This is a warm, comfortable and comforting, interesting book. Maybe I say that because I am in the age- range of Pillemer’s study group but I think it’s more that it makes sense, that it represents my own thinking and expresses it elegantly. It’s like having a wonderful meat and potatoes meal rather than a light salad – tasty, filling, nourishing and satisfying.

My initial though on being asked to read the book was “How boring will this be? Like watching paint dry?”  Mark me down as absolutely wrong. There was nothing boring about this book and I found that I picked it up every chance I had so I could  get another tasty bite or two. And there were places that I simply couldn’t put it down and lingered with it much longer than I had planned.

I found myself shaking my head yes in agreement a lot and often saying to myself, ”Oh, why didn’t I think of that?” There was very little that I didn’t savor or agree with as I read. It was like reading about a group of dear old friends whose wisdom I cherished and whose words I could count on.

Pillemer writes with warmth, respect and love about those he interviewed and his style invites you to stay awhile and savor the memories, the charm and the honesty of these new friends. He helps you share the joy as well as the sadness as they tell their stories and you marvel at the strength of character revealed in their words and actions. He brings you have to admiration for their willingness to share some of their most intimate thoughts with such transparency.

Related posts:

• What do the “Wisest Americans” Say? Listen NOW to Karl Pillemer on Thursday’s Self Improvement Show
• Top 10 List from the Wisest Americans: How to Be Happier
• Dream Your Dream
• Do You Need Self Help for Esteem?
• True Happiness is Living Your Life

What does the phrase “self-esteem” really mean? We hear the phrase “self-esteem” all the time, but what does that really mean?

Isn’t it a pivotal part of how we see and interact with the world around us? If our world is a reflection of us, then self esteem is our paintbrush.

Imagine it’s one of those rare days where everything seems to “go right”. Have you ever had one of those? You get up rested, you smile at yourself in the mirror, you actually like what you see. You master your domain effortlessly. And people seem friendlier and want to be around you.

Contrast that with the opposite, one of those “Other” days, you slap at the alarm 4 times, finally rolling out of bed 10 minutes late, hanging your head “Oh yuck, another Monday!” You stumble into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee, snap at the kids, kick the dog…well ok not really…but you get the picture.

Have you noticed one of the key elements involved in both experiences is how you are feeling about yourself? About what you are doing with your life, where you are going, and how you perceive everyone around you is colored by that all encompassing factor; your self esteem. So high self-esteem is truly one of the most important and valuable commodities you can possess. Some people have been known to raise an eyebrow and act as if that might be a selfish preoccupation. I can only say that if how you treat yourself is a measure of how you treat other people, then we all need to learn to treat ourselves very well indeed!

Why am I creating a website around the central them of self-esteem? Well as one of my favorite mentors John Di Lemme says: “I believe in the power of story telling:” So here is my story: At the age of eight, I was taken from Boston and transported to a remote compound in Northern Maine where I spent over the next ten years in what I can only refer to as a cult. Freedom of speech, self-expression, free will and independence were forbidden and resulted in harsh punishment, even exile. My self-esteem was crushed by years of systematic and repeated mental and emotional abuse. Yet my internal compass stayed the course and I finally mustered enough courage to leave the cult in 1989 and joined my younger sister who had escaped to Washington where I was briefly reunited with my brother who I hadn’t seen in five years.

This was my first time in the real world – I didn’t even know how to use a pay phone. I worked a string of odd jobs, putting myself through school where I earned an Associates degree in computer science. Since then I have worked for fortune 500 companies such as AT&T and Nextel Communications as a systems engineer and project manager. Though I had attained financial and professional success, I still had to wrestle with the emotional chains I carried and that ever-debilitating hangover of low self esteem. In an attempt to free myself from this haunting past, I dedicated myself to writing my story and published my autobiography “Firewalker.”

The process of expression through writing became a burning drive; it was something taht I was driven to do, for myself and for you. At my lowest points in life (there’s been more than one), a powerful and imaginative warrior was always there to rescue me. Now I know that warrior was me! Even when I only saw myself as a worthless, helpless victim, that voice within me dared to ask questions, challenge negative thoughts and fuel me to imagine a different set of circumstances. Writing became my personal healing process and is now a universal testimony to the dream warrior that lives within every single human being. Through all of this,  I developed a deeper understanding of the significance of self-esteem in our lives.

As an author I write about becoming a firewalker, not only because I have literally walked on burning coals (I had the amazing experience of actually doing a fire walk,) but because I had to walk through fire in order to help myself and to show you that there is no tragedy you cannot conquer.

I believe that self esteem is extremely powerful, it affects not only ourselves, but the world we touch as a whole.

A passionate author and speaker, Lyca Shan is the founder of Firewalker Enterprises. She believes in helping others overcome their experiences of hardship and trauma by delivering the message that “Every person is born with the inner strength to rise above their individual circumstances and find happiness within themselves despite their environment.”Learn how to defend your dreams using mental martial arts!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lyca_Edson_Shan

Related posts:

• Self Esteem Affirmations – How You Can Use Self Esteem Affirmations to Build a Higher Self Esteem
• About Improving Your Self Esteem
• Self Esteem Exercises For the Perfect Marriage
• How Much Do You Like Yourself?
• Five Self-Esteem Tips That Will Change Your Life

By Irene Conlan -

This morning I woke up with the Prayer of St. Francis on my mind. If you don’t know about St. Francis of Assisi, he’s worth getting to know. He was born to wealthy parents in Italy in 1181- 0r 1182. In his twenties he renounced “the things of the world” and began what was later known as the Franciscan Order. I think of him as an early hippie and a dedicated environmentalist. He was a remarkable man who lived a more than remarkable life that was filled with hardships and lived with abundant joy. He left us a formula for happiness that has endured for all these centuries and is absolutely relevant for such a time as ours. He taught:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

Related posts:

• Happiness – 7 Secrets in Creating Happiness (Part One)
• Happiness – 7 Secrets In Creating Happiness Part Two
• 12 Golden Rules to Create Happiness
• What Is True Happiness And Where Do We Find It?
• Videos for the Week of November 29, 2009