Changemaker Groups » letting go

Personal Development Books

admin — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:16:17 +0000

These books are incorporated in our Changemaker Library. All of the books used are the choices of Changemaker without solicitation from any author or publisher. We include the title of the book, the author, the ISBN number, and an Amazon link if you choose to order the books yourself.

The following books are about personal development:

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

Timothy Ferriss

ISBN 978-0-307-35313-9

Amazon link

Adult Children of Alcoholics

Janet Geringer Woititz

ISBN 1-55874-112-7

Amazon link

Coach Yourself to Success: 101 Tips From a Personal Coach for Reaching Your Goals at Work and in Life

Talane Miedaner

ISBN 0-8092-2537-9

Amazon link

Journal to the Self: Twenty-two Paths to Personal Growth

Kathleen Adams

ISBN 0-446-39038-0

Amazon link

Keep Your Paycheck, Live Your Passion

Erika Welz Prafder and Carole Sovocool

ISBN 1-59337-264-7

Buy this book

The Little Book of Letting Go: A Revolutionary 30-day Program to

Cleanse Your Mind, Life Your Spirit and Replenish Your Soul

Hugh Prather

ISBN 157324-503-8

Amazon link

Love First: A New Approach to Intervention for Alcoholism and Drug Addiction

Jeff Jay and Debra Jay

ISBN 1-56838-521-8

Amazon Link

More Language of Letting Go

Melody Beattie

ISBN 978-1-56838-558-7

Amazon link

Naomi’s Breakthrough Guide: 20 Choices to Transform Your Life

Naomi Judd

ISBN 0-7432-3663

Buy this book

The Vein of Gold: A Journey to Your Creative Heart (Companion to The Artist’s Way)

Julia Cameron

ISBN 0-87477-836-0

Amazon link

What to Do With the Rest of Your Life: America’s Top Career Coach Shows You How to Find or Create the Job You’ll Love

Robin Ryan

ISBN 0-7432-2450-7

Amazon link

Naomi’s Breakthrough Guide: 20 Choices to Transform Your Life

admin — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:57:42 +0000

Naomi’s Breakthrough Guide: 20 Choices to Transform Your Life

Naomi Judd

ISBN 0-7432-3663

One of the questions for discussion in the back of the book says that Naomi Judd believes that life gives us a test first and our lesson comes later. When she was struggling as a single mom in L.A., she realized that in order to survive emotionally, she had to forgive herself and others and release unnecessary mental, emotional, and spiritual toxins. She remembered this experience when confronted with life-threatening hepatitis C, and letting go of stressors stimulated her immune system.

From all her life experiences, Naomi has included 20 choices to transform your life. These are:

1) Peace of mind is the goal

2) Change your mind, change your world

3) Life is a series of multiple-choice questions

4) You can reverse any curse

5) You can be anything you want, but first you have to understand what is standing in your way

6) Become a detective and investigate your past

7) Personality: It’s all relative

Know forgiveness, know peace—no forgiveness, no peace

9) Your strengths and passions are the essence of your happiness

10)Intuition is your secret guidance system

11)Risk allows you to become who you were meant to be

12)You’ve got to love that person in the mirror

13)You become whatever you think about all day

14)Your mind is in every cell of your body

15)Worry and fear are dispensable parasites of your brain

16)Resign as the general manager of the Universe

17)Find a new, stronger life urge

18)You and I may not have it all together, but together we

we can have it all

19)Develop the eight characteristics of a survivor personality

20)Love heals the giver as well as the receiver

The eight characteristics of a survivor personality are: (1) a strong spiritual belief, (2) a strong support system, (3) a sense of humor, (4) a connection to nature, (5) goals and a purpose to work toward, (6) good nutrition, (7) regular exercise and rest, (8) an open belief system.

More Language of Letting Go

admin — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:53:12 +0000

More Language of Letting Go

Melody Beattie

ISBN 978-1-56838-558-7

Amazon link

Although Melody Beattie first taught me about codependency with her books, Codependent No More and Beyond Codependency, I have chosen one of her daily meditation books. Her other daily meditation book is The Language of Letting Go. I have chosen More language of Letting Go because of the selections included.

From the Book:
“This is a book of essays, meditations, and activities—one for each day of the year. The essay that falls on the first day of the month explores the theme for the month. Each monthly topic is s major component in the process of letting go.”

Excerpt from the book:
February 6—Revel in the void

“In the original Language of Letting Go, I talked about the in-between places in our lives. Those are the uncomfortable places along the journey where you’re not where you were but you’re not where you’re going either. I talked about accepting that place, no matter how difficult it might be.”

“Let’s look at this space again. Only now, we’ll call it the void. Take another look at that moment when one door has closed behind you and you’re standing in the dark hallway, but no door opens up. Or you let go of whatever you’ve been grasping so tightly and stand there with an empty hand. Don’t say woohoo just when you are begin some-thing new. Feel the woohoo of this moment, too. Embrace the void. This wonderful in-between place holds the keys to all creation. In the biblical story of creation, God began with a clean slate like the one you face now. It was the magic and mystery of the void that allowed all this wonderful creation to be.”

“If you’re at am in-between place, don’t just accept it. Revel in it, embrace it, rejoice at your opportunity to sit in the birthplace of all that will come along your path. Relax into the void and allow creation to flow.”

“God, help me embrace the void and allow it to bring forth what is will, rather than trying to force something that really doesn’t fit.”

The Little Book of Letting Go

admin — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 19:45:03 +0000

The Little Book of Letting Go: A Revolutionary 30-Day Program to Cleanse Your Mind, Lift Your Spirit, and Replenish Your Soul

Hugh Prather

ISBN: 157324-503-8

Amazon link

Hugh Prather and his wife, Gayle, have been sharing their spirituality for almost 40 years. He is the resident minister at St. Francis in the Foothills United Methodist Church in Tucson, Arizona.

The contents include sections for letting go of: problems, fear of letting go, worry, our first reaction, motivation through crisis, money anxiety and travel worries, anticipated and unanticipated emotions, victim-perception, word magic, stories, neglect, fear of happiness, t-thoughts; I, me, and mine; outcomes, relationship battles you aren’t having, useless blocks to relationship, sticky thoughts, gloom, rigid responses and limited answers, “turning it over”, scattered thinking, blame and damage, body thoughts, t-thoughts, spiritual attainment, “higher” path, “spiritual” laws of success, our personal struggle.

From letting go: the basics:

“Within the human heart, we all feel the call to be simple, to be present, to be real. Yet throughout the day, the world urges us to be at war with ourselves and each other” “Be resentful about the past.” “Be anxious about the future.” “Be hungry for what you don’t see.”

“Be dissatisfied with what you do see.” “Be guilty.” “Be important.”

“Be bored.” “Be right.” Little else in nature exhibits this need to be more that it is. The simplicity of rain, the clarity of a star, the effortlessness of s bird, the single-mindedness of an ant—all are just what they are.”

From letting of problems:

“To “become like a little child” is merely to relinquish our need to judge all things, change all things, and be right on all occasions. This removes the blocks we put on our capacity to enjoy, or at least to be still and at peace.”

“There are only three things you need to let go: judging, controlling, and being right. Release these three and you will have the whole mind and twinkly heart of a child.”

Prather defines t-thoughts as a core belief that we developed at some point in our lives, usually doing our formative lives, that now stands in the way of our experiencing unity and peace. When something happens during the day to trigger a t-thought, it automatically clicks on, like a tape or a computer program. If we are not aware of its activity, the set of emotions it produces controls our decisions and outlook. (page 95)

From letting go of t-thoughts:

“There is no way to perfect egos. Nor is there any reason to. Why would you want to perfect an imaginary playmate? Would that get rid of it? Certainly not. Likewise, there is no need to make a project of your ego and attempt to perfect an imaginary identity. Just seeing it clearly will show you that you don’t want it; don’t need it; and don’t have to fear it.”