Simply an Inspired Life: Consciously Choosing Unbounded Happiness in Good Times & Bad [Paperback]

Mary Anne Radmacher (Author), Jonathan Lockwood Huie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2009

Software and technological entrepreneur Huie, who came to a search for deeper meaning later in life, has teamed up with artist and writer, Radmacher, who came to it earlier through her art. Point and counterpoint, they take the reader through a process to taking charge of their own lives. The key to living an inspired life is simple: accept your past; release your expectations; embrace your choices. The truth of the matter is that the more we like ourselves, the fewer expectations we have, and the way we make conscious choices ­-- in everyday matters large and small are the keys to living an inspired life. Simply an Inspired Life teaches readers to distinguish between events and our feelings about them, to choose thoughtfully, and never blame ourselves or anyone else. Filled with inspiring quotes -- wisdom from the ages and all traditions, personal stories, and exercises, Simply an Inspired Life is based on eight guiding principles: honor, forgiveness, gratitude, choice, vision, action, celebration, and unity with all creation. They are equally important -- and practiced daily they change lives. www.simplyaninspiredlife.com

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Mary Anne Radmacher’s words simply inspire. Now, teamed with Johnathan Huie, I have two SAILs furled in one craft to remind me of virtues I want to incorporate into my life with suggested steps to do just that. Unlike many self-help books, the words of these fine authors remind us of our own power to change our lives without the residue of inadequacy that a book of ‘how to’ sometimes leaves behind. There’s nothing but smooth SAILing in Simply an Inspired Life. Well done!”  —Jane Kirkpatrick, award-winning author of A Flickering Light and A Simple Gift of Comfort

“If you are looking for a kind, gentle, and nurturing guide to personal growth, Simply an Inspired Life is the book you need. Mary Anne Radmacher and Jonathan Lockwood Huie carefully guide you through the important aspects encountered on any spiritual path, focusing on the key elements that will lead you to greater peace and inner happiness. Using true-to-life examples and simple but potent exercises, these two experts will have you letting down your resistance and opening your heart and mind to expansive changes. What a blessing!” —Dr. Sheri A. Rosenthal, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Toltec Wisdom and Banish Mind Spam!

“Simply an Inspired Life is a great read. The interplay between the two authors was compelling and their topics, coupled with the suggested exercises, guarantee every reader ‘an inspired life,’ if so desired. I will recommend this book to many.” —Karen Casey, Ph.D., author of Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow

“In our times of immediate access and ever-present expectations, Simply an Inspired Life comes to the rescue. It offers not just permission to slow down and get a life, but clear instructions on how to do just that.” —Victoria Moran, author of Living a Charmed Life: Your Guide to Finding Magic in Every Moment of Every Day

“If you want to know how to use your life as your path to joy and fulfillment, then Simply an Inspired Life is for you. Radmacher and Huie show how to take the ups and downs of your life and use them as the method for getting a life of deep fulfillment. Highly recommended." —Dmitri Bilgere, co-founder of Shadow Work Seminars and author of Beyond the Blame Game

About the Author

Mary Anne Radmacher is known in many different role including writer, artist, coach, & motivational speaker. Her inspiring messages and practical principles for personal transformation of ones life are expressed in both her coaching, writing and art. Mary Anne teaches how a habit of regular writing contributes to excellence and innovation in any environment from school room to board room. She is the author of several books, including Lean Forward Into Your Life and Courage Doesn't Always Roar. Her work has been featured on CNN, HGTV, Oprah and the New Yorker.

Following a successful career in the go-go world of high-tech start ups, Jonathan Lockwood Huie began a search for revelations of universal wisdom and inner peace and is now drawn to share what he has absorbed from many sources and from direct connection with the Infinite to assist others in transforming their worries and stresses into joyful acceptance of life's uncertainties and a bold confident outlook on the future.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Conari Press (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573244570
• ISBN-13: 978-1573244572
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (51 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #800,207 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worthy. And, my review is brief., August 13, 2009

By 

E. Lambert (Alamo, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Simply an Inspired Life: Consciously Choosing Unbounded Happiness in Good Times & Bad (Paperback)

I am not a professional critic nor do I profess to be a literary scholar. Plain and simple I am a perfect product from a dysfunctional family trying to get past "surviving" and "overcoming" and on to celebration! This book did more for me than the shelves of self-help books I've invested in. It's practical -- it doesn't offer up saccharine homilies of "keep your chin up and keep on keeping on". It's clear, and useful. I refer to it several times a week. For those that are trying to "just get over it" this is a HUGE step towards that -- it's not lip service, it's love, life, and lessons. Well done, well written, a keeper. It's the response to my request: Show me how!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply an Inspired Life, September 21, 2009

By 

Barbara Joy Weston - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Simply an Inspired Life: Consciously Choosing Unbounded Happiness in Good Times & Bad (Paperback)

I have had great difficulty in writing this review - not because I don't like the book - I do, in fact I give it 5 stars! The difficulty lay in embracing and writing about its value for me personally. Not all parts resonated with me, but that doesn't mean those parts may not be totally germane for me in the future. It's a book to re-read and re-read, to keep in sight and at hand - not to shove away on a shelf.
Quite early in the piece, I realized "Simply an Inspired Life" wasn't for the 'faint-hearted' and timid - it's not just another pretty-pretty self-help book you can sail through and then dismiss, in fact it took me enormous courage to confront the veiled parts of myself through its promptings - especially early in the book - I was laid low in Chapter 3 with all my assumed and imagined 'obligations' - all my habitual suffering-inducing patterns. (God! - who'd have known, I had so cleverly hidden them)!!
I was in shock - this was not the easy, happy, feel-good read I had been expecting - it was cathartic!
So I dare you, if you're opening the book for the first time - dare to do the presented exercises, they will stir up the old, subtle, hidden gunk that is clogging the joy from your life. And this ain't pretty or nice - it's downright painful! So you ask yourself: "Do I let myself feel this pain and deal with my pernicious habitual reactions, or do I reach for the usual palliatives - food, TV, etc and stay stuck in my own sludge?"
Did I say it was cathartic? Yes it can be - and for me, I had to swallow the 'medicine' and fearlessly flush out my resistances to change - but after the many layers of self deception are purged you begin to glimpse an entirely new way of being.
For this I am profoundly grateful and cannot recommend this book enough.

Barbara-Joy Weston, Intuitive Sound Shaman.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Journey, August 6, 2009

By 

S. Smith (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Simply an Inspired Life: Consciously Choosing Unbounded Happiness in Good Times & Bad (Paperback)

I picked "Simply An Inspired Life" off the kitchen counter on the way to my bedroom and flipped open the cover to read the opening pages. Within a couple of minutes I turned around, walked to a different room and slid into my favorite reading chair. Several hours later I emerged from a journey.

As a veteran seeker of the meaning and purpose of life, I have read a great many books by the teachers and sages of our generation... Deepak Chopra, Maryanne Williamson, Neale Donald Walsch, etc... but none has provided the clarity as this book by Mary Anne Radmacher and Jonathon Lockwood Huie.

The 200+ page book, subtitled "Consciously Choosing Unbounded Happiness in Good Times and Bad," is centered around eight points: Honor, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Choice, Vision, Action, Celebration, and Unity. Chapters are devoted to stories, approaches, and exercises relating to each point. The interweaving and culmination of these chapters result in an entertaining, heartfelt approach to breaking the cycle of self-inflicted suffering and living an inspired life. The points are presented in a wonderfully balanced style with Mary Anne and Jonathan taking turns sharing insights and bringing clarity to the struggle of living life in a positive, grateful, pain-free manner.

Highlighted sections - Today in My World - contain wisdom and powerful exercises that reinforce the theme of the chapter and encourage the reader to find the answers within. There were so many meaningful exercises packed inside this work... I caught myself grinning at the impeccable timing that each seemed to bring within the rhythm of the book. At times I needed to be pushed, the exercises challenged and drew me out. When I struggled with difficult realizations, just the right words gently guided me through. It seemed to be written just for me.

Sometimes books of this type are hard to get through because of their intense nature, but I never felt that "SAIL" was work. MAR and JLH's light touch and insights throughout kept me engaged and thirsty for more. The process, step by step layout, and pacing of the book was educational and fresh.

I love figuring out what makes life tick and appreciate all other sojourners along the way. But in the case of "Simply An Inspired Life," I feel especially fortunate to have had Mary Ann and Jonathan as navigators.