Book Review: A Magical Book For You

Have you seen this book?

This book was recommended to me by my friend Linda Dawkins. I am ever so grateful to her for telling me about it. It is a really wonderful book when you are feeling down in the dumps and very negative about the world.

It's a type of self-help book. I am usually not so much into those and find them kind of cheesey. 

But this book was somehow different and drew me in when I started reading it. It just seemed to make so much sense. One could say the main motto of this book is:

Stop saying the cup is half empty! Look at what you have in your cup right now and be thankful!

The book is organized around a bible verse which is complimented by quotes by famous writers and thinkers.  Rhonda Byrne argues in this book that the main reason people are unhappy in this life is that they lack gratefulness for all the good things they have received. But even more so, Byrne says that the less gratitude we show the less good things we will receive. We are sort of stuck in this vicious cycle of negativity that can only lead to more rather negative things happening to us. It's almost like a magnet.

At first I was very dubious about the book. Being more of a rational human being, a German headperson, I thought some of the exercises that were suggested to me were rather silly. For example, the author suggests that you go outside, pick up a rock, and talk to it every night, telling it about the best thing that happened to you that day.

Hmm, seems a tad strange. But if you are not into rocks there is so much truth and wisdom in Rhonda's book. The author says that we spend so much time thinking negative thoughts and focusing on all the negative aspects in our life that we become blind to the good things we have.

I did not do the rock exercise but I followed the author's other advice. I started making lists of all the good things I have received. I also started to be more grateful and express gratitude to people around me.

 And guess what?

The Magic does work!

One of my favorite quotes from the book was by Buddha:

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little,  and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.

I hope you get a chance to read this book and find the magic. I promise it will change your life - even if you don't believe in that sort of stuff. =)