"Excuses Begone" by Wayne Dyer

To start with, I don't like self-help books, but since I had bought it for friends to read, I thought I would see what I was giving them.

This book started to grate against me from chapter one. I'm uncomfortable with the fact that he tries to include God without actually doing so. The presentation of that is always ambiguous. Either include Him or don't, but pussyfooting around it pisses me off. Using words like "Source" or "Spirit" makes me ill in a way I find it hard to describe.

I found it equally unpalatable to be described as a "piece of God" or having divinity or accessing universal guidance. Is all of this false? Not entirely. That is exactly why it bothers me so; it's misleading. We are not God (even though we are referenced as gods which means we are Godlike to a degree being made in His image and likeness and such) but the fact that this isn't rooted to a relationship with the only true God but with, and I quote, whatever we perceive God as, angers me.

He did make sure to drill many things home that I did agree with, though. As an adult, regardless of childhood, we must take responsibility for our present lives. If we do not have the life we wish, excuses do nothing for us so they have to go. You are a product of your persistent thoughts and habits and those can be controlled and modified. There is never a good reason to continue through life doing things that keep us from living full lives. As such, were should do everything we can to eliminate self-defeating thoughts and habits from our lives.

Contemplation, having a quiet place to be still and take in wisdom from Todd, serving others instead of self and living well in the present time instead of being obsessed about the past or the future, along with a healthy habit of regularly questioning our thoughts with specific questions goes a long way towards uprooting unneeded thoughts.

Because of the God thing I mentioned before, this book was a chore to read. On the other hand, I want to read Lao-Tzu's teachings now.