If you know me or have read all my posts (be nice), you’d know I don’t particularly like to read which goes hand in hand with wanting to be a writer. Not. Even though I’m not much of a reader, there are a few books that were well worth my investment. They all lean on either personal development or journey that proved to be life changing for the author. I’m a sucker for these kinds of stories – where someone gets a chance to step away from their lives to look at what changes they’d want to make. Listed in no particular order, I’ll cut right to the chase and share them with you.
Dying to Be Me by Anita Moorjani
Anita Moorjani is an Indian woman who grew up in a culture she found she didn’t really identify with. While she grew up in HongKong, her family upheld all their Hindu beliefs. Anita eventually found that she was not being her truest self – always fighting the desire to live life the way she saw it. This affected everything in her life. The only thing she actually did do right was marry an Indian man even though he wasn’t the one chosen for her. Eventually Anita found herself dying (literally) which lead to her having an NDE (Near Death Experience). She shares her experience with this, why she believes she got sick and why she chose to come back into form to continue her life on earth until another time.
I’ve always been fascinated by my dreams, visions and messages I hear.
Yes, I do literally hear them.
Don’t run.
Come back.
My interest in the spirit world continues to grow as each year passes. Some years ago, I was introduced to Tarot Card reading by a friend who is naturally gifted with connecting to the spirit world which only amplified my interest and curiosity. So, naturally I was drawn to Anita’s experience in that realm. It’s an easy read – light hearted, comforting and definitely lends to bouts of laughter. If you’re looking to gain a different perspective on life, religion, your truest self, balance and understanding why you’re here or how things really tie together, this is a good read.
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up by Theresa Caputo
Theresa Caputo is a medium. This basically means has a gift to connect to people who have passed on and crossed over to the “other side”. She discovered this gift at a very young age and she describes what it was like to have this gift as a child and how she finally embraced it. Theresa also has the popular show Long Island Medium where she connects with individual clients or audiences to help them receive messages from loved ones who have passed on. The book is very down to earth and explains as simply as she can about life on earth, our connection to (God) Spirit as she calls Him and how we truly do have free will.
Having lost my mom in 1999, I’ve always wondered about where the spirit goes after the body dies. I’ve had experiences with my mom where I’ve received messages in dreams and otherwise.
That we are here is nothing short of a miracle.
That we have to lose people we love is nothing short of a tragedy.
Theresa’s gift helps many people to understand what it means when we pass away. She breaks down life as she sees it in a very simple and easy way. Reading it brought me much comfort in the loss of people I have loved so very dearly.
Resisting Happiness by Matthew Kelly
Matthew writes about his journey to finding who he really is and acknowledging how things distract him, how we often set our dreams aside for the mere fact that we don’t dare to be who we really are or do what we really want. His journey leads him to visiting the elderly in convalescent homes to doing talks all over the world.
Like Dandapani, the Hindu priest I wrote about last week, Matthew admits to his humanness and all the ways he doesn’t practice what he preaches but he always comes back home to himself. He incorporates religious beliefs but they touch more on the idea of keeping in touch with your higher self as opposed to promoting religion per se, even though he mentions catholicism frequently.
Recent years brought me to a place of being more conscious of who I let in to my space. It takes practice and sometimes I still fall off key and lose track of my inventory. This clipping below explains why we have to be more aware about who we share our time and space with.
Do the people in your life make you feel heavy or light? Are you even conscious of the changes you feel when you’re around certain people and/or environments? It takes practice but soon enough you’ll know the people who make you feel like sunlight.
Eat Love Pray by Elizabeth Gilbert
Elizabeth found herself lost on her life journey. A part of that was her realizing she was in a marriage she didn’t want to be in. It was extremely hard for her to make a decision on the way forward but she did the unthinkable and the somewhat unacceptable and she left her husband. She took a trip to Italy where she ate all the pizza in the world. OH, now I have your attention. I said #pizza! It’s ok I get it.
She spent the time in Italy enjoying food, connecting with other people, finding jeans to fit her new added curves (story of my life) meeting a younger man and fighting off the urge to be with him. She then moved on to India where she spent a lot of time meditating and connecting to her higher self. During this time, she was able to let go of the marriage and the younger man. This lead her to finding her balance and eventually love in Indonesia.
This book really embraced me during a time in my life that I too was questioning everything around me – including my marriage. It is well-written, funny and made me feel so normal with all the things I was going through including moments I never shared with other people. It’s a “feel good” kind of book and it ended with a new sense of who she was, a new love and a new lease on life.
On Human Moments…
Often times I find I look to anyone who looks like they just have their lives together and I adhere to the concept that they never falter or have “human” moments. Most of these books give me a sense of comfort in knowing we all have “human” moments. Some people have just learned how to master their shortcomings but they still feel most of these things, except Mooji.
He’s a boss!
Mooji falters never.
If you are consistently seeking a higher state of consciousness, I invite you to check these books out and see if they resonate with you the way they did with me. Life really is what you make it. What do you want your life to be like?
I’d also love to hear about books that have touched your life and how they affected you. Tell me about it and why!
