...Too Many Words at Once

I love to read. I read a lot. I've reduced the number of mags that come directly to my house, but I still get one trade magazine, TV Week, one journal, Popular Culture and I have a daily delivery of USA Today. Those are just the hard copies; I read a wealth of info on the web too.

But what I don't do is multiple books at one time. I like to focus on the content. So guess what I am doing? Reading more than one book at a time. I am reading James Frye's "A Million Little Pieces". I know that I am late on this one. And it's a bit strange reading it after Oprah glossed him over on her show. Still it's an easy read that does not require much focus.

Also on my immediate list is Dr. Wayne Dyer's "Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life". I saw him on Ellen a few weeks ago and it piqued my interest. It's a good one, however, I determined that it would be best is I read a section and then try to 'practice' what I've read. For example, the second section focused on 'just be'. So I am working on being non-judgmental and just letting things be...

I have "The Secret" on my bedside. I've read this one already, but I'm back to it and I've flipped through it in the past week or so. I also actually began my visual journal. I could do a much better job on the journal especially since I make cards and various paper crafts, but oh well. I'm doing one and that is a good step.

My reading group is reading "Upstate: A Novel" by Kalisha Buchanon - this is for our annual retreat. I have yet to start reading this one, but I am anxious to get to it. It is written solely using letters.

Finally, I am about to pick up "Finding Your Own North Star..." by Martha Beck. My colleague recommended it and I have been on the hunt for it ever since. No one has it actually in store, but I can order it. Whatever, I guess I will have to place the order in the next day or so. The book is supposed to help guide me in finding my passion in life.

So enough of the blogging thing, I've got some reading to do ...

Who's complaining?

So I finally got around to watching Tuesday's Oprah show on Wednesday evening. It was a good show; she covered a lot of topics and it was called the good news show. For the record, I like Oprah and I DVR the show daily.

Well, one segment really intrigued me and that was the 'Stop Whining/Complaining' segment. There was a pastor on who talked about a challenge to rid the world of complaints and complainers ... wow ...

It is an interesting concept. The plan is based on wearing a purple bracelet and the goal is to not complain for 21 consecutive days (it seems that research shows that it takes about 21 days to form a habit). If you do find yourself complaining, you should take the bracelet and put it on the other wrist. You do this until you've worn the bracelet for 21 days and picked up a new and positive habit of not complaining.

I have already put in my request for a bracelet (I also ordered some to pass along to others) ... and I think I will complain until it arrives. No, really, I've been consciously working on this endeavor since I saw the Tuesday show. If you, too, are traveling down this complaint-free road, all the best! It seems a bit 'secret-like' to me. So it should be a bit easier to think of the positive in what may appear as a negative situation.

The Power of Positive Thinking!

The power of positive thinking has been something I've practiced for a long time. I often tell people to think positive as opposed to dwelling on the negative.

Well, a few weeks ago, I called a friend to say hi. I had intented for it to be a brief conversation and it almost was, but I asked her what she was doing and she said that she was making a 'visualization chart.' One question led to another and she mentioned "The Secret." It's a book, audiobook and DVD. I went to the library to pick up a copy. The wait list was quite lengthy. So I thought, well, I'll pick it up at the store. Then I received an email from Borders that it would be 30% that weekend. So I picked it up. Wow. I immediately got it!

Then "The Secret" author and other proponents of the the book were on Oprah. I intentionally did not watch it because I wanted to complete the book first. Then I saw that Oprah was revisiting the topic. Another wow! How often is it that Oprah revisits a topic within a week's time ...?

So I finished the book and I've watched both episodes. Someone tried to sum it up by saying it is the power of positive thinking. And yes, that is a part of it, but it is so much more. One example that was pointed out on Oprah, that I have referenced on numerous occasions, is from "The Wizard of Oz" when Glenda The Good Witch tells Dorothy "you had it all alone." Meaning Dorothy had the ability to get home the entire time - Dorothy just needed to exude the energy and belief that she could do it.

I am about to begin the writing component of "The Secret". It sort of goes in line w/one of my New Year's resolutions.