How Much Joy Can You Stand?: How to Push Past Your Fears and Create Your Dreams [Paperback]

Suzanne Falter-Barns (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1999

For everyone who's having trouble starting that screenplay, business plan, doctoral thesis, or patchwork quilt, novelist and essayist Suzanne Falter-Barns provides inspiration. She shares insights on talent and whether it matters, why helpful things begin to happen when we follow our dreams, and new ways to think about the inevitable failures. This book's wisdom is liberally laced with humor for a kick-start to joyful living.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Before delving into Suzanne Falter-Barns's book, I thought I was hitting pay dirt on the joy meter fairly often. But like anyone, I fall victim to fears, insecurities, stretches of passionless time spent pondering the big "isn't there more to life?" question. The answer is a resounding YES! How Much Joy Can You Stand? helps us to see that we all have passion and inspiration and creativity and genius residing inside us. Her book teaches us how to coax it out and live a truly joyful, lively existence!"
-- Barrie Gillies, Senior Editor, Fitness

"Falter-Barns's warm-hearted book will hold your hand as you go through the stages of learning to accept the great happiness that comes from following and fulfilling your dreams. Loaded with tips to help you stay focused, confident and passionate, How Much Joy Can You Stand? also revs you up with stories of real people who dared to live more abundantly and joyfully. You'll come away from this book experience with renewed optimism, a greater understanding of how big you're willing to be, and a good sense of how to actually live from your greater, joy-based self!"
-- Penney Peirce, intuitive counselor and trainer, author of The Intuitive Way: A Guide to Living from Inner Wisdom

"Joy is everywhere around us. Suzanne Falter-Barns teaches each of us how to reach out and grab some... I love this book!"
-- Laurie Beth Jones, author of Jesus CEO, The Path, and Grow Something Besides Old

"The ultimate handyman's special for unblocking creative juices. If you're the type who needs a nudge or perhaps a push, this timely book helps you recognize and resolve the resistances that stand between you and your dreams."
-- Dr. Robert Akeret, author of Tales from a Traveling Couch

From the Inside Flap

If you're an entrepreneur holding tight to that big idea, a writer with writer's block, or anyone afraid to "go for it!" this is the book for you. In fresh, funny language amply laced with wisdom, How Much Joy Can You Stand? gives you a wealth of ways to break through those walls to creative expression--and provides the inspirational kick in the pants you've been waiting for.

Inside is all the reassurance and encouragement you need to get going and keep going. Stories, anecdotes, and the author's own hard-won wisdom tell the simple truth about creating your dream--it's not as hard as you think.

Discover how to ignite the fire in your belly and get your creative juices flowing; when to run from helpful advice; whether talent really matters; and how to stick with your work even in the face of couch-potato attacks and complete creative meltdown. Hands-on exercises follow each short, pungent chapter to put you back on track toward achieving your goals--and realizing your dreams! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 117 pages
• Publisher: Beyond Words Pub Co (March 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582700036
• ISBN-13: 978-1582700038
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,424,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now you have no excuse!, June 13, 2000

By 

Eldonna Bouton "http://www.whole-heart.com" (author of, "Journaling from the Heart.") - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Much Joy Can You Stand : A Creative Guide to Facing Your Fears and Making Your Dreams Come True (Revised, updated, and with new chapters) (Hardcover)

Whatever it is that is keeping you from following your dreams or filling your life with joy will be kicked out from under you in this wonderful motivational book. The author forces you to see how we put up our own roadblocks to happiness and we are the only ones that can remove them. Gently yet firmly the exercises in this expanded and revised, "How Much Joy Can You Stand?" will accept no excuses for not doing whatever it is you dream of doing/being. A catalyst to propel you toward a more joyful life. The title alone makes me bust into a smile.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Power coaching whenever you need it, April 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: How Much Joy Can You Stand?: How to Push Past Your Fears and Create Your Dreams (Paperback)

I have read many "self-help" books over the years (e.g., Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity and "The Vein of Gold: A Journey to Your Creative Heart") which have inspired me and enriched my approach to life and tapping into my passions--what brings me joy.

But "How Much Joy..." is different.

I loved reading this book! I was quickly drawn in by Ms. Falter-Barns' engaging, humorous, and REAL perspective. And yet, she is able to deal with a diverse range of practical, psychological, emotional and other issues that keep us from truly knowing and doing something about our passions in life! The end-of-chapter exercises are provocative, fun and extremely fruitful.

Since reading this book, my approach to life has changed dramatically. I have been joy-stepping ever since--ideas flowing as never before, and most importantly, I am DOING despite all my busy life circumstances. I have found ways to reach out and problem-solve as never before despite the ever-present "lack of time". "How much Joy..." has also inspired me to read other books which have also been extremely helpful such as "The Everyday Work of Art: Awakening the Extraordinary in Your Daily Life" by Eric Booth.

"How Much Joy..." is a great investment in enriching your life and getting out of that everyday treadmill. Suzanne Falter-Barns is a power coach with depth and broadness of range that is not only inspiring but also down-to-earth.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Don't Know, I Can Stand Quite a Lot, March 27, 2003

By 

CodeMaster Talon (Orlando, FL United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: How Much Joy Can You Stand : A Creative Guide to Facing Your Fears and Making Your Dreams Come True (Revised, updated, and with new chapters) (Hardcover)

"The popular belief is that inspiration 'strikes' us, like a lightening bolt from the sky. Actually, it's the other way around. In reality, we strike inspiration much the way miners strike gold. By ceaselessly working, reworking and reworking the old territory, sooner or later we'll run into a little nugget of something wonderful, something better. The more we dig, the more we'll find, until- if we're very lucky and very persistent- we hit the mother lode."
-Suzanne Falter-Barnes

Sleepy and cranky after a long day, I decided to read a few pages of a book I'd brought home from the library to help me drop off to sleep. Three hours later, I was still reading, barely able to see the pages through the tears running down my face. Blowing past all those so called "motivation" books, "How Much Joy Can You Stand?" dares to grab you, shake you by the shoulders and give you a well deserved shove toward living your dream.

Accepting no excuses, writer Suzanne Falter-Barns insists it is each person's cosmic duty to channel their unique perspective into creating something wonderful. With chapters such as "How to Get the Fire in Your Belly", "Where to Look for Inspiration" and "How to Pray and Work at The Same Time" she is your own personal cheer section, pulling no punches and with you every step of the way.

Whether you long to write the next great American novel or simply dream of opening your own laundry business, this electrifying book is a ladder for reaching the stars