29 Gifts

I am currently reading the book, 29 Gifts, written by Cami Walker, a woman living with Multiple Sclerosis. The theme of the book reminds me of that presented in the movie Pay It Forward - give to others, who will give to others, who will give to others, thus making the world a better place one person, or one gift, at a time.

The book encourages readers to commit to giving 29 gifts in 29 days, journal about it, and watch as abundance flows into your life. The gifts can be anything: a present, food, some change, or a kind word. By not focusing on your own problems, pains, and issues, you are more receptive to others and are more able to receive the good things life has to give you.

This message is synonymous with other books I have been reading, from Wayne Dyer's Power of Intention to Louise Hay's Heal Your Life to Abraham-Hicks' Ask and it is Given to Neale Donald Walsch's Conversations with God. I have realized that I can no longer ignore the "coincidental" books that have arrived in my life, all spreading the same message. It is time to reorder my life and shift my focus to others. I have spent my life as an overachiever - always pushing myself to and beyond the limits, striving for perfection and accepting nothing less, often breaking down in tantrums over failures (humiliating to admit this, but it's true). I once threw my 7th grade Social Studies folder across my living room at 11 p.m. because I couldn't come up with an answer to one question on a homework assignment as my parents looked on in disbelief. They never expected me to be perfect, I put that impossible expectation on myself. It has led to a life of anxiety and fear of failure. This year has been a turning point in my life, as I focus more seriously on who I am and who I want to be. I want to be kind and peaceful, enjoying every minute of every day with which I am blessed.

After reading this last book, 29 Gifts, I am convinced that the stress I place on myself on a daily basis is not worth it. Life has so much to offer and I am missing out. I have decided to embark on the 29 Gift challenge that Cami Walker promotes on her website. (In case the website link doesn't work: www.29gifts.org). This world we are living in is in serious turmoil. We have had an abundance of earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, flooding, and destructive winter weather, and I have to wonder if those are direct effects of the energy we humans have been pouring into the universe. Thoughts have energy (Einstein understood this), and actions have stronger energy. We as a human species have become selfish, negative, and depressed because we've been focusing on all the "wrong" things: money, success, status, materialism, and approval from others. Let's get back to our Source, reconnect, and begin noticing the beauty in each person on this planet. We're imperfect, but we can certainly try harder, be kinder, and give more.

What would the world be like if one person was kinder? Two? Ten? A thousand? A million?

Read the book. Visit the website. Take the challenge. Let me know how it goes for you.

Looking for Alaska

Well, there are no warm and fuzzies after reading this book. I actually feel very drained and lethargic (although that could also be due to the fact that I am recovering from a stomach virus). Really, though, this book makes me feel like a dark and rainy day. Here's a quick synopsis of the book. Miles Halter lives in Florida and has no real friends. He decides to go to a boarding school in Alabama, the same one his father attended, called Culver Creek. His roommate is also from Alabama and his name is Chip, but his nickname is The Colonel. Alaska is a girl that also attends Culver Creek. As a kid her name was Mary, but when she was 7 or 8 years old (I can't remember) her parents let her choose her own name. She studied her father's globe for a long time and decided on Chad. Once her father told her that was a boy's name, she changed it to Alaska. Alaska and The Colonel spend their free time drinking and smoking. Miles gets dragged into this warped friendship with The Colonel and Alaska, which leads to Miles falling in love with Alaska. The problem here is that Alaska has a boyfriend named Jake, so she just leads Miles on, who is nicknamed "Pudge" by The Colonel. Miles is not pudgy, but rather tall and lanky. Anyway, nothing really exciting happens in the book until about halfway through when Alaska freaks out after a night of drinking and crashes her car into a cop car, killing herself. So, the entire second half of the book is about Pudge and The Colonel trying to piece together her death: was it a suicide or an accident? The book ends with Pudge and The Colonel pulling off a school prank that is supposed to be hilarious, all in memory of Alaska. I must have missed the hilarity. There was no excitement in this book, everything just WAS. There were, however, some memorable lines from the book:

The Colonel is getting dressed for Alaska's funeral and asks Pudge if he can wear his flamingo tie. Pudge responds by telling him, "It's a bit festive, given the occasion."
"Can't wear it to the opera," said the Colonel, almost smiling. "Can't wear it to a funeral. Can't use it to hang myself. It's a bit useless, as tie's go."

For some reason, I laughed right out loud after reading those lines. Maybe it's just the irony of having a tie you can't really wear - the world is full of those cheesy ties that are meant to be humorous, but doesn't that deem them practically useless???

The book is chock-full of references to the labyrinth of life and The Great Perhaps, and I guess that reading this book felt like making my way through a labyrinth. I'm happy to be out.

For the record, this book won the Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. I don't know if I'd want my kids reading this.

Under the Tuscan Sun

Well, my most recent reading venture was a little painful. I Love, love, LOVE the movie Under the Tuscan Sun starring Diane Lane (who doesn't love HER?). So, when I realized it was based on a book I just had to read it. Bad idea. Very bad. In my experience, no movie is ever better than the book. Evidently I was proven wrong with this one. The movie is infinitely better than the book. Due to my weird need to finish a book instead of abandoning ship, I forced myself to complete it. Three weeks later, here I am writing this blog entry about how inferior it was to the movie. The book read more like a diary. There were very boring accounts of every little experience in Italy. I really thought I'd identify with the book because I've been to Italy and have lived in a European country. If the book had focused more on the cultural aspect of the experience I may have enjoyed it more. But, it did have some recipes that looked (and sounded) tasty. Bottom line: watch the movie!

Ask and it is Given

I spend a bit of time commuting each day, so I've taken to listening to books on CD in my car. My most recent play is Ask and it is Given by Esther and Jerry Hicks. The book is written in the voice of "Abraham", who from what I can gather, is a collective entity of spirit guides that speaks to and through Esther. It definitely sounds wacky, I know, BUT who am I to judge? One of my new year's resolutions is to be more open and receptive. So, I am listening to "Abraham" every day now. And it's funny because the messages are aligned with what I've been reading in The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

Anyway, from what I've been reading and listening to it's crucial to live in the moment: The past no longer matters and can't be altered, and the future isn't even real. Additionally, Abraham highly suggests raising oneself to the highest level of vibration. I was in a particularly cranky mood this afternoon because I knew the insurance adjuster would be arriving to evaluate a claim of damage caused by this malicious and unrelenting winter and I was unprepared. Thankfully, my husband jumped in and offered to help relieve some of the pressure I was feeling. I ran my necessary errands and everything seemed to be going wrong - people were driving too slow and monopolizing the photo kiosks I needed to use to print the pictures of damage.

I could have spiraled into a very negative energy vibration, but instead I chose to remember what I've been learning through the CD. I took a deep breath and re-centered myself. I drove back home, straightened the house, and got ready for the adjuster. The adjuster turned out to be a very amiable and friendly person and my husband and I ended up talking to him about non-insurance things for a fair amount of time. What could have been a stressful and unpleasant time actually turned out to be a very enjoyable experience. And we got to meet someone new with an an interesting story to share. I don't believe that would have happened if my energy had been in a negative place. So, thank you "Abraham" and Jerry and Esther Hicks!

The Happiness Project (Part 3)

Well, I am a little more than halfway through this book right now. As I was reading today in the gym, I cam across what I believe to be an amazing truth: When you do for others, you feel happier, and when you feel happier you do more for others. How many of you also find this to be true?

Interestingly, as I was driving home from the gym I was listening to an audio CD of Ask and it is Given by Jerry and Esther Hicks and a piece jumped out at me: The greatest gift you can give to anyone is your happiness. It makes perfect sense to me! If I'm unhappy it will show through my attitude, behavior, and actions, thereby affecting the same of the people around me. BUT if I am happy, my thoughts, actions, behaviors, and attitude will reflect that and the people around me will feel happier in turn. Amazing that a simple concept can have such powerful impact. Imagine if more people lived their lives according to this principle. I think the world would be a very different place!

Goal for tomorrow? Exude happiness and infect others with joy :) I dare you!

(Update: I was unable to share any kind of happiness today because I allowed the first few people I encountered on my way into work to steal my joy. Consequently, I could not get myself into a realm of happiness and good thoughts for the remainder of the day. I intend to be better tomorrow, and to bring myself to a higher frequency of thought! Good feelings, good feelings, good feelings.....!)

The Alchemist

What do I say about this book? I'd been meaning to read it for a while now, so when it appeared on a reading list I was perusing recently I had to check it out form the library. I had very high hopes before starting this book. I read about it in depth before even opening the cover. I read the reviews on goodreads.

Once I started reading, I liked where it was going. It's written like a fable, a genre I thoroughly enjoyed as a kid. About halfway through the book it started to become dull, though. Maybe it was due to translation (Spanish to English)? Or maybe it would have been better if I had read it from cover to cover in one sitting instead of four? It just didn't hold my attention.

However, I think the messages I pulled out of it were very important and true:

1) Stop looking outside of yourself for answers, especially when it pertains to your life's purpose (The alchemist tells the boy, "Where your heart is, there lies your treasure."

2) When you realize your life's purpose (Personal Legend, as it's referred to in the book), you must follow it. The Soul of the World (life) rewards those who seek and pursue their purpose.

Recently there has been a lot of synchronicity in my life. This book falls into that category as well (recent books read have been: You Can Heal Your Life by Louise Hay, The Power of Intention by Wayne Dyer, Conversations with God by Neale David Walsch, and Ask and it is Given by Jerry and Esther Hicks). Every book has had the same message: Follow your heart to find your true purpose, pursue that purpose, we are all One and we are all connected, you don't need to look outside of yourself for answers because you were created by your source (I happen to call that 'God')and you have your source in you so all the answers and healing you need are in you.

So even though The Alchemist won't make it onto my top ten list of great books, I will take the messages with me that I believe were meant for me to know. So, thank you Mr. Coelho for that!

Have you read it? What did you think?

The Hunger Games

Ever since I devoured the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, I have been searching for a series that would not only appeal to me but that would again pull me into the story and create a connection between me and the characters. My husband recently introduced me to The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, a book that many of my sixth grade students have been urging me to read, and I am totally sold.

I started the book just a few days ago, reading it in small increments before dozing off to sleep each night. I had reached the halfway point in the book last night before turning out the light and burrowing under the covers. Unsettling dreams and nightmares followed (for those of you who have read the book, surely you understand why). Upon waking this morning on the first day of my spring vacation, I immediately grabbed the book off my nightstand and continued reading from where I left off last night. Two hours later, I was staring at a blank page, and in a zombie-like trance reached for my cell phone and kindly, yet desperately, asked my husband to buy the second book, Catching Fire, on his way home. A half an hour later, sadly, he called with the news that Barnes and Noble was all sold out. ALL. SOLD. OUT. Of the hardcover edition. There is no paperback edition yet. Disappointment washed over me. I checked our library's online system. 43 copies available but all are checked out. I put in a hold request and nervously tap my fingers awaiting its availability. This is like torture! (Although, nothing like that experienced in The Hunger Games.)

Here's a quick synopsis of the book for those of you who haven't yet read it but might be interested. The setting is post-apocalyptic North America. There are 12 districts surrounding a capital, and each district is known for something. District 12 is known for coal mining. Katniss Everdeen is the main character and she is from District Twelve. She is no stranger to hunger, neither are most people from District 12. They have only had one tribute in seventy-three years win the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games is an event put on by the government, the Capitol, in which two representatives (tributes) from each district participate. The goal is to be the last surviving tribute. There is killing, trickery, manipulation, and of course, romance, albeit not entirely believable, amongst other things. Each chapter of the book ends in a cliffhanger so intense that it's nearly impossible to stop reading. Kudos to you, Suzanne Collins. Ya done good!

I am left with some heavy questions and concerns after reading the book. First of all, what inspires someone to write such a book? How does one create a story with such themes?
I am somewhat frightened by the possibility of something similar to the Hunger Games actually happening in our current society due to our most recent obsession with reality television (which doesn't really reflect most people's realities anyway). The book most closely resembles the reality TV show Survivor, except that the characters in the book are actually fighting to survive. The threat is most definitely real in the book. But, in both the audience rallies behind their favorite and most capable contestants. Sadly, I don't think we're far from conducting something like the Hunger Games, but I'm fervently hoping nothing like that will ever manifest. Still, the fear is there.

So, what are your thoughts? Have you read The Hunger Games? What's your reaction? How are the next two books in the series - are they just as captivating? Do you have another series that you'd recommend?