Customer Reviews

You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought (The Life 101 Series)

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...if you are like me, you get tired of feeling terrible about yourself. "What have I done to feel this blue, why do I deserve this treatment, how come I feel like I'm a magnet for all the bad things that could happen to a person..." I would ask myself many a time. Life truly is not worth feeling rotten about, especially if you had not done anything to feel rotten about. I've discovered that I was feeling bad because I either had not or could not meet somebody else's standards. And believe me, no matter what I've done, like take out the trash, for instance, there was someone who let me know how inadequate the job I did was...I was a hopeless sap. Then there is the entire matter of some people needing to feel like they have bested me just cause that's how things are...Church did not help me because it seemed to me that it was filled with the self same people I was trying to avoid. (Church folk can really make you feel bad, you know?) So instead of changing them, I decided I would change myself and my own attitudes. I tripped upon the book browsing at a local mall. The title caught my eye and I grabbed it and raced for the checkout. It is an easy to read, easy to digest book of 600 some pages. The left page side of the book has one or two applicable quotes of any one from like Kermit the Frog to important hifalootin philosophers like Goethe. If the reader just wants to flip through these qoutes like a daily affirmation, he could do so...John-Roger and Peter on the right hand side of the book gives the reader the why's, the when's, and the how's of negative thoughts and how to not focus on them...it is something that has helped me a lot and I hope the reader will find it is helpful, too...

I write and work in metaphysics so I've read all kinds of new thought books about positive thinking and affirmations. What I like about this book is that it is very honest about dealing with negative emotions. We all have them and you can't put a band-aid on them by just thinking up an affirmation that is the exact opposite to a negative thought. In my own life, I have had difficulty with these kinds of affirmations. You have to be able to believe the affirmation and if your subconscious mind is fighting what you are saying, you're not going to get very far.

You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought advises you to just become aware of your thoughts and to slowly train yourself to pause before reacting to a negative situation. You can acknowledge a negative experience, but they remind you that you have a choice as to how you REACT to that negative event. We can't go through life just saying "Everything is Great!" and ignoring problems and negative sitations. These things exist for a reason. Otherwise, we'd all live in a utopian society and not experience negativity in the first place. Our power lies in the choices we make every day about how we will respond to things that happen to us.

I generally think of myself as a positive person, but when I began to focus on the suggestions in this book, I realized how many times in a day I become fearful when I face a negative or uncertain situation. Using the process of this book was freeing for me because it reminded me that I do not have to do what I've always done just because it is familiar to me. While some situations are extremely difficult to postpone reacting to, if you can free up your energy from reacting to small irritations, you use less of the energy that your body needs for situations that are REALLY stressful. The point is not to never react negatively ever again. The point is to not waste energy every day on little things that we have no control over. Save your energy for times when you will really need it.

This book is particularly geared for those facing life-threatening illnesses such as cancer or AIDS. It gives you tools to shift your energy and regain your sense of control. The book delicately suggests that some readers may have chosen death for a reason (whether positively or negatively) and that the purpose of the book is to let go of the stress and negativity which may be exacerbating the illness. In some cases, this can bring about an intense desire to live and provide the body with energy and resources needed to heal itself. In other cases, it brings a greater sense of peace about accepting death.

If you are in good physical health, there is still benefit from this book. It works as a magnifying glass on your mental and emotional selves so that you can acheive greater balance and personal satisfaction.

This excellent book is divided into 2 parts: The disease and the cure, and the latter consists of 3 sections: Accentuate the positive, Eliminate the negative and Latch onto the affirmative. It explains the fight or flight response, the effect thoughts have on the body, and the question of death. It also deals with mourning, how to focus on the positive and has a useful section on depression. Suitable quotes by inter alia Freud, Santayana, Voltaire, Emerson, Russell, Shaw, Anais Nin, Epicurus, Whitman, Keller, Hippocrates, Oscar Wilde and Maria Montessori enhance the text and help to explain things. I would not say that it is absolutely the best self-help book I've ever read ( a little more emphasis on how to influence the subconscious mind would have been valuable), but it casts welcome new light on this thing called "common sense." It is a pleasure to read and I highly recommend it.

McWilliams explains and delivers comprehensive and understandable principles of positive-focus. This is absolutely the greatest self-help book for positive thinking that I've read yet. He addresses issues from relationship to life-threatening illness. He doesn't just blab on about the issues, he details and outlines specific strategies for dealing with crisis in a positive, effective manner. I recommend it to everyone, illness or not...this is very empowering.

. . for those of us who suffer from the disease of negativity. Written with humor, lightness, and heart, this book is thick, but an easy-read. Helpful and a book that you can go back to again and again. Everyone who's suffered from low self-esteem, or too much negativity, should have this one in their library. Anyone can use these helpful hints, and it's expressed in a way that's easy to grasp.

I am now reading this after finishing two other books by Peter. I would highly reccommend this book for anyone living with aids, cancer or any other life challenging condition, inluding burnout on life. The book is chock full of insight and suggestions to enhance and spiritually heal oneself. Doctors and hospitals should give each newly diagnosed patient a copy as a gift to life.

Peter McWilliams gives practical, useful information in a humorous and entertaining format to help battle negativity in your life. His ideas make sense without sounding preachy or overly-techical. I have recommended this book to several people and everyone who has read it comes away with a deeper understanding of the ways negativity can effect a life. A must-read for anyone looking for a guide book towards a more positive life.

You really can't afford the luxury of a negative thought, and you can't afford not to read this book. It is he kind of book you can read a few pages of and then walk away from it feeling like you just received a huge dose of positive thoughts. This book has become a bible for me in my quest for positive thinking and laughter. And, I am constantly citing its lessons as I talk to others. It's a book full of energy and great perspective. It isn't impossible for this book to challenge some of your closely held beliefs either!

This book transformed my life. It's not just about positive thinking. It's about living every moment without the baggage that most of us have carried for years. It's a very good read for all the people who don't have time to go to self help seminars or the time to read in depth self help books. Each chapter is short, usually one to two pages, and each one has a couple of tidbits that are easy to remember and easy to use. Every person who wants to live fully will benefit enormously from reading this book.

You can't afford the luxury of not buying this book! All of the useful ideas that I've read in other self-help books are contained in this clear, understandable, easy-to-use volume. Everything makes more sense here. This book has given me many practical, doable ways to improve my life.