Feb
22
I remember the first time I came across The Law of Attraction. And I also remember when the big wave hit after Oprah featured The Secret on her wildly popular show. For several months at least, this fundamental personal growth paradigm was at the center of my life. I quickly began recognizing important synchronicities and profound connections throughout many areas of my life. My most important goals even seemed to be manifesting faster than ever before. Life was good.
And then it all sort of faded away…
Of course, good things are definitely still happening. I just don’t quite feel that same “zing” I once felt. And, appropriately enough, the world around me stopped showing its interest. (Yes, very interesting indeed.)
In the last few days, I have started turning my attention back to the this wonderful energy source. I am a firm believer that the attraction principle really is a matter of intention and self creation.
For example, simply by writing and then posting this article here at Mindful Source, I’ll begin to see reflections very soon. Perhaps you, dear reader, have even missed The Law of Attraction lately. And, so… here you are.
I do believe that some of the personal growth process is about gradual integration – eventually, something learned should become somewhat automatic and less conscious. Still, a review of the basics is always in order.
Perhaps a useful analogy here would be learning a new academic subject - Math or English for example. You may be adept at applying the concepts learned during the actual learning period (a school semester) but the ideas will likely slip away at some point without review and renewal. Personal growth is no different. Unfortunately many of the systems, books, seminars, and other materials available in this genre often encourage short-sighted approaches to self improvement. Would you expect a teacher or coach to ever suggest that your growth and change process is going to be easy??? That’s the real Secret.
Feb
20
As I mentioned in a previous post, Happier is perhaps the most important personal growth book for 2008. Just a few days ago, I picked the book up again to browse through the main points and refresh my memory on author Tal Ben-Shahar’s primary points. The basic premise of the book is that achieving happiness is primarily a matter of balancing short-term enjoyment with long-term growth.
Ben-Shahar divides typical approaches to happiness into three general groups – rat racers, hedonists, and nihilists. The rat racer is always postponing happiness for some future promise of success or rewards. According to Happier, most people in our fast-paced American culture fall into this self-deceived group. The unhappy worker always waiting for that promise of financial reward or a promotion opportunity is the quintessential example.
The hedonist is another example in which happiness is promoted to a top position but is actually confused for pleasure. Gorging on food and drink. Enjoying the many fruits of life to excess. Always putting self gratification first. In this model, pleasure is achieved now but happiness is never really achieved.
Nihilism is the author’s final category example. These folks simply dismiss any real possibility of happiness and turn away from any real efforts to grow, improve, or advance their lives. Nihilists essentially dismiss the whole happiness project altogether.
After explaining these three standard types, Happier offers a new vision for improving your life and actually getting better results. What I appreciate most about this book is its realistic and honest approach in presenting happiness to readers. The self help genre is loaded with books that promise undeliverable results and encourage readers to simply change the way they think about the world. While some of these approaches can be helpful, all too often the results are something resembling self-hypnosis and fall short of the mark.
Happier helps readers balance their present moment feelings with long-term goals. The idea is not to simply read the book and then instantly experience life changing results. Instead, the idea is to learn to think of happiness as an on-going process.
As Ben-Shahar explains, “We can always be happier; no person experiences perfect bliss at all times and has nothing more to which he can aspire. Therefore, rather than asking myself whether I am happy or not, a more helpful question is, ‘How can I become happier?’”
My suggestion… Start by reading this great book.