Carpe diem... and reading list #16

Those bland, bland potatoes work great for stretching the flavored potatoes. So, not a total loss there. A load of laundry was done. And some serious reading.

I found The Secret to be a shortened variation on Wayne Dyer's The Power of Intention. Both books leave me feeling a little hostile. "The Secret" is that you attract what comes into your life. Excuse me? Tell me a baby attracts being abused. Tell me my friend's sister attracted that drunk driver who killed her when he was driving on the wrong side of the freeway. Tell me one of my girlfriends attracted cancer as a teenager. Guess what? Life happens! Regardless of what you do, say, or think. Life is not about what happens to you; it is about what you do with what happens to you.

I closed the book when they started talking about good and bad emotions. So I'm bad, if I'm depressed? Guess what? Feelings simply are! Again, it's what you do with them that matters. Being sad is not bad. It's normal and healthy to experience a whole range of emotions. They declare that you cannot feel good and bad at the same time. I beg to differ. I have been terribly sad and overwhelmingly grateful, at the same time. Life is complex, with a lot of shades of grey, and that's what makes it so interesting! And There is More to the Secret roasted me when they implied that the "bad" feelings hinted at sin. Excuse me? I'm sinning when I'm sad over the death of a friend? Or I'm depressed because something I hoped for fell through? Yes, it can be a sign, but it can also be used to manipulate... I was going to say that this is where intentions come in handy: Do you intend to do good? Or bad? There are people who intend to do good and believe they are doing good when they shred someone else's sense of self. "It's for their own good." "How will they know what to change, if I don't tell them?" Talk of faith, hope, and charity, honor, respect, and courage, and God will do the teaching and leading.

Final gripe and tying it all together: They suggest that you want only "peaks" in your life, no "valleys." In case they didn't notice, only peaks makes for a flat line, and a flat line in life means your dead. Rant over.

I thoroughly enjoyed Wicked Regency Nights, five short stories from Harlequin's Undone line. Diane Gaston's "The Unlacing of Miss Leigh" is my favorite and the end always brings tears to my eyes. Sigh. I also thoroughly enjoy Annie Burrows' "Notorious Lord, Compromised Lady."

In Sink Reflects, I like the idea for ridding the house of clutter by asking "Does it bless me and my house?" If it does find a place for it; if it does, let it go. This is another book I'm finding simply doesn't fit me, even with being flexible. It has helped me focus, recognizing things that do apply to me that I've found in other places.

My review of Cheryl Wyatt's Steadfast Soldier. I loved it! I was floored by her mantra throughout the book "God's way isn't the easy way." What? All my life I was taught that God's way was the easy way, and if you simply follow His way all will be well. I felt like I was constantly messing up because life is so hard! Not to mention how humiliating and frustrating it would be to have others question my worthiness for God's guidance. "Are you reading your scriptures every day? Are you praying every day? Are you attending church? Are you doing all that you could be doing?" As if the difficulties in my life were entirely my fault and under my control, if only I were a better person...if only I were perfect, then everything would be perfect. Well, duh! But guess what, perfection is something that happens after this life. I did have a wonderful Sunday School teacher who taught that the reason we came to earth was to learn and grow, which sounds like it's painful and difficult, so if your life is painful and difficult, then you're probably doing something right. But in this story, over and over again it was emphasized that turning your life over to God was not easy. I kept thinking, "THIS is what I've found to be true in my own life." What a relief! God bless Cheryl Wyatt. I chose her first book because she was a debut author, and what a privilege and blessing that's been to collect the whole series. I'm looking forward to her next book.