Excuses Begone, by Wayne Dyer as Seen by a Former Self-help Skeptic

Laura Carbonell was a skeptic regarding self-help books and inspirational speakers. The 44-year old Spanish teacher in SF, CA recently attended a seminar by Wayne Dyer, and says that experience completely changed her outlook. Laura happens to be a fighter and has overcome incredible odds in her life. One of her great accomplishments is that she has stayed clean and sober for 16 years.
I have profound admiration for her and I´m lucky that apart from being an inspiration to me, she is also my sister.
Laura read her first self-help book - You Can Heal Your Life, by Louise Hay - when she was 28 and had just quit drinking.
“It helped me get back on my feet”, she says.
Then our father gave her Your Erroneous Zones, by Wayne Dyer which she also read.
“I felt I had had enough of self-help books. I felt most authors were full of it, but Wayne Dyer´s books spoke to me and felt honest and true. Reading him was like talking to a friend. I got more from his books than from years in therapy”.
Unbeknownst to me, my sister was depressed this past December. For the record, we spent Christmas together and I didn´t realize how bad she felt.
“I thought of seeing a shrink and took a test on my medical insurance website; not that I needed to make sure I was depressed”, she told me.
“Around that time, I found a deal in a book store on Wayne Dyer's latest audio book and I felt relieved listening to him and more at peace. Then I became fan of Wayne Dyer on Facebook and saw that he was coming to SF”.
My sister is not one to attend this kind of function and she asked several people what we thought of it, and I believe we all told her she should go!
“Never in my life would I have considered going to listen to a self-help guru. And I mean never! Plus, it wasn't cheap. Not that I think it wasn't worth it. Hey, I thought: ‘it's way cheaper than therapy!’ Also, I must add I would usually not consider going alone!”

She did go alone, however, and I was excited when she sent me pictures and live updates of the seminar as she sat through it. That was when I asked her if I could interview her for my blog.
“During the seminar I was very excited, moved to tears and I am a bit embarrassed to admit it! I also felt totally at ease because that is what he does: make everyone feel calm. However, when I walked out I felt a bit sad and cranky. I had been so excited and had enjoyed it all so much that I was a bit down... Like a kid having left the best party! I wanted to feel the way he describes he feels – at peace”.
Funny how someone’s perception can change so much and I believe it happened because my sister had changed herself – she is more evolved than ever before. She does admit to being a Dyer groupie, in the sense that no other inspirational writer has touched her as Dyer has.
“I love his CD collection "The essence of being in Balance" (I think it's this one)" and "Excuses Begone". Actually, I recommend any of his books. Lately he is more spiritual, and that's fine, although I kind of cringe at the mention of the word ‘God’ but somehow, with him, I get over it”.
What inspirational speaker or author has touched your life?

http://www.lorrainecladish.com/

A University on Wheels

I drive a university on wheels. A book writer and reading junkie, I have about as much free time to lie down and read the old-fashioned way as I do to make a castle out of matchsticks. First I became a speed-reader, and this cut in half the time I need to devour a book. And yet, this was not enough to absorb all the information I´m hungry for. So, I resorted to books on tape, then on CD and now on my Ipod. I listen to books while driving, running, cleaning or doing any other mindless chore.
I listen to books at night when I´m too tired to read but not relaxed enough to fall asleep. Now commutes seem shorter, my runs more productive and I even look forward to doing the dishes or vacuuming because that´s when I get to listen to audio-books.
The choice of books is personal, of course, and so far the only novel I´ve managed to listen to on audio was Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (she has a beautiful voice). For fans of personal improvement, I recommend any audio book by Wayne Dyer (he is also a great lecturer), Caroline Myss or Jack Canfield, to name a few. The advantage of listening to motivational books in addition to reading them, is that new information is processed every time. Also, listening to self-improvement methods on a daily basis and especially at night, if done consistently, helps to do eliminate the negative mind-chatter.
Keep it up and eventually you stop needing the crutch of an audio-tape, and motivational and positive thinking becomes second nature.
What do you think of audio books and which have you listened to?

http://www.lorrainecladish.com/

Inspiration, Your Ultimate Calling

I first read Wayne Dyer´s Your Erroneous Zones when I was 17 years old. Back then I had an eating disorder and I was doing everything I could to overcome it. Dyer´s book struck me as a manual of common sense that few people I knew (to include myself) seemed to abide by.
Almost 30 years later, I still read Wayne Dyer, who has gone to write and publish over 30 books, many of them bestselling titles, and all of them reflecting his own spiritual evolution and, dare I say – my own. I eventually did overcome the eating disorder, and learned a lot from that experience, which drove me to write and publish a book – I Feel Fat – about it.
Just yesterday, during an evening run, I was listening to one of Dyer´s audiobooks – Inspiration, Your Ultimate Calling, which I have read and listened to many times. But yesterday in particular, a few phrases struck me as never before.
One of them was: “There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come”. It resonated with me, as I am now fueled with passion and focused on an idea that fills me with energy, excitement and strength.

Another concept I could relate to was that when we are in tune with our gut and decide to follow what makes us feel good, excited, vibrant and alive, we owe it to ourselves to pursue it relentlessly, because it is our life-purpose. In order to succeed, we will have to keep on doing that which makes us feel energized and on-track, and do away with the low-energy activities, conversations, company and even work that drain us. We often accept certain company, jobs or assignments out of fear. We may be afraid of being alone, of not being able to pay the bills, afraid of not having food in the pantry, fearful of what others may think. Fear is often a fabricated emotion, based on what ifs, and we can decide to let go of it. It really is as simple as that. Our emotions follow our focus, always.

Make a list of those things, people and activities in your life that make you feel powerful, joyful and strong. Then make another list of the people, activities and work that make you feel weak, doubtful and even depressed. Commit yourself to the first list and eventually eliminate the second from your life. Simple? Very. Easy? Not so much. But, trust me, it´s worth a try!

http://www.lorrainecladish.com/