5 comments about 12 Simple Secrets of Happiness: Finding Joy in Everyday Relationships.

1. Glenn Van Ekeren's "12 Simple Secrets of Happiness" is indeed that....SIMPLE! He uses everyday life experiences, and memorable quotes from some of the nation's past and present notable figures, in driving his point home about how simple it can be to nurture and improve the many relationships and connections we make with people in our everyday lives...at home...at work...with friends...family...etc. By covering 12 essential character and value builders...Generosity, Hope, Kindness, Friendship, Empathy, Love, Forgiveness, Acceptance, Understanding, Encouragement, Communication and Gratitude, you will be educated, energized and inspired, to start doing some things in your everyday relationships that will help you to better connect with people. This is a great gift to give to a co-worker, a best friend, or a beloved family member, for the lessons it teaches, knows no boundaries. It's presented in a very easy to read and understand format, and makes you sit back and reflect on how you currently handle your everyday relationships. Have fun with this awesome book on life!



2. Glen has been inspiring all of us at Chicken Soup for a long long time. I am very happy that he now can share his wonderful wisdom and anecdotes with the rest of the world. Be sure to check it out and find out what we have known for awhile... Glen can warm the hearts of anyone who reads his words.



3. This is one of the books, which is charming and delightfull as well as serious. It remindes you of lots of ideas you have already had - but you have forgotten them in stress, depression and burnout. After reading I bought this book for a special friend and suggested that she schould do the same for a friend of hers, and so on... So there is a chain and a connection.



4. I had the priviledge of working with Glenn Van Ekeren for 12+ years and can testify that he "walks the talk". His energy and love for life shines in everything he is involved in. He is a great people builder, and his book is a true inspiration for anyone seeking happiness.



5. Do yourself a favor and read this book.

1 comments about How Not to Screw It Up: 10 Steps to an Extraordinary Relationship.

1. This book is a simple, direct guide with specific instructions to improve your marriage or relationship. Tucker writes in an honest, direct style and gives many personal examples of how her advice works and creates results. The method she describes is innovative and contradicts many accepted ideas about relationships. Using her directions, it is possible for one person in a relationship to improve the relationship by using her simple strategies and by changing their own perspective and mindset. Tucker includes ideas such as taking personal responsibility for the success of a relationship and making things happen the way you want them to. She includes valuable advice in the areas of finance, communication, sex, family planning and behavior. Her book is easy and quick to read and her advice is direct and useful.

No comments about Collins Need to Know? Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (Collins Need to Know?).

No comments about Cut Your Own Firewood: The Ultimate Power to Succeed.

2 comments about Human Being: Self, Desire, and Consciousness.

1. I absolutely love the way the author has written this book. It is very informative and very interesting and very true in it's entirety. I currently work in the Mental Health Field and this book is an asset to me to help me to better understand and broaden my knowledge in my life and current field. The author has beautifully written this book. :) I absolutely love it:)



2. This book offers a fascinating and important new understanding of consciousness in general.
   
   
   The author presents new and original ideas in a very concise manner, at times requiring one to slow down and think. The concepts in this book will really get you to read more slowly and begin to think more deeply, something alot of us have forgotten how to do,or choose not to do. I work in pediatric Physical Therapy as well as adult home health.
   I can really relate to the ideas set forth in this book. I see the result that the lack of sensory experience has on my clients on a daily basis.
   I also have seen the change that increased sensory experience has on their lives. Decreased anxiety and depression, and increased learning ability, increased attention span, and increased overall health.
   I believe as does the author of this book that it would be beneficial
   and healthy for everyone to begin to look at how they balance
   natural and unnatural experiences to help improve the quality of their being. This book is a must read for anyone interested in improving their life experience in general. I found the discussions about memory, dreams, genius, art, TV, and music very interesting.

5 comments about Bruce Di Marsico Presents the Option Method.

1. Certainly worth listening to and sharing with others. The best part is that Bruce doesn't deliver a big spiel, telling us how we should go about reorganizing our lives, but instead shares some simple (as in not over-the-head philosophy) observations and musings.

   As Bruce himself puts it, what he really wanted to do was leave us with a question, "Is our unhappiness really necessary?" (once again, the nice thing is it is the question he wants to share, not the answer). If one stops and think about it, as he obviously did, it's a very profound question. I hope you have enjoy it as much as I did.




2. This tape is a rare and beautiful example of the legacy of Bruce Di Marsico. His gentle, kind demeanor, his tone of genuine feeling as he offers almost humbly the incredibly liberating message of his creation, the Option Method: these are treasures that I can only recommend with all of my heart. I had the opportunity to study with Bruce and was blessed to hear his words and be the object of his loving questions. That experience transformed my life. So, to have this tape available is exciting because I know that others will be drawn to look more closely at what the Option Method might have to offer for them. Fortunately, a book of Bruce's writings will soon be available. Those who would like more information can look at my books at amazon.com or those of Mandy Evans, to get an understanding of what the Option Method is all about.



3. For most of us this is the first opportunity to hear the voice of Bruce Di Marsico, developer of the Option Method. The Option Method is a process using a handful of questions to examine our beliefs, more particularly those beliefs we have about why we are `unhappy' (letting that word stand for any emotional state we don't like). On this tape, Bruce Di Marsico speaks about what might be called the Option philosophy lying behind the Method. The radical suggestion is that, on examination, we can find no valid reasons for being unhappy. Yes, put like that it may sound a bit glib. That's one reason it's a delight to hear the case being made in Bruce Di Marsico's voice, a voice which conveys an inherent reasonableness, as if it were the voice of what common-sense ought to be.



4. Bruce Di Marsico presents wonderful ideas about how we are the creator of our own personal happiness. The beliefs we hold determine the feelings we experience in any given situation. This tape explains the Option Method - a simple, non-judgmental questioning of your beliefs and whether or not they support your happiness. A simple and insightful tape. Thank you, Bruce! And, thank you, Debbie..



5. This tape can be the key to opening up a whole new happy life for anyone who wants it. That is exactly what it did for me when I learned the Option Method 17 years ago. On this great intro to the Option Method, Bruce DiMarsico dispells the mystique around unhappiness by exposing the notion that the experience of unhappiness is always based on what someone believes... often erroneously. Questioning the belief(or judgement or assumption) can effectively vaporize the unhappy conclussion. Hearing one of Bruce's original lectures on Option rekindles the fire in me to spread the word to other happiness-seekers. Do yourself a favor... get this tape and let yourself out of YOUR prison of unhappiness. If I can do it, anyone can!

1 comments about Losing the Rat Race, Winning at Life.

1. Drawing from his extensive knowledge of the Jewish tradition Rabbi Marc D. Angel provides a how-to-do-it book for having a more meaningful life. His main prescription is to stop the mad race to greater material success and career prestige, and take a more balanced view of what is most important in life. Emphasizing traditional Jewish family- centered values he teaches a way toward a deeper and happier life which is compatible with being fully involved in the modern world.
   This is a wise book written by a kind Torah Sage, and is highly recommended.

5 comments about Singular Existence.

1. Singular Existence could be my personal manifesto - in fact I wish I had written it! However, as I have no talent, I'm darn glad that Leslie Talbot DOES, and that she has applied her gift to such a worthy cause as this book. After you read it, if you're NOT single you just may find yourself wishing you were...or at least questioning how / why in the world you arrived on the other side. If you ARE single, you may get a sudden urge to dance in the street, like a prisoner freed after years of incarceration for a crime you did not commit and scream out, "Finally, somebody listened!"
   
   Leslie uses her rapier wit to deconstruct societal expectations and media bias surrounding the portrayal of single womanhood, and provides a handy, no-bull guide to dating etiquette that we all, male or female, should keep at bedside. Her no-apologies, take-no-prisoners attitude COULD come off a bit uppity if NOT for the fact that she always laughs at herself first and exposes her faults without resorting to the literary sin of navel-gazing self-confession that is so popular these days.
   
   Next time any well-meaning individual pops the dreaded, "Why are you still single?" question, I'll just smile gamely and, instead of responding with the death-stare, or worse, a relationship-killer such as, "Why are you still 20 pounds overweight / in that dead-end job / wearing those Sans-a-Belt pants?" I'll just hand over a copy of Singular Existence. I plan to keep a stash handy, like business cards or mints.



2. Who is giving this book 5 stars??? Her friends???
   
   Someone loaned this book to me, and I am glad I didn't waste my money on singularly the worst book I have ever read. To be fair, I only got halfway through the book before I set it aside (OK more like threw it down in disgust). The author from the get go says she has her opinions and doesn't care to change and knows she is snarky. But what ensues is pages and pages of male bashing. These "observations" do not come across as funny but rather the ranting of a very bitter, jaded, cynical 40+ woman. Her writing shows her obvious cluelessness about men or how to make a relationship work. She is VERY quick to snap to judgment and intolerant of any flaws. A man does the slightest thing wrong and she goes off for pages on an emotional tirade instead of laughing and realizing that men say stupid things around pretty girls they are attracted to. She also makes shallow observations about married people and those with children, yet again overreacting and coming out swinging. I would not take ANY advice from her or her book nor did I laugh at its content.
   
   The book should have a warning on it reading : bitter angry woman! Step away!



3. I rarely take the time to review a dating/relationship advice book. In fact, it's not a genre I typically read, despite having written one myself--God Is a Woman: Dating Disasters. That's because most of the books have just awful advice and a peppering of cliches; that's why I wrote my own, to try to reach people with better advice and humorous stories. When I do read one, I don't review it on Amazon because I don't want to give another writer's book a bad review. I leave poor reviews up to the readers.
   
   I absolutely loved this book. It won't give you tips on how to date and meet. So why bother? Because it will give you a clean slate by illuminating the fallacies society puts on women regarding relationships. And that's what women really need with all the bad advice out there--a clean slate to start dating anew.
   
   It's also written well and quite funny. I laughed aloud several times, which is huge for a comedian. It is hard to make us even chuckle, let alone laugh aloud. Men should read the book because it shows us some of the ridiculous notions and behaviors women have, as well as where they come from. It goes a great deal to helping guys understand women and their pressures better.
   
   I interviewed Leslie Talbot for my column "Lunch is Not a Date," I was so impressed with her work. Search "lunch is not a date" on the Internet and you'll find it. It will give you a lot more insight into this book and its concepts.
   
   In summary, a great, easy, quick read that is quite insightful and would be a mistake to miss.



4. Buy this book and tell all your friends about it. Leslie's observations are not only hilarious but insightful. It's about stuff women can relate to, with a twist that you just ain't gonna find in Glamour. For example, her essay about weddings isn't about how to be a helpful bridesmaid--it's about the awkwardness of not "making the cut." I've certainly been there. Another essay is about women and electronics that explores an ugly truth: that often "female" is equated with "less than" or "less serious."
   
   It's refreshing to hear an authentic voice like hers.



5. I absolutely loved this book. I didn't think she was bitter at all. The message is crystal clear, married isn't the only way to be. There is no male bashing here, but plenty of society pressure bashing. How many people wouldn't feel the clock ticking without "friends" pushing them to couple up and get married and have kids. The world has changed from the 1950's, it is a new time and women can be single and still be happy. This book makes that point perfectly, and at times hysterically. I highly recommend this book.

4 comments about Life is a Balancing Act... A Fun Book.

1. I really enjoyed reading all of its philosophy of life. It is not the first book of its' type to be published however, for whatever reason, it got my thought processes churning. Perhaps due to my age, my time of life or just by it's
   contents, it caused me to do some mental research on my past and future life.

   Like so many people, my life has been consumed with trying to do the best possible job for my employers and the people who worked for me and trying to provide the best standard of living for my family. I don't think this was done to the exclusion of my family responsibilities but, at times, and maybe too many times, it certainly impacted them. As I reflected on the ideas in the book, I realized that it is probable my goals could have been accomplished with a better focus on the things in life that are really most important.

   My major complaint is that the book wasn't published fifty years ago so that I and the rest of the world may have benefited sooner!




2. Balance is the key to all our lives. Without Balance, we may become burned out, dysfuntional, or just stress out our friends and family. Therefore this book really can help with it's bottom line solutions. Being a small business man, I loved this book because Ms. Lessin has very specific actions to take which definitely will add Balance and reduce stress in your life. My favorite thing in the book is the suggestion to stay home on a Saturday night. My wife and I love doing this and it really helps keep the rushing around at bay.
   The book is creatively illustrated and it makes for a very comfortable and enjoyable read. I think it should be on the Best Sellers List because it's full of real and very good ideas and wont take a year and a day to read. It really makes you see that life is too short not to have Balance. I love Ms. Lessin's introduction too.



3. This book is wonderful. I found that it gives me insights into things that I knew the answers to but was refusing to put them into motion. This book let me know that it's ok. Learning how to balance your personal and professional lives is a very difficult thing, "Life is a Balancing Act" helped show me that it doesn't have to be as difficult as we make it.
   
   I truly enjoyed it.



4. Reviewed by Irene Watson for Reader Views (4/06)
   
   Debbie Lessin, a CPA, entrepreneur, speaker and author, presents 66 resourceful ideas for managing and coping with life challenges. Although the book is small, it is powerful and realistic, yet fun and entertaining. Each page gives the reader a new idea or an opportunity to remember an act that can be followed through to attain balance in life.
   
   For example, on the page for "Expand Your Horizons" Lessin suggests to: ride a motorcycle, train for a marathon, cycle the trail. In "Arrange a Girl's Night Out" she suggests: Laughing, sharing and telling the stories of sisterhood. Lessin suggests in "Just Say No!" to: remind yourself often that you don't have to be a super-woman or super-mom.
   
   Illustrations by Janet Jaffke are amusing and reflective at the same time. In the back of this little treasure Lessin provides an epilogue with items like: things to remember about balance, beat the clock activities, and, free or less than $20 activities. She also provides space for your balance inventory and balance wish list. In the end, Lessin reminds us that "there is no such thing as perfect balance!" We are encouraged to have fun, explore the mystery of life, and move on.
   
   Debbie Lessin's "Life is a Balancing Act" is a perfect little gift book for any woman - mother, sister, grandmother, friend, yourself. Her words of wisdom touch aspects of everyday life and give us the encouragement to strive for balance in our lives. This is not a book to taken lightly, but to delve into and reflect on the quality of life we deserve and manifest. Recommended!

1 comments about 222 More Ways to Make Love With Life: More Ways for Loving, Laughing, and Living in the Moment (The Love Living & Live Loving Series, V. 4).

1. Buying with a high hope, I find the ways taught quite impractical.