BE THE REASON

I have been reading a book.  Well, actually, I have several books on the go.  There is a whole stack of them on my bedside table, all with bookmarks carefully placed so that I can pick up where I left off weeks, months, and possibly even more than a year ago.  Maybe my life needs to be a little less busy or maybe I just need a better light to read by, but I just seem to stall out in a book these days.  Luckily, I own them all so I don’t have to deal with library return dates.

But, back to the one that inspired me to write this.

Written by Rhonda Byrne, the same author who wrote The Secret, and The Power, her new book The Magic expands on her life themes of ‘sunny side up’ and ‘cup half full’ philosophies.  It gets a bit sugary at times but I’m not going to say she is wrong – optimism beats pessimism any day of the week.

I have to say that this kind of inspirational book is not my normal pick.  I like stories.  Well written stories with believable characters and a strong story line.  The Magic is not that kind of book so who knows why I picked it up and spent my money on it, but I did.

When The Secret came out (and spent 190 weeks on the New York Times best seller’s list) a friend of mine sang its praises and told of how much it had impacted her life.  So much so that my curiosity got the best of me and I read it and was introduced to the idea of the law of attraction.  That we can and do attract what comes into our lives; if you believe that good things will come, they do.  And likewise, by expecting bad you will attract bad.  Of course, that is an over simplification of the book but it’s an uplifting read and opens a person up to a new way of looking at things.

I’ve never read any of her other books but something must have caught my interest on The Magic.  Everyone needs a little magic in their lives, maybe I was looking for some in mine.

The premise of this book is even simpler that the first.  Basically gratitude – being grateful – has immense magical power.  Somehow, she stretches this theme out to fill 254 pages but the bottom line is “if you are thankful your life will be blessed”.

She looks at ancient scripts and finds references to happiness and gratitude.  She quotes famous philosophers.  Teachings of several different religions are used to show this universal truth as well, her point being that humanity’s most potent survival tactic was just to be thankful for what we have, and that showing gratitude to others is a powerful form of magic.

The book is set out like a exercise book with a chapter to read and then an assignment of sorts to help the reader apply what they have read to their own lives.  I admit that I didn’t stick with the homework assignments I fell off the wagon but that’s not to say I didn’t get anything out of the book, because I did.

Did you know that you can’t feel anxiety or sadness or disillusionment if you are feeling grateful?  Gratefulness takes up all the emotional space you have if you let it in.  And there is always something to be grateful for.  That was one of the assignments – to spend the last few minutes of your day before you went to sleep naming ten things you were grateful for.  Even writing them down and then saying them aloud because repetition gave them more power.  Or you could simply go over your day and pick the best thing that had happened all day – another way to identify what you were grateful for.

The lesson that stuck with me the strongest though was the advice to show gratitude to others.  I think I’ve always been pretty good at saying “thank you” but after reading this book I make a point of making my words more meaningful.  Whether someone has held a door open for me or taken the time to help me in a store, or given me advice, I try to let them know how much I appreciate their time, effort, or kindness.  It makes us both feel like something wonderful has happened.  You should try it.

There are days when it seems like the world has gone sour and we are left feeling that there is nothing we can do to fight the darkness.  But we can. 

Be grateful.  Express gratitude.  Treat friends and strangers alike with the feeling that they are appreciated.  Be the source of warmth and kind-heartedness.

Set out to be the reason someone has a good day, and in doing so your day will be better as well.

Simple magic.