Tag: positive thinking

Joel Osteen’s Think Better Live Better: Hope in 207 Pages

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Joel Osteen is a well-known name in religious Christian circles. This man has an extensive media persona and for all the right reasons. With the pseudo-miracle workers that prey on people’s vulnerabilities, it is easy enough to lump Joel Osteen into the same category, but this man actually spreads valuable messages. I have watched him on T.V. and read his books and my deduction is simply this, he actually cares about making a positive difference in the lives of the people he hopes to touch.

I recently read his latest book, Think Better Live Better that came out this Fall (2016), and if anyone should need testament of how a book can change your life, I would call into admittance this one. The thing that strikes me most about this book is the humility inherent in Osteen’s writing. He is obviously a man of much influence, but he still writes to his readers as one of God’s humble servants, with respect, kindness and gentleness. It is this tone that will render the readers most set in their ways more than willing to let him in to change them for the better. This book brims with positivism, and it is not just the kind that throws a bunch of feel-good sayings in your face and then scampers off the page. No, Osteen goes beyond that to offer real-life examples and opportunities for you to apply his teachings. He doesn’t heap it all into a few hundred pages. He breaks it down into little lessons that will get you thinking about how you can apply them to your life with the turn of each page. He repeats his positive messages over and over again and finds clever ways to connect his teachings, weaving in powerful and often poignant real-life stories.

Bursting with words of hope, faith, charity, kindness, and truly uplifting stories, Osteen’s genuine desire to help, to reach out and enable people shines through and makes you want to take stock of your own life and rise up to meet your divine destiny. This book is not exclusive to the religious or followers of only Christianity or even fans of Osteen. No, this book is for anyone who has lost themselves, lost hope or faith or lost the will to try harder. This is for those people who need someone to believe in them so they can straighten up and forge ahead to fulfill all they were meant to. In an age where we have become more aware about how to live healthy lifestyles, tapping into meatless diets and better fitness levels, there is something to be said for nourishing your emotional and spiritual selves. There is something to be said about the necessity for hope, and this book is literally hope in 207 pages. This book helped me navigate a dark time in my own life, and with each page I read I felt my own hope beginning to grow into its former self. If you are looking to love yourself again and to live a more fulfilled life where you can then leave a positive legacy, this would be my recommended go-to. If you do get around to reading it, I would love to hear what you thought!

©booksnnooks.org All Rights Reserved

The Beauty in Being Strong

Lately, a lot of things have culminated in me rethinking the concept of beauty. People look for symmetry in a face, a glow in the eyes, a toned set of thighs, well-cared-for feet, a crisp voice, a smile, and call these things beautiful. And yes, individually and cumulatively, these things are all beautiful. Art is also beautiful, so is the kind interaction between strangers on a street corner. There is beauty in the darkness, in the crosses we carry, in the pain of our everyday lives. And then, there is beauty in being strong. And I don’t mean the physical strength that can be attained through persistent cardio and strength-training over weeks and months and years. No, the strength I have come to value as beautiful is a strength that wades through the messiness of life and still manages to be gracious and hold on.

Like a lot of people out there, I have unsung heroes and role models in my life. There are my father and mother – my ultimate heroes, among a handful of others comprising family and friends. There are a lot of people I look up to, for waging gracious war with the many battles in their lives, and coming out, albeit a bit beaten, still standing, at the end. These people are beautiful to me. It is in their strength that I find value in life, in being kind even when it is hard to do so, in being gracious when there is nothing remotely resembling grace about something or someone else.

There is beauty in silence when harsh words can be exchanged to fuel fires. There is beauty in this ability to exercise restraint; beauty in the strength it takes for that restraint. There is also beauty in being strong where you are able to care for yourself and be someone others can rely on. There is beauty in being strong enough to sacrifice for others. There is beauty in standing your ground when you believe in something, often meaning that you are standing alone. There is beauty in being strong enough to forgive someone who has shattered your heart and sense of self, intentionally or otherwise. And finally, there is beauty in being strong enough to recognize that you are weak as a human and need to reach out to Jesus (or whomever you pray to, if you do) or someone you trust, to ask for help.

Sure, the beauty of this world puts a great emphasis on that which is pleasing to the eye, but when we learn to value being strong as beautiful, we can free ourselves of the surface elements that leave many of us feeling quite empty.

Within the messiness of our lives lies the opportunity to be strong, and with that opportunity, we can find an unwavering beauty.

 

© booksnnooks.org All Rights Reserved

Change Will Come.

image

Have you been on the receiving end of a really bad day, only to get pulled into the negative thinking that heck, this is going to turn into a really bad life? Have there been piles of days when you honestly just cannot seem to win, no matter how hard you try? Like truly, nothing goes your way? I mean, you keep pushing for that goal, but you keep falling short. Every. Single. Time.

What exactly have you used during these rough times to rally yourself and rise up again? Or have you just given in, or walked away and called it quits?

Quitting on your dreams and your hopes should not be an option. Ever. Why put in whatever effort you already have, only to let yourself down? Because really, that is all it is, YOU are letting yourself down.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. What is the difference between people who keep fighting and those who walk out before they have actually achieved their greatness? Determination? Sure. Self-discipline? Sure. Support from loved ones? Sure. However, the thing that I think pushes these achievers into a class all their own is the belief that today will not last forever. That this really awful and devastating moment of complete failure and hopelessness, will pass. There will be another day tomorrow, and they will get that chance to try again. And, at some point, change will come. Change is always coming after all. It only remains to be seen when, and who will be around to see it affect them positively.

I think a “change will come” mindset is difficult for a lot of people to grasp. Truly though, if you have grown up living one way of life and all of a sudden you are pushed to believe that it gets better if you keep trying, because change will come, well, you might not be as receptive to the idea as say, someone who was raised on that concept. And that is okay.

So, how can you actually train yourself to believe that this moment, this really crappy moment, will pass? Breathe. Take a deep breath and punch a stop in your mind with that breath. This may sound a tad like yoga practice, and honestly, maybe it is (just a tad), but it is the stopping of your negative and life-derailing train of thoughts that can help you switch tracks to something that is more hopeful. As human beings, we are geared to be hopeful. Even when we are busy whining about the awfulness of our existences, we are hopeful somewhere deep down that change will come, and it will come for the better. And so, a lot of us keep trying. And try we must, because “If at first you don’t succeed, try try again”.

Change will come. It must. And if we’ve worked hard enough, hopefully, it will be in our favour.

 

©booksnnooks.org All Rights Reserved