It was such an honour to be asked to review the newly released book ‘Pearls of Wisdom’. No it wasn’t because it meant that I would get sent an advanced copy, nor was it because one of the 30 authors who have contributed to this wonderful book was Jack Canfield. It was because one of my ‘friends’, Asia Voight, was one of those 30 Authors. Now when I say ‘friends’ I do not mean in the traditional sense – we have never met in ‘real time’ – we have met through the gift of social media, through facebook and connecting by chance. We shared the understanding that, as the quote at the front of the book says ~
An oyster can’t produce pearls without first suffering with a grain of sand
Most of us in life, at some point or other, have experienced that ‘grain of sand’, a time in our life when we have faced challenges that have tested us to the limits. For many those ‘grains of sand’, can perhaps, leave them with a feeling of loss of control within their own life, as though something has been taken away from them, or maybe – as I felt, as though life was about existing, rather than living.
Within the pages of ‘Pearls of Wisdom’ 30 people share stories and inspirational ideas from their own lives to help you to live your best life now.
Rather than share a traditional review of the book, I would like to share some of the ‘Pearls’ that I found within its pages. First may I ask you if you have ever found that you heard something, read something – yet your mind took it to a place of a totally different meaning than was intended?
‘If we don’t know what to value … ….’
Just these few words led me to a deeper internal awareness of just how far my personal journey has come ~ since I learnt what ‘I’ really valued.
“I stepped into the open space. When I reached the centre, the rhythm stopped, and I stood in the quiet of the pause.”
This was a true gift, for so long I have struggled with finding that space, that magical space where I could meditate, where I could quiet my mind and just go with the flow of the universe … … Yes I meditate, however often I find that my conscious mind ‘interrupts’ – the chapter with this simple tool in it has expanded my experience of meditation. For this one chapter alone the book is worth buying!
“… Just because this has been taught from generation after generation, does’t make it true.”
How many of us are living our lives based upon things that we have been taught, things that have become part of our internal wiring – without us ever having really given them any thought? I was guilty of this for years within my own life, even passing many of those things onto my children! Each of us has been given the gift of ‘free’ thought, the ability to choose. Yet so many of us give up this gift – without a second thought! This sentence was a reminder for me.
“Positive emotions release endorphins, oxytocin and other hormones that broaden our focus and optimise our bodies for healing, growth, pleasure and close, collaborative interactions with other people.”
Many people focus on what happens to the body and mind when we are in a ‘negative’ or ‘fearful’ state – yet how wonderful to focus on what happens when life is good. Those feelings of pure joy, of .. … …. Those moments or days when everything feels ‘right’.
I could pick out another hundred+ more sentences or paragraphs that had a positive uplifting effect on me. Words that gave me a little more insight into both myself and how I either do or could interact with the world around me in a way that aids living your best life now. However that would spoil the moments that you can and will have by reading these ‘Pearls of Wisdom’. (available on amazon)
Wishing you many moments of pleasure when you read this inspiring book.
In Gratitude