Archive for the ‘My 5***** ratings’ Category
Posted on August 24, 2009 - By Sharon Lindenburger
Wise book - Start Where You Are by Chris Gardner
You may recognize the name Chris Gardner if you saw the movie, “The Pursuit of Happyness”. Will Smith starred as Chris Gardner, a man who literally lived homeless on the street for over a year, along with his young son, while he tried to make his life better and to fulfill the promise that he would never abandon his son. Gardner later went on to become a highly successful stock broker.
The REAL Chris Gardner is even more inspiring than the movie. A while ago, I heard him speak in person and was riveted by his story. Now Gardner has published his second book, called “Start Where You Are”. It is chock full of wisdom. Gardner doesn’t pull any punches. His book encourages, cajoles, inspires and motivates and sometimes gives you a swift kick in the ass.
There are so many books these days that tell people that success is easy, that they don’t have to work for it, or that life is always positive if you just think it is so. Gardner dismisses that type of “magical” thinking in favor of good old-fashioned reality. He urges the reader to “start where you are”. There is no situation that cannot be turned around, says Gardner. You need to find where your passion is, and go in pursuit of making it a reality.
I love Gardner’s idea of “pursuit”–the actual path of taking action toward what you truly want in your life. Gardner’s wise counsel can lead you to finding your “hot button”–what you would do in your life even if you couldn’t get paid for it. He talks a lot about self-responsibility and making promises to oneself. He speaks about courage, determination, hope, compassion, and enlightened decision-making. Gardner is a wise man, and his book is a wise book. I highly recommend it, no matter what stage of life you are in or what you’re going through. Gardner teaches you how to become the hero of your own life, and how to inspire others to do the same.
Posted on June 17, 2009 - By Sharon Lindenburger
Wise book - This is Water, by David Foster Wallace
The book, This is Water by David Foster Wallace is such a small book, you can literally read it in 10 minutes. Yet it contains priceless wisdom and is a literary gem. Wallace was well-known as a novelist, university professor, and philosopher.
Throughout his life, he was plagued by clinical depression, and in 2008 committed suicide. It appears that doctors were unable to come up with the right types of medications to keep Wallace out of depression, and he suffered for many years. Yet his literary output was prodigious, frequently witty, and always penetrating in its insights.
This is Water is the text of a graduation address he gave to college students, the only commencement address he ever did. It was published after his death.
I particularly appreciate Wallace’s insight into the fact that all of us have what he called a “default position”–the universal human impulse to place ourselves at the center of the universe. He calls for us to step out of our default positions of self-absorption and into the shoes of others, to see the world through others’ eyes, and to consider what dreams might be possible when seen from a wider perspective.
The wisdom in this tiny book has a tragic edge to it when one considers that the author had such great thoughts within him, and yet fell victim to his own inner darkness through no fault of his own. This book shows that often the deepest insights come from suffering. Though Wallace could not save himself, this small book shines as a beacon of light to all who seek to go beyond the “default position” to a larger more enlightened life.
A beautiful book–one that I will always treasure.
Posted on April 15, 2009 - By Sharon Lindenburger
Wise book example - ASK AND YOU WILL SUCCEED, by Kenneth D. Foster
I had the honor of assisting Ken as he created the chapter intros to Ask and You Will Succeed. Ken had published a previous version which reached bestseller status. He was then approached by a major publisher, John Wiley & Sons, to do a new version of the book. It’s being released in May, and I highly recommend it as a wise book.
Ken’s genius is that he leads his readers to a process we don’t do enough these days–self-questioning. Ken believes that all the answers we need about our life purpose, our beliefs, our attitudes toward money and business, our home life, our spirituality and deepest values, all are within us. There are many “self-help” books out there that direct readers to external sources–take this course, go hear such and such a speaker, sign up for a program, etc., all of which can play a role in our personal development. But Ken emphasizes the most important source of answers–our own mind and heart.
Teaching by using thought-provoking questions is a method many thousands of years old. It was the method Socrates used with his students to help them discover what they needed to know about life. Deep questioning is one of the major paths to wisdom. Many spiritual traditions have asserted that wisdom comes from “living the questions”.
In Ask and and You Will Succeed, Ken invites you to live the questions of your own life. There are questions for virtually every area of your life–1001 questions in this book to take you on a journey to discover your own innate wisdom and to help you discover your life path. You can use Ken’s book to guide you to business success, to a better relationship, to master your emotions, to understand your values and beliefs.
Ken Foster is one of the 21st century’s wisdom teachers. His book should be on everyone’s desk!
Posted on March 4, 2009 - By Sharon Lindenburger
Wise book example: Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life, by Wayne Dyer
Wayne Dyer’s output in the book world has been prolific. He has changed a lot of lives. It has been fascinating to watch Dyer’s evolution from being a personal growth author into becoming a wisdom teacher. I feel that one of his best books is Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life. Here Dyer taps into the ancient wisdom of the Tao and bases his insights and reflections on the Tao De Ching, the timeless classic of the Tao tradition. The Tao has always been about polarity and achieving a state of inner balance. It’s about living in the flow of change and finding eternity there.
Dyer does not offer facile formulas but rather asks the reader to consider how the wisdom of the Tao can apply to one’s own life. This book can help you find your way to the state the Chinese called Tao and which we in the West call Flow. In showing us how to navigate within the Tao, Wayne Dyer puts us in touch with our own wisdom when we connect with the Flow, don’t stress out about polarities, and welcome life with joy and acceptance.
Back