Thursday, July 23, 2009
The Twelfth Angel
I know it's not quite the end of the month, but I really liked this book. It's been a rough month for me, not in the same way as the main characters, but rough none the less. I appreciated Og Mandino's ideas on positive thinking. My question is this, what do you use to pick yourself up, or get through rough patches? And has anyone used this method of positive thinking and had good results?
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I like positive thinking. Actually, my whole Psych class was on positive thinking. It was really good.
ReplyDeleteI'm a quote person actually. I have a ton of quotes that get me though everything. One of my favorites is:
"People are more important than things" That always helps me keep my priorities straight, Then some of the things I'm worrying about don't seem so important anymore.
It's not much but it's my two cents :)
That's a critical thought when you have a two year old boy....thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteOk...here goes.
ReplyDeleteI have a lot to say on the matter, so feel free to skim read or not read at all! :) I did a lot of research on this topic (the connection between mind and body) in high school, undergrad school and grad school. It's always been something that has fascinated me.
Having said that, one of the best books I have found on the subject (and I have written a lot about lately, probably ad nausea) is Thinking Body, Dancing Mind by Jerry Lynch and Chungliang Al Huang. The Modern Dance technique classes at UVU use this for a text and I also used it for my 4000 level ballet technique class last spring. It has tons of great information on the topic, but especially it has some great affirmations. When Timothy said, "Day by day in every way I am getting better and better", I stopped in my tracks just like Mr. Harding in the book, because I had heard that so many times before from this book. The book is technically written in the light of sports and athletics, but it has a lot of business and life applications. It talks a lot about "acting as if" (act as if you are successful, a good mom, etc. and you will become those things) Here were some of my favorite affirmations from the book:
*"calm, calm, calm, calm, tranquil, tranquil, tranquil, tranquil" (repeat these words over and over again, slowly)
*"look inward, smile, and relax"
*"Relax. Relax to achieve the max."
*"How I see me, I will be"
*"I have a strong positive self-image as a powerful athlete (or fill in the blank)"
*"How I see myself is my responsibility. Work at making it work."
*"I become what I imagine. I imagine an unlimited self."
*"My performance is a perfect mirror of my image of self."
*"Expect success, I'm one of the best"
*"I am in control and ready to roll."
*"Beliefs are limits; stretch and go beyond."
*"I do not need to force; all is evolving according to a plan."
*"I give myself permission to develop my full potential"
*"Success does not guarantee happiness; failure need not guarantee misery."
*"I act, I don't react"
There are about 5 million more in this book, but these were just some I loved.
From pg. 58 of the book it says, "According to the Tao, feelings of inner peace ripple outward toward the other people in your life." I think this is true with this book; I think that's why this book, and many books like it, have been as successful as they are. We all need a little more peace, and if we could take it upon ourselves by giving ourselves more peace through our thoughts and actions, like Timothy did, I think it would change the world. (so dramatic, but true!)
My 2 cents in the form of rambling! :)
I loved this book! My personal saying to get through tough times is "fake it 'till you make it". I've found that when I don't feel like giving something my all, that it doesn't ever improve the situation to roll over and give up. I'm always much happier in the end if I push through until I really do enjoy it or accomplish something. Then I at least feel productive instead of lazy and depressed.
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