Climb Your Stairway to Happiness by reading David Leonhardt’s book – Climb Your Stairway to Heaven.  Everyone searches for inner happiness, but it is not something you can purchase or build.  David has written a book that is funny, insightful, full of great quotes and antidotes.   You will receive instructions on climbing the stairway to greater happiness.  Imagine becoming happier every day.  It really is possible to make your dreams come true. You will be taught nine habits that are achievable.  You will enjoy the pop quizzes, quotable quotes, and stories to learn by.  Most people like to learn while they are having fun, and this book delivers from cover to cover.

I quote David Leonhardt – “Many happiness books on the bookstore shelves are just some author’s personal viewpoint. That’s fine, if you happen to be extremely similar to the author. But what about facts? True, I include many of my own experiences in this book — in fact, that’s what inspired me to write. But I also spent three months with my nose in the psychological journals. This self-help book is based on both my personal experiences and the best psychological research available. I did the work so you don’t have to.

On the other hand, several happiness books are written by very knowledgeable authorities, but most tend to the boring side. Many even sound like a session on a therapist’s couch. What gives? Shouldn’t a book on happiness energize you? Motivate you? Inspire you? Pump you up? Shouldn’t a book on happiness be fun to read? So I decided to write a fun, energetic, and engaging book. Go figure!”

Book like this are inspirational, encouraging, fun, courageous, motivating, and give value to the reader.  I hope you enjoy this excellent manual on Happiness!

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online

Do you find it challenging to love yourself sometimes?  Learning to love yourself gives you a sense of freedom that resonates with your body, mind and spirit.  I would like to share a book with you that can assist you in learning to love YOU. Love Yourself by Lawrence Crane is a valuable tool , and I suggest you add it to your spiritual tool-belt.  According to Larry human love is selfish.  Divine love is completely selfless.  Real love is winning the universe, not just one person but every person, every being.  Real love, divine love is constant, persistent acceptance of all the beings in the universe.

Lawrence is an author, lecturer and self made millionaire. “For over 30 years Larry has been showing people what love really is, where to get love, and how to have love once you know where it is. For Larry, it’s all about results. “It’s not what you say, it’s what you do,” are words Larry often repeats. “Talking about love, talking about what love is, talking about how to be loving is not the answer,” says Larry. “Actually doing it is the answer. Doing it, not talking about it.” This book shows you how to do it, how to Love Yourself and reap the rewards, financial, health, relationships, whatever your heart desires. You can have it all when you know how to Love Yourself. As Larry frequently says, “There are no impossible’s.” This book de-mystifies true love.”

.Joe Vitale says “This book is a manual of love from a man who has dedicated his life to showing people what love is, how to be living and how that translates to success in every area of your life. “…a highly effective tool for attracting what you want out of life.”

Tom Hopkins says  “…a tool to make your life, your career, and your relationships better…and better.”

Louis Ormant, Ph.D. says “An enriching and enlightening experience. It provided new energy, spontaneity and fresh insights.”

This video was sent to me by Jack Armstrong, a man I greatly admire. His incredible book “Lessons from the Source” is a spiritual guidebook for navigating life’s journey. I have done more than one blog post about this book, because I believe it holds the keys to life in “lesson” form.  I find this of value, don’t you?

“The Meadow” Is a novel about love, that covers many thousands of years.  A Tale of undying and eternal love, demonstrating the interconnectedness of the Universe through the expression of two people who live many lives over thousands of years. The authors Mike O’Hare and Elfreda Pretorius come from different continents and knew nothing about each others existence. Details of their story is below, and reads like a novel itself.  I encourage you to read this amazing book of intrigue, meaning of life, eternal love , spirituality, mystery, sex and much more.  Talk about Living in Courage!

Overview of The Meadow

The Meadow is a passport into other worlds, allowing the reader to travel to ancient destinations whilst remaining in the safety and comfort of an arm chair. Philosophically, it is a tale of the struggle between Light and Dark, personified in two root characters that meet and fall in love in antiquity, only to discover that life is imperfect and far too short.
The tale of The Meadow assumes that we slip through the trapdoor of death to live again and again to continue experiencing the magnificent spectrum of emotions and polarities of more lives which enable us to grow spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Precisely how the soul is molded over eons into a sentient being with the ability to feel and experience is a closely guarded secret of Creation. Yet, there are instances of refined consciousness, capable of traversing heavenly realms, which have discovered the Meadow, ingeniously hidden in the astral level or Middle Place. The story of Teuch and Anacaona’s love is woven around just such a concept, daring the reader to delve into the possibility that all is not as it seems and that we bear a solemn responsibility to live our lives in as much consciousness as we are capable of.
Swathed in primordial mystery, the story blazes a trail through four devastating lives and personalities, from ancient Mexica to contemporary Pakistan, before luring the lead characters into the twenty first century, where we meet them as Steve Ballantire and Eva Norman. But they do not arrive here alone. Obsessed with revenge many centuries old, their nemesis, representing the Dark side, is in hot pursuit of the protagonists.
The intrigue intensifies when the British authorities express an interest in Hugo, the brilliant child of Eva, and snatches him and his mother from the clutches of ‘the evil one’ in Tel Aviv, to place him under the tutelage of  Steve Ballantire, an esteemed professor based in North East England.  Due to this intervention of MI6, the lead characters finally meet in this life. However, their fanatical adversary yet again follows them to England, leading to the devious abduction of Eva and resulting in a nerve-wracking international chase across the world; climaxing in the Himalaya Mountains. It is here where a small, but remarkable monk begins to lead the story back to its roots in antiquity, and the boundaries of time are finally erased. Inevitably, ancient identities of past eras emerge into full awareness to force the final cosmic showdown.
Steeped in symbolism and mystery, Hugo, a mildly autistic savant, unravels the enigmas of the story and reveals his understanding of our universe being based in mathematics. The Tibetan monk and the boy independently confirm the existence of the celestial halfway house known as the Meadow, and this leads to Hugo locating star gates which demonstrate the absolute interconnectedness of everything.
This tale is of an ancient dream that had awakened into the twenty first century, where from the smoldering embers of antiquity, it snaked a path through centuries of unspeakable violence, impossible sacrifice and incredible passion to find its way back into the lives of Steve and Eva. Through the trials and tribulations of the characters in the book, the readers are subtly invited to investigate their own lives and evaluate the possibility of having lived before. But that is not where it ends.
Drawn together by unusual circumstances to tell the story of The Meadow are two strangers who live on separate continents. As they created the tale, the authors peered through the kaleidoscope of life, and slowly turning the lens, they wrote about sex, violence, intrigue, betrayal, murder, mystery, politics, religion, suspense, science and physics, spirituality, and even magic. The jury is still out on whether the authors wrote their book from actual memory, or if this all springs from very fertile imagination.
The Meadow is comparable to “The Thornbirds” by Colleen McCullough and “Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follet. The book will appeal to female readers of adult age and interest the growing number of people around the world (male and female) curious about exploring the possibility of life continuing on beyond death.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

A remarkable aspect of The Meadow is that the authors hail from separate continents and for most of their lives knew nothing about each other’s existence. By the time they had completed their mega manuscript they had still not laid eyes on one another and, given their life circumstances and vocations, even a chance meeting was a most unlikely possibility. Yet, with Mike O’Hare who is from North East England and Elfreda Pretorius, who resides in Canada, an interesting but powerful force was at work which would dictate almost three years of their lives. In 2005 an unusual meeting of minds set the scene for an ambitious project that neither author could have foretold, even if they had had a crystal ball.
Mike O’Hare began his career as a compositor in the newspaper industry but with an inherent love of writing, the pen always lay alongside the setting stick/Linotype keyboard and he soon began contributing short editorials for his local paper. In 1969 when Neil Armstrong stepped off his moon ladder, “one short step for mankind” became the foundation for Mike’s article, which set a trend for years to follow, during which time he wrote a series of short pieces for magazines and newspapers.
In later years he lost heart for his trade as it evolved into the electronic era and transferred from the production side of printing to the excitement and trappings that sales offered. Eventually he brokered his way to a comfortable existence and retired early to nurture his love of writing and concentrate his creative efforts on an idea that had taken root in his mind when he was in his late teens. Fearful of ridicule, the idea remained a closely guarded secret, but an unusual meeting with a stranger would soon lead to its blossoming into The Meadow.
Elfreda Pretorius’s field of expertise is communication, expressed in writing, coaching and teaching. As a best selling author in the self-help industry (Stop Struggling and Start Living –  Rules of the Game), she demonstrated her grasp of the human psyche through authoring this book which has become a powerful tool to help change the games of others along with its companion workbook, Ten Truths from the Top of Table Mountain.  Due to popular demand, a self coaching program based on the book will soon be available for download from her personal web site:  HYPERLINK “http://www.elfredapretorius.com” www.elfredapretorius.com.
Similar to Mike, she is intensely interested in the world, the dissemination of accurate information and the evolution of man as he is subjected to various schools of thought. They became acquainted via the Internet, on a web site where just such a meeting of minds was in progress and very soon slipped into a wonderful friendship, as comfortably as one would slip into an old pair of jeans. She learned of his wonderful idea for a book, and spontaneously offered to help him dip pen in ink. Due to a pressing workload, her plan was not to linger for too long, but she never left the project. Through the confluence of their combined creativity The Meadow developed into a narrative neither could have imagined in their wildest dreams.
The entire novel was written via the Internet, through an exchange of ideas and thoughts that defies accurate description. Both authors were aware of a creative force at work in the two and half years that it took to complete a project of which they feel very privileged to have been a part.

Links to “The Meadow”

http://themeadownovel.wordpress.com/

http://themeadow.ning.com/

The Meadow Group Fan Page http://tinyurl.com/ylks9qo

Amazon links for UK, US and Canada to purchase the book. Also available on other Amazon sites, as well as all main on-line stores

http://tinyurl.com/ntqluz
http://tinyurl.com/nfnlyx
http://tinyurl.com/l2e5qf

“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them – every day begin the task anew.”  – Saint Francis De Sales

We all could use more patience.  It seems we are hardest on ourselves.  Many people expect others to live up to their expectations, and more often than not, are disappointed.  Looking at our own imperfections and those of others, are judgments we would be wise to let go of.  Judgment, criticism, and all forms of Dis-Couragement only hurt us, they never help us expand as a kind and loving person.  Every moment of every day, you have a choice.  Each day you can begin again.  Live in Courage. Try new things, change your daily routine, get out of habits. This is a good practice to get into.  Brush your teeth, throw a baseball, write, or whatever comes to mind with your non-dominant hand.  This opens new neural networks in the brain, assisting left/right brain function.  A good book for this is Whole Brain Power.

I quote from the Whole Brain Power website

“Michael J. Lavery’s theories about how large and small motor-skill development of both right and left hands, is directly linked to development in the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Michael is revolutionizing our understanding of how best to train the brain. His theories are based on years of personal development of his own astonishing ambidextrous skills as a golfer, baseball player, tennis player, hockey player, painter, and guitarist, as well as his daily practice of memory drills, perfect penmanship and Da Vinci-style mirror-image handwriting with the left hand.

Over the past few years he has been transferring these skills to other people of all ages who have found rapid and phenomenal skill development as athletes in a variety of sports, including tennis, golf and baseball. But his theories go far beyond just turning good athletes into great athletes, for Whole Brain Power™ training methodologies combined with proper nutrition and an understanding of the damaging effects on the brain from television and video games, may have breakthrough implications for preventing obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, ADD, and ADHD.

Furthermore, there is evidence of the correlation between the endogenous production of hormones with those who have followed all of Michael’s skill development regimens, including, ambidextrous hammer and ball drills, mirror-imaging penmanship and intense memory drills. The potential implications of Michael’s theories on the science of memory degeneration and hormone replacement are enormous. By reading WHOLE BRAIN POWER you will learn how the brain and body can be transformed through Michael’s simple ambidextrous skill training, penmanship and memory drills. Get ready to become part of the revolution in wholebrain development in the 21st century.

Book for December  – The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success

Looking for a gift? This modern morality tale by gifted writer and speaker Andy Andrews teaches seven fundamental strategies for creating a successful life. Much like the best-selling books by Og Mandino, this unique narrative is a blend of entertaining fiction, allegory, and inspiration. Storyteller Andy Andrews gives a front-row seat for one man’s journey of a lifetime. David Ponder has lost his job and the will to live. When he is supernaturally selected to travel through time, he visits historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, King Solomon, and Anne Frank. Each visit yields a Decision for Success that will one day impact the entire world.

You can order this book at Amazon.

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online

Karen Armstrong’s book “The Case For God” is a tour de force.  A brilliantly written and passionate book about God.  Karen is one of the most interesting religion writers of her day.  We all have many names for God, to fit our comfort levels.  Karen Armstrong explores those names, and our deep inner beliefs about God, in a way that opens up our minds to expand, not contract.

I view Karen Armstrong as a most courageous woman, who explores a very sensitive subject with great sensitivity.

Here are some editorial reviews from Amazon:

“Karen Armstrong’s book is simply superb. Wide-ranging, detailed, well researched meticulously argued and beautifully written, it is a definitive analysis of the role of religious belief and transcendence in our history and our life.”
—Dr Robert Buckman, author of Can We Be Good without God?

“Karen Armstrong, in writing The Case for God, provides the reader with one of the very best theological works of our time. It brings a new understanding to the complex relationship between human existence and the transcendent nature of God. This is a book that is so well researched and so deep with insight and soaring scholarship that only Karen Armstrong could have written it. The Case for God should be required reading for anyone who claims to be a believer, an agnostic or an atheist.”
—The Right Reverend John Bryson Chane, D.D., Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Washington, D.C.

“No one is better qualified or more needed than Karen Armstrong to enter the hot public debate between believers and non–believers over the existence of God.  Her latest book, eagerly awaited and received, rings out with the qualities she brings to all of her work—The Case for God is lucid, learned, provocative, and illuminating.  Indeed, Armstrong once again does what she always does best by shining a clear light on the deepest mysteries of the religious imagination.”
—Jonathan Kirsch, author of The Harlot by the Side of the Road

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online

Living in Courage against all odds can seem daunting, yet Aaron Cohen leads the way. This book is a must read about one man’s global quest to free victims of human trafficking.  Aaron transformed his life from drugs, partying like a rock star, with rock stars and all that goes with it, to a spiritual awakening that led to a new journey.  There may be as many as 27 million people enslaved today with around 800,000 new victims trafficked across international borders each year. Around 17,000 of these are brought annually into the U.S.  Aaron Cohen has dedicated his life and his new book Slave Hunter to the victims of human trafficking and modern day slavery.  Aaron is one person who is out there proving that each one of us can make a difference when we follow our heart.

Slave Hunter by Aaron Cohen with Christine Buckley

Please visit Aaron Cohen at www.causecast.org

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online

Human Trafficking is the world’s fastest growing and most deadly enterprise.  Why?  It is more profitable than drugs, guns and jewels. Aaron Cohen is on a global quest to free victims of human trafficking and the slave trade.  His new book Slave Hunter tells his remarkable story in detail.  Few people have the courage to walk this road.  I have unspeakable admiration for Aaron and the work he is doing around the globe.  Going from living the life of a rock star, years of drug addiction and party life to spiritual awakening was the beginning of this long  journey.  Aaron Cohen has walked this journey with his longtime friend and business partner Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction), as well as many other amazing and courageous people.

Young Slave Baby with Aaron Cohen

There may be as many as 27 million people enslaved today with around 800,000 new victims trafficked across international borders each year. Around 17,000 of these are brought annually into the U.S.  Aaron Cohen has dedicated his life and his new book Slave Hunter to the victims of human trafficking and modern day slavery.  Aaron is one person who is out there proving that each one of us can make a difference when we follow our heart.

Please read this article written by Christine Buckley who collaborated on Slave Hunter.  It gives you a taste of a life that few of us are familiar or comfortable with.  Click here for the article -  Aaron Cohen:  Sex Slaves, Drug Trade and Rock N’ Roll

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online

Link to buy Slave Hunter by Aaron Cohen with Christine Buckley

Link to Causecast for all things Aaron Cohen – Updates, Video, Photos, etc.

Link to Aaron Cohen Wikipedia Page

Link to Abolish Slavery Coalition

Link to Preventing Abuse Conference Sept 12th and 13th 2009

Link to Causecast Article by Jonathan Harris – Slave Hunter: Aaron Cohen, 21st Century Emancipator

It is my great pleasure and delight to tell you about my new favorite book – Lessons from the Source by Jack Armstrong.  This book is a Spiritual Guidebook for Navigating Life’s Journey.  Since Living in Courage is a Spiritual Oasis for Overcoming Life’s Biggest Challenges,  I thought the two work hand in hand.  I have referred this book to family and friends.  The response in every case has been incredible.  Lessons from the Source is a book I would compare to Conversations with God.  These lessons are very powerful and if followed as directed will change your life.

Thirty years ago Jack began receiving a series of life lessons from an unknown inner source, through a process similar to Conversations with God and A Course in Miracles. In Lessons from the Source he shares these teachings for the first time.  Lessons from the Source reflects a source of wisdom that sheds light on the deeper truths of our life here on earth.  I must tell you Jack Armstrong is humble, kind, loving and a joy to interact with.  It is very obvious to me that he puts into practice the lessons that he has received.  This is a user friendly book that is offers an easy to understand and refreshing perspective on life’s journey.  Lessons from the Source will provide you with tools of wisdom to add to your spiritual tool belt.

My own mother has had a remarkable experience after having read the book, as have several friends.  I highly recommend you read this book and hope you enjoy it as much as I have.  It is to be read and re-read, highlighted and enjoyed for a lifetime.

For more Information and to order the book online go to http://www.lessonsfromthesource.com/