard her scream before. I was screaming as I'd never heard myself scream before. And the beeting went on and on until I could no longer stand and she could no longer hold me up."

Thus began a legacy of beatings from her mother. Her father would witness the bruises, but never said a word.

Irene continued through school, and high school, and eventually marries a young man, Bob, the most popular boy from her high school.The reader is once again brought back to Irene's stay at Avalon. Irene is forced to look back at her childhood, and her marriage to Bob, and trace the tracks of her co-dependency. In her journal she writes of her inability to express her needs or wants. It seems as though no one wants to listen. Her thoughts of suicide continue.

Things change when Jean, a woman she recognized from church, arrived at Avalon. This wasn't Jean's first experience the recovery center. She returned because during her first stay a lot had been revealed about her life, and her eyes were opened to a number of different issues she wanted to work on. Jean became Irene's first "Avalon friend."

By the conculsion of the 28 day period, Irene was able to create a new script for her life. She realized her own self worth and learned that conceeding to other's wishes did nothing to honor her own worth.

THE SITTING SWING is an incredibly emotional and empowering book of one individual's journey to self realization. A bit graphic at times, but this was demanded in order for the reader to truly experience the horrible childhood Irene was forced to endure. My only complaint would be that the tale skips from Irene's childhood and young adulthood right to the "present." It was apparent that her codepency continued during her marriage, and I believe it would have been helpful for the reader to be able to experience that part of her life. I highly recommend THE SITTING SWING to anyone that is or has experienced codependency.

This is a wonderful easy read that touched my heart as a parent, grandparent and simply as a person who has been through the educational system in America.
Chris Bowen is a teacher and parent who cares and is doing something about it everyday at home and in the classroom. He knows he can't save all the kids or change the system where it is lacking, yet remains passionate about the bit he can do.
The stories give us insight into what it it like in our classrooms today with such cultural and economic differences playing on the minds and hearts of kids, parents and teachers.
I was particularly moved by the authors understanding of what happens to kids who are a product of divorce.
It has become so common today to see families split up that we have become almost oblivious to what it does to the children, how it breaks their hearts and causes them to suffer.
The book also shows us how poverty causes hopelessness that may not ever be overcome, yet occasionally is.
It wont take long to read but it will give you plenty to think about.

I would like to highly recommend Chris Bowen's "Our Kids Building Relationships in the Classroom"

This book was a fun read.

I usually start a book and don't ever finish, but I read this within a weekend. I could not put it down.

Each story takes you on a roller coaster of thoughts and emotions.

I look forward to more inspirational work by the Author.

Chris Bowen has written a truly moving collection of real life sketches from the classroom. I found it difficult to hold the tears back at times as each tale so vividly conveys the honesty and purity of our children. It was a wonderful and inspirational read and I thank the author for reminding us that all kids, regardless of race, disability, or social status, need our attention and encouragement. Showing just the slightest bit of interest can go a long way.

The book gives us an inside look at what goes on in the class room. As a parent we want our children to have great teachers as mentors who care and guide them along the way to becoming successful in life. I hope Chris Bowen continues his writing journey as I look forward to reading his next book!

Winner of the prestigious Teacher of the Year for Los Angeles County- a county that employs over 80,000 teachers, Chris Bowen has penned an impressive memoir with his Our Kids: Building Relationships in the Classroom. According to Bowen, "To work with children is to see, to catch, these small untraceable moments. It is to watch a child pause, cocoon, and re-emerge as a whole new entity."

Our Kids: Building Relationships in the Classroom offers readers a unique and humane perspective with its wonderful collection of vignettes of Bowen's personal experiences with students that have graced his classrooms over twelve years. His essays validate his powers as a writer with a talent for empathy and sensitivity that persuasively show up in his exacting eye for revealing moods and emotions capturing the essence of youngsters growing up. At times his observations are quite telling and even painful, as he doesn't shy away from portraying honest family difficulties.

One particular touching essay is about the little girl who couldn't eat with a fork due to a genetic bone disorder and from which her mother likewise suffered. The youngster needed a one-on-one school aide, however, her mother omitted to fill out the proper forms requesting help and thus the little girl was denied this service. It was later revealed that the mother had no idea that she had to formally request aid and no one bothered to tell her. In another tale we learn about the little boy who didn't want to go out for Halloween because his mom thought that since his family couldn't afford to give out candy that year, he really shouldn't be asking for candy from other people. When Bowen asked the little boy what he thought of not going out for Halloween, the answer was that "it wouldn't be fair." And as Bowen remarks, "I looked into Jorge's good-natured face and can't help but think of so many other children who might need such a deep lesson in humility and grace. He has more than enough humility, grace, and dignity, for an eight-year old." Then there is the story of the little girl whose Leukemia was in remission and one day she believed it reappeared. As we learn, her parents were divorcing and Leukemia, despite all the pain and sorrow, was what kept the family together. Now faced with divorcing parents, the little girl felt that Leukemia was better than divorce. As Bowen points out, "sure Leukemia was frightening. Painful. But somehow, to Melanie, it seemed a small price to pay to keep her family."

Bowen's well-rounded and moving narratives are for the most part introduced with deep philosophical reflections that set the stage for what is to ensue. If there is a criticism to be made, it is that most of us will be left wanting more. What ever happened to that little boy or girl that Bowen wrote about?

After reading the last of Bowen's memoirs, I came to the conclusion that not only is he a talented essayist, but he is also just the sort of voice we should be listening to if we are seriously interested in improving our educational system as his essays provide us with the perfect opportunity to take heed.

No wonder he was awarded Teacher of the Year for Los Angeles County and I am quite certain that his memoirs will garner many well-deserved accolades. I do hope we don't have to wait too long for a follow-up.

Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures

This is a book for those who are searching for answers. Sound Health Sound Wealth is packed full of higher wisdom with a quantum leap into future changes we can all live with. I have bought several copies and given them to friends. Thank you to the author, Dr. Luanne Oakes.

One of THE BEST books I've read on sound and energetic healing.... and I have a HUGE library of integrative healing books! I enjoy the CD often... especially in the evening.

It's not often I get a chance to read a book for pleasure these days however I was sent a book a few months ago which I have only just picked up at the beginning of the month.

The book is entitled "Sound health, Sound wealth; The biology of hope and manifestation" by Dr. Luanne Oakes, PH.D. this was written for the personal development blog www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/blog

Frequency treatment CD

The book comes with a frequency treatment CD which I have pretty much played every day since I received the book. I would say the CD alone is worth the price of the book. I play it in the car, every day, on the way to meeting my clients. I have found it keeps me centered and focused on my job. I also play it when I am picking my boys up from the scouts. My eldest son has asked me to play it on the way to school as it helps him to relax, which is a huge accolade, as he is currently listening to the `Nickelback' and `Guns and Roses'CD all the time and doesn't like any of my CDs.

The book

The book resonated with me from the introduction as Luanne speaks about the power of changing your thoughts to change your life, which is of course the title of my blog. So I was grabbed straight away as I firmly believe in the power of thoughts to change your life.

The book itself is split up into eight chapters, each with a principle:

Chapter 1: The principle of resonance
Chapter 2: The principle of future memories
Chapter 3: The principle of Your Magical Diving Experiment
Chapter 4: The principle of Energetic Boundaries; The power of `No'
Chapter 5: The principle of transforming time
Chapter 6: The principle of Sound and Light, Part One; The biology of hope
Chapter 7: The principle of Sound and Light, Part Two; How to enhance your life force
Chapter 8: The principle of True wealth; Sound wealth is true wealth.

I don't want to go through all the principle above. Instead I have chosen the two that resonated with me the most and the ones which I could use in my daily life.

The principle of future memories

Luanne has introduced a new phrase `Quantum Hologram' which, as I understand it, is your own personal belief on the being, or the force which is helping you in your life. She takes great care not to bring religion into the book but it is clear that she is speaking to people form all beliefs and faiths and the Quantum Hologram is your belief in what controls the world around you including synchronicity. The Quantum Hologram sounds like something from Star Trek (The Next generation) but it is a good way to visualise the life force which helps us in life.

Your thoughts are part of that life force and ultimately you are controlling the life force which in turn helps you to create the life you want.

Luanne describes a system using `Feeling based faith' to create your future memories and is quite powerful. It is a way of connecting your feelings and mind to the Quantum Hologram to get what you most desire in life. The analogy she uses for this is `like sending an e-mail'. Luanne advises keeping a feeling based journal, describing the different feelings you have experienced throughout the day. By writing these down you are releasing the energy of them from yourself out into the open, which leaves you feeling lighter, more energetic and less burdened in order to send your own wishes out into the universe. Or

Although I didn't use a journal for the feeling based writing I tried it for a few days in my head and it does help. It's like putting a label on your feelings and then releasing them out into the open, quite powerful.

Luanne litters this chapter with stories about science and personal experiences which I found very interesting.

The principle of true wealth

I am deeply interested in prosperity and wealth and am forever clearing my thoughts and actions for the attainment of wealth and prosperity. Every day I am coming to an understanding of true wealth and what it really means and the more I understand the more I am receiving.

That's what this chapter is all about. Luanne tells a story of a homeless person by the name of Simon who taught her about true wealth through the friendship they struck up over the years.

I am slowly beginning to realise about wealth being an inner game and this book and this chapter reinforced this for me.

Luanne advises that there are certain principles to true wealth which are:

* Being in the present moment
* Being in divine flow
* Frequent experience of Compassion, Reverence, Love Peace and Joy
* The ability to forgive
* Giving without attachment
* Certainty that we are all one
* Certainty in a power greater than yourself
* Certainty that there are enough resources for all of us
* The ability to accurately assess your own and others strengths and weaknesses
* The ability to be grateful for something
* The ability to reduce the intensity for negative thoughts.

Belief is also an important part of attracting wealth into your life. If you believe you can't make money or don't deserve it you will never receive it.


Conclusion

I found the book a great read and I particularly liked the stories in the book. Although it said it is a scientific look at health and wealth there is not much science in the book that explains manifestation. I also found that Luanne was using new phrases to describe old concepts but you will recognise these straight away as trying to bring the old concepts into the minds of a newer generation.

I enjoyed the book and particularly the CD and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the `law of attraction', `Manifestation' and becoming healthy and wealthy.

This is a good read and more. The text sets the stage and atmosphere for understanding and give the tools to change for the better. The CD enclosed is beyond wonderful. I have used this both for humans and animals to calm and center them. I often work with TNR of feral cats, wild creatures, whether getting them ready for surgery or calming them post-op, the tones and natural sounds calm them into 'Buddha cats.' Luanne has done a fine job. I use this resource almost daily.

This book and also the cd in the back of the book by Luanne Oakes have been a huge gift in my life.

I literally started downloading information from Source while listening to the cd . The guidance coming through to me now is Clear and Divinely Inspired. I can feel myself opening through blockages that have been in my way for years.

Thank you for sharing yourself and work with the world. We are ready and grateful to receive it.
Sanandra Black
Creator of Sea Chi Organics skin and haircare products

One need only look at the reviews inside the book cover to see the general widespread praise for this book. Beyond that however, the book is a very compelling read. We all have formed dysfunctional patterns of behavior which can be triggered by other's behaviors. The book helps individuals identify those patterns and links the family history or origin associated with their formation. Next is the transformation process, whereby you create a new you. It offers an approach where you take responsibility for your negative/dysfunctional patterns and the impact those have had on your relationships. The recommendations Sylvia offers are applicable yet very powerful. Learning to frame your discussions in your own negative patterns takes the 'blame' and 'faultfinding' out of the conversation. In working with interpersonal issues, a collaborative process is the key to the transformation process. In my opinion, the book offers much insight into identifying key patterns of dysfunctional behavior, the origin of those patterns, and the transformation process into a new and different you. Follow the recommendations and test the approach to see how effective it is. Good luck.

I recommend this book for anyone who works with other people--and that is almost all of us. I thought I would find this too "touchy-feely", after all I'm in finance. I wish people were more like numbers, they're not!
This book has helped me with issues that can't be added or subtracted so easily. From relationships at work and at home to connecting the dots, this book is riveting with clear concrete examples of how we do bring it to work.
It truly gives you the tools to understand and identify unproductive behavior. Once you begin to do the work on understanding your patterns, you start to see things differently----relationships, conflicts and sometimes, even numbers.

Don't Bring It to Work" has helped me identify some of the patterns that have been nagging at me ever since I can remember. You know the ones I mean; those behaviors that keep showing up in different situations and always lead down the same path. I am now clear that what we learned in our families as kids stays with us and we do bring the patterns of childhood into the work setting. It surprises me that more understanding of this has not been done by business consultants and executive coaches.


Dr. Sylvia Lafair offers us a readable and important book to see ourselves with new eyes. She gives tools and tips on how to observe, understand, and transform those nagging patterns into what she calls their healthy opposites. I learned to take my pleaser pattern and turn it into the truth teller. I must admit, it has made my life easier. What a relief to be able to remember, as Dr, Lafair teaches, that "No is a complete sentence".



I am also able to spot those repetitive patterns in others and have learned how to talk with my co-workers in ways that offer new and creative insights instead of just doing the same old, same old that often leads to conflict and disappointments. I would recommend this book to everyone who works, and that is certainly most of us. It can save lots of time for creativity instead of conflict at work.

Honestly, I'm skeptical of the overwhelming, positive consensus in the reviews here. Could this book help you to understand and address destructive workplace relations? Maybe. The best I can say for what I got out of this is that it made me think about hidden motives at work and their possible roots in psychological issues we carry with us from growing up in our particular families. Aside from that, the 13 personalities/patterns sound almost nothing like people I've ever worked with. Similarly, the questionnaires, like so many questionnaires, try to give you insights into yourself by forcing you to choose among a list of options, all of which seem artificial and to call out "none of the above."

In fairness, I stopped reading about halfway through. But who finishes a book they don't find all that good?

In this book, Sylvia Lafair explains how to break certain family patterns that limit career success by "claiming and taming the world of interpersonal relationships." All people have problems at work and in their personal lives. They become upset, confused, and impatient. "Such frustrations are understandable. But what most of us...never really `get' is why people believe the way they do, and what can be done about it. The problem isn't always other people's behavior, either. How many times have you regretted something you said or did at work and thought, `Why do I always do that?' Ever want to help your employees find out what's holding them back? Or holding you back?" Lafair poses other questions of comparable importance. Her purpose in this book is NOT to answer them. Rather, to help her reader answer them...and perhaps help others to answer the questions they have.

"This book helps you get to the bottom of workplace behaviors that simply don't work for you or your organization. More important, it shows you exactly what you can do about them. You'll learn practical steps you can take to improve your professional relationships and make you a better leader, a better mentor, a better teammate. You'll gain a remarkable new understanding of yourself and your colleagues almost immediately." What I realized almost immediately as I began to read the first chapter is that Lafair is demonstrating the importance of context and frame-of-reference by establishing them for the PatternAware(tm)Leadership Model, an approach based on her more than 30 years of experience with both healthy and dysfunctional interpersonal relationships. Her observations and recommendations are thus supported by an abundance of empirical, real-world evidence. With rigor and eloquence, she explains how behavior patterns from a person's history are intimately connected with every aspect of that person's adult life, not least of all her or his work life. Much of her book is devoted to helping her reader to understand that, "although you can never fully leave your family behind, you don't have to bring it to work." That is frequently true but I have also observed, in my own behavior and others', that it is possible to haul so-called "baggage" anywhere, into any relationship, without being aware of it. I've worked with people who have more hang-ups than a telemarketer.

Over the years, Lafair has identified "The 13 Most Common Patterns(tm) We Bring to Work" and they serve as a thematic infrastructure for her narrative. They are identified and discussed in Chapter Four. Here are three:

* The Persecutor: humiliates work associates with finger-pointing, demanding, judging, and blaming. The persecutor behaves like a bully and takes no prisoners. No resolutions occur because everyone is afraid to take him or her on.

* The Avoider: leaves the scene - whether physically or emotionally - when the going gets tough, so that the real concerns never are faced. Meetings get short-circuited or cancelled, projects are delayed, and resolution deteriorates into superficiality.

* The Denier: pretends everything is perfect, out of a desire to maintain the status quo. The denier will distort facts and statistics to keep situations from changing course, and only wants `yes people' around. The denier's mantra is `Problem? What problem?'"

Lafair rigorously examines a total of thirteen of these disruptive characters: Persecutor, Avoider, and Denier as well as Super-Achiever, Rebel, Procrastinator, Clown, Victim, Rescuer, Drama Queen or King, Martyr, Pleaser, and Splitter. Her insights help to explain recent Gallup research indicating that only 29% of the U.S. workforce is positively engaged (i.e. loyal, enthusiastic, and productive) whereas 55% is passively disengaged. That is, they are going through the motions, doing only what they must, "mailing it in," coasting, etc. What about the other 16%? They are "actively disengaged" in that they are doing whatever they can to undermine their employer's efforts to succeed. Supervisors who read this book may not have the same percentages re those for whom they are directly responsible the workplace in which they are involved but presumably they do have a number of underperforming workers as well as several toxic workers. Lafair can help them to increase the number of their direct-reports who are positively engaged.

I especially appreciate her provision of a set of "Takeaways" of key points at the conclusion of each chapter. This reader-friendly device will facilitate, indeed expedite frequent review of those key points later. I also appreciate her skillful use of another device, "Sound Bites," in Chapter Seven. The table provides a list of sound bites to consider when beginning to practice listening for patterns. This material (Pages 176-182) all by itself is worth much more than the cost of the book if (huge "if") applied effectively whenever appropriate. Aptly enough, the title of the final chapter is "Connecting the Dots" and that is precisely what must be done when sorting through the details of one's history (especially the childhood years) and correlating them with one's behavior, especially in interpersonal relationships at work.

In What Got You Here Won't Get You There, Marshall Goldsmith identifies as "20 Transactional Flaws" that are barriers to effective communication. For example, #8: Negativity or "Let me explain why that won't work" that indicates a need to share negative thoughts even when not asked for an opinion. (Note: Masters of this tactic often praise an idea first, then play the devil's advocate.) I mention this portion of Goldsmith's book because he makes a very important point: many of those who possess these flaws and demonstrate them constantly are unaware of them, or at least are unaware of their impact. This is relevant to one of Lafair's most valuable insights: You cannot address what you are not aware of, much less respond effectively to what you do not understand. The only way to identify and then understand the various patterns one has now is to explore the history of one's family patterns (the subject of Chapter Five) by connecting the dots throughout that history with one's current circumstances. In this context, if the reader is an explorer, then Sylvia Lafair is the reader's guide. As for the map, I highly recommend the PatternAware(tm)Leadership Model.