WK10 – MKMMA

I’m still working on defining my purpose and loving the process! A suggestion given was to look through books that inspire you, for ideas to put on your cards.  I easily came up with a couple hundred wants, but was struggling to find more positive qualities and fulfilling actions to add to my cards. Thank you to whoever suggested using inspiring books–it worked like a charm for me and I now have 35 actions and 96 qualities–a huge improvement over the paltry number I had before consulting my inspiring books! (Tip: it helps to alphabetize the cards so you can see if you’ve already written down a quality–a few of them I had written down 2 or 3 times without realizing it! And I’ll shuffle each stack before I start combining the qualities and actions!)

This foray into my bookshelf has had a huge side benefit for my mental diet too–I can’t believe I’m not immersing myself into these books on a daily basis–they are so positive and inspiring! I have to share a few treasures with you from them:

I absolutely love this first book, called Notes from the Universe by Mike Dooley. It’s a collection of a little over 200 short inspirational thoughts that almost instantly elevate your mood and connect you to Universal Mind. Here’s a sample that ties in beautifully with The Guy or Gal in the Mirror/Haanel:

“When you look into the mirror each morning do you apply your makeup or shaving cream to your reflection in the glass?

Ha! Of course not, you’d be locked up. Instead, you go to the source of the reflection.

So then, when it comes to living the life of your dreams, the same philosophy should apply. Why try to manipulate the illusions of time and space, when you can go to their source, the inner world of your own thoughts, beliefs and expectations, where the real work is done anyway?”

After what I’ve learned in MKE, I want to email Mike and ask him if he has gone through the course!

I don’t normally purchase books (I work in a library after all!) but I make exceptions for the ones that truly inspire me as this one does. Somehow in the busyness of life, I forgot how important it is to nourish my soul–which is what it feels like when I read books like this. Not that I haven’t been gorging on goodness between the Master Key, Greatest Salesman, the Mental Diet, Law of Compensation, etc. For me though, I consider those to be vegetables for my soul (don’t get me wrong, I love veggies!)–sometimes though you just need something light and sweet!

The next book I consulted was Pronoia, by Rob Brezsny. I had checked it out several years ago and was totally overwhelmed by its irreverent, creative, wacky, astonishing and inspiring manifesto of thoughts! This had to be added to my collection so I could absorb it over time–impossible to appreciate it fully in the 3 weeks before it was due back at the library (or even 6 weeks with a renewal)! Then life intervened once again and it sat forgotten on my bookshelf. I’m so happy to have rediscovered this encyclopedia of positivity!

Yes, it contributed many attributes to my cards but the serendipitous thing I want to share with you is a short section titled “Proliferation of News Sources Reporting the Other Sides of the Story”. Just last week I was writing about negativity in the news and then I happen across this resource–perfect! Here are links to some alternatives to mainstream news that can actually support your Mental Diet:

Good News Network, Great News Network, Gimundo, TED Talks, YES! magazine, Positive News (I linked to an article about saving our bees!), and World Changing

Several links in this 2009 book were no longer being updated or were even still in existence (the internet changes faster than real life!), so if you do a Google search for ‘positive news’ or ‘optimistic news’, I’m sure you can find even more resources if you want. Here’s an example of another current website I found doing a quick Google search: The Optimist Daily

I could have spent all night getting inspiration from my books, but I stopped after this third one (I’m working on True Health as one of my two PNPs, so need to get some sleep!).

The last book I looked through was written by Jane McGonigal.  Jane, and her twin sister Kelly, have both given amazing TED talks (Kelly: How to Make Stress Your Friend & Jane: The Game that Can Give You 10 Extra Years of Life).  After watching Jane’s  TED talk (and previewing her book by checking it out from the library, of course!), I added her book, Super Better to my personal library.

The book basically teaches you techniques to “gamify” and become the hero or heroine of your own life. Just one quick example of how this can help your Mental Diet: Jane recommends making a list of “Power Ups” that you can use to help make you feel happier, stronger, healthier or better connected.  These can be physical (getting into some sunshine for 5 minutes or taking a dance break), mental (affirmations come to mind as something we’ve learned about that is an excellent power up, or our mental diet pill–picture of our movie poster), emotional (give yourself a hug, read a favorite poem out loud–or GS!), or social (send someone else words of encouragement–MMA anyone?, or notice something you have in common with another person–even as simple as that you’re both wearing the same color socks). This was a very actionable and fun read!

Isn’t it amazing how many of the things we’re learning in MKE show up every day? It’s quite wonderful how the same truths/themes we are practicing here are woven into so many facets of our lives!

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