TRANSITION TO RETIREMENT: THE UNCHARTED COURSE

reveals what there is to learn about that crucial transitional phase from when you leave your career to when you feel significantly engaged in the life of retirement. This book is not about finances or lifestyle it is about -

 – and how to discover who you are and who you will be away from your primary career.  The missing piece in the retirement planning puzzle!

A good resource for those entering retirement.

A quick but fun read that has huge impact on how you make small and large decisions in your life. As she so elegantly says, "We are where we are because of the decisions we make every day. If we want to better understand how we have created our present-day reality, all we need to do is look at the choices we made and continue to make along the way."

Asking yourself and others the simple question such as, "Is this decision leading you towards what you want in life or away from it?" makes you stop, think and make more conscious choices.

Each day we are making thousands of small decisions that will lead us towards the lives we love living. The journey itself is fantastic if we see ourselves making these empowered choices. No matter how long it takes to achieve our goals or dreams, if we can feel empowered everyday that we are on our way we begin to realize how wonderful the journey itself is as well as achieving and living our dreams.]]>http://healthyjoyfullivingblog.com/books-to-read/rss-comments-entry-4160451.xmlSuzanne Saxe-RouxWed, 14 Jan 2009 20:06:19 +0000http://healthyjoyfullivingblog.com/books-to-read/2009/1/14/busting-loose-from-the-money-game.html61955:1147867:2846047Books come to you in odd ways. This one was recommended by a friend as a "must read" for looking at money in a spiritual manner. A book about money-- and life that definitely shifts your paradigm. As I read the book I found myself wondering if it worked, could it work, how does it work. Then I decided to just keep reading and try it-- what did I have to lose.

The premise of the book is that we have to change the rules of the Money Game in order to be free of it. It requires a great leap in faith and a dedication to your thoughts. As we all know, thoughts do affect our lives. A small story to illustrate this. --- I had just received money from a woman who bumped my car (about $800) and was wondering if I should bank it and not get the car fixed. In my deliberation, I kept thinking "I'll probably bump it again and it won't be worth getting it fixed." Low and behold a week later, I bumped into someone and had to pay her twice what I received. -- What happened here?? Did I not believe the money was mine that I wanted to give it away twofold?  This story made me realize, once again that our thoughts are so ever powerful.

So for the past month I've been trying the "Process" and waiting for results.  Maybe I haven't seen them yet (except working in the opposite direction) but I feel more hopeful. I feel like it will come.. It's worth the try.

Check it out on Amazon - Busting Loose from the Money Game by Robert Scheinfeld

http://www.amazon.com/Busting-Loose-Money-Game-Mind-Blowing/dp/0470047496/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231964045&sr=8-1

Sonia tells us how to guide our children and nurture their intuition so that we all live in peaceful, loving, safe homes and communities without fear. Through her stories, tools, tips and exercises taping into your kid's intuition and wisdom as well as your own we can learn to help our children follow their intuition for the rest of their lives.

Sonia explains how we often have had our own intuition squished as children by loving parents, simply ignoring our statements of how we feel "good vibes" or "bad vibes" about people, things, places, and situations. Creating a language in which you and your family speak about what your intuition is telling you allows a child to express themselves without having to explain what they mean. In one story, she talks about her daughter saying she wanted to go home from a 4th of July Fireworks display. She just felt bad vibes and was scared. Her mom took her home and left her husband and other daughter (who was more resilient to noise remain, being aware of taking extra careful around the fireworks). Fifteen minutes later her husband came running in there house stating that their was an accident and the firework tipped over and misfired. Luckily no one was hurt. 

More and more stories and tools are provided that illustrate the benefit of families and kids learning to use their intuition to protect themselves and have more joy in their lives in this world. One more sense to use that makes a lot of sense to me.

 Eat, Pray, and Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert, 2006, Viking Books

Gilbert’s best selling adventure through Italy, India, and Indonesia is based on the notion of a woman trying to heal herself from a severe emotional and spiritual crisis. A wonderful book for listening in to her crisis and exploration of self.

Julia Roberts is actually making the movie so I recommend reading it first or you will only picture Julia traveling the globe.

Two Lipsticks and a Lover by Helena Frith Powell

This book is out of the UK, so you might only find it on the amazon.uk website. Helena, a journalist, takes on the notion of unlocking your inner French woman with witty tales of her interviews with famous French stylists, journalists, politicians, and the like. Living here she has answered many questions I have had about why French women are the way they are (difficult to make friends with them), how they always look so stylish, how they treat the indiscretions we hear so much about, and how to wear that infamous scarf. A great read and truly informative!

Slow is Beautiful by Cecile Andrews

A very different book about the new Slow Movement, taking off of Slow Food and other such movements I haven't heard of.. She expands from the Simplicity movement to talking about how our fast paced society is destroying life as we know it... hello!!! What's interesting is her approach and research which makes you think and wonder. Surprisingly, she explains how the biggest predictor of lifespan is that the larger the gap between the rich and the poor, the shorter the average lifespan in that country. The USA evidently has been falling and is far behind countries like Switzerland, France, Norway, and Japan..

Secondly, I had to chuckle at her entire section on Leisure and all the research that has been done, but no one knows about. Voila! Having a BS and MS in Recreation and Leisure studies I knew this all along!

If you are interested in new visions of community, leisure and joie de vivre take a read and I think you will enjoy it.