The Templeton Plan

 The Templeton Plan: 21 Steps to Personal Success and Real Happiness by Sir John Templeton with James Ellison
2013
Weight: 10 oz
Method of Disposal: Giving Away

I just cannot get into these small, easy to read, life guides.  I keep trying to like them or feel inspired to change even the smallest part of my life because of them, but I cannot be moved.  I think they would be most helpful to someone without a moral compass, but would someone without a moral compass be changed by them at all?  Maybe someone with a moral compass but someone whose compass is not the most important part of who they are to themselves?

That cannot be the answer because the people that give them to me tend to be good-hearted people.  What is it that speaks to them?  How does it impact them?  What does that feel like?  Well, either way, I am passing it on.  If someone can improve their life even a little by reading a little guide then who am I to stop that or judge that?

The Law of Attraction Plain and Simpl

The Law of Attraction Plain and Simple: Create the Extraordinary Life That You Deserve by Sonia Ricotti
2008
Weight: 7 oz
Method of Disposal: Lending Library

I worked at Barnes and Noble when The Secret came out, and all sorts of people were coming in and buying it.  I am always curious when books sell that fast, but the whole premise seemed kitsch.  It is many years later, and I found this little book in a lending library.  I decided to take it and some other self-help style books home just to see.  Well, color me unimpressed.  I just cannot get into it.  I hear that if I really want to know how to use the Law of Attraction in my life there are several other books I should check out, including reading the full The Secret, but I think I will just pass.

How Can I forgive You?

How Can I Forgive You? The Courage to Forgive, the Freedom Not To Janis A. Spring

2005

Weight: 1 lb

Method of Disposal: Leaving somewhere

I am willing to bet that this book would have been helpful if I had read it when I bought it. I cannot remember now, but I am sure I bought it when I had a certain person in mind that I wanted to forgive. I did not feel as involved or motivated to read it, as I probably did then, when I picked it up a week ago, but I persevered. I was not entirely impressed, but I think I probably did some latent learning. I have a built in resistance to self help books so this is likely more a commentary on me than on the book itself. The author uses a lot of very helpful real life examples and, while a lot of them focus on adultery, there are plenty dealing with parent/child conflicts, sexual abuse situations, and even one dealing with a therapist/client relationship. I was particularly impressed by this last relationship. The client confronted the therapist about the hurt she endured working with him, and he wrote her back with a thoughtful and helpful response. This was so new and unique to me. I believe in therapy, and I have heard about/experienced a lot of bad therapy sessions and good ones. I have never heard about someone confronting their therapist years later and getting an insightful and helpful response. It made me feel good about people and about counseling and about forgiveness. I appreciated that diversity and it encouraged me to delve into myself, my history and my present situation, to think about how I forgive and how I accept forgiveness. Who I have forgiven, who has forgiven me, and who I have yet to forgive. It is only in instances of trauma that I feel I have not yet been able to forgive. The author allows that freedom but also puts forth some ideas about how to go about dealing with that pain/yearning if I wanted to. It also made me think of who I need to apologize to and how I might go about apologizing in the future. That cannot be bad, right?

ALSO, I did learn that there is a Forgiveness Institute. I never knew. http://www.internationalforgiveness.com/

Don't Stop Dreaming

The Blue Day Book: A Lesson in Cheering Yourself Up by Bradley Trevor Greive (2000)
Christmas Wishes: Inspiring Sentiments for the Festive Season (2004)
Weight: 1.5 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating to AKF thrift store with some other items, unless you want them



These are those little square books that can be found by the registers at most major bookstores. They are up-sale items. They are last-minute gift ideas, attention grabbers, and coffee table phenomena. They are, essentially, like a really long chain e-mail. There are adorable and sometimes amusing pictures of animals juxtaposed with a simple sentiments. For example, a line of penguins stands at the edge of an ice cliff and one is jumping off. Underneath this image you find the following words, “Never hang back. Get out there and go for it.” Kind of annoying, right? The cover of The Blue Day Book brags that Grieve is a New York Times best-selling author.

These books are popular amongst certain people or when seen at the right time by someone desperate to find something for that someone or for someone who just wants to add something small to the gift they already purchased. Maybe you were guilted into buying it by the poor soul trying to keep their job—the one that already offers low pay and few hours? These books have been around for awhile so might have lost some of their luster, but I still think if they are donated someone who likes them will find them and will probably give it to someone else who doesn’t but will appreciate the thought.

I love cute pictures of animals as much as the next person, but thanks to the World Wide Web I see them every day. Often, I see the same ones over and over again. Often, I see them and couldn’t care less. I never understood these books. They do not make me feel better. They do not make me feel anything. The Blue Day Book was a hand-me-down from my manager, and the best part about it is the note in the front someone wrote to her. It was a gift, and probably a good one for the occasion. I have since flipped through it, and I am ready to pass it on. With a quickness.

I hope I do not offend anyone here. Christmas Wishes was a gift from a family member, and I can totally see what drew them to it. Adorable pictures of animals and most of them are penguins—my favorite. I was really pleased with this gift and appreciated the thought. I loved all the penguins. I have held onto it for a couple years, but I am going to relinquish it with the other one. It can only be flipped through so many times, and the words are absurd. A flock of geese are featured and beside them are the words, “What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus? Claustrophobic. All together now…quack,quack!” And that is one of the better excerpts.

No, these predictable and trite little square books are not my thing. I am sure I will receive them again in the future though. I love animals and someone will think of that and think of me, and I will be thankful.