Book Reviews – Health Works, Life Works

Rich Dad Poor Dad Book Review

Do you have enough money? What would you do if you had enough? What is enough anyway? Do you know how to be a steward of your resources?

How do you think about money? Is money your friend? Or is money and evil lurking around every corner (coming from the belief that money is the root of all evils)? This article is about belief systems that hold us back.

Money is just energy. As humans we have the right and responsibility to learn how to use money to our benefit and the benefit of others. You can’t be a good steward if you are afraid the thing of that which you are a steward.

In “Rich Dad Poor Dad” Robert T Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter, CPA explore what it is to work with money from the point of view of being rich and the rest of us. That is the beauty of this book. Twenty percent of the population makes eighty percent of the wealth. That is the 80/20 rule. If you are in the 80% making 20% of wealth, you may have judgments about that other group. But have you walked in their shoes?

Kiyosaki tells his story about growing up in a “regular” money household. For most of us we go to school, get an education, get a job, earn money, and pay taxes and the bills. Hopefully we save some money for the kids college and retirement. The masses: some make and have a little money, some eke by and many rely on government entitlements to make it to the grave.

Kiyosaki also tells about his friend’s dad who was “rich”. He knew how to work with money, play with money concepts, be with money and have money work for him. Kiyosaki had the best of both worlds. He could see where life would take him if he chose to be afraid of money.

He chose to learn about money. This book is about his journey. It is filled with stories as he learned how to make money, as well as stories where he helped others learn about money. Kiyosaki also gives his 10 point plan for getting started and staying on track.

1. “I NEED A REASON GREATER THAN REALITY” The dream can be great! But do you have the stuff to keep going when reality steps in?
2. “CHOOSE DAILY” You have to choose your dream every day. It is choosing to take the next step towards your dream every day, be it in thoughts, activities or learning.
3. “CHOOSE FRIENDS CAREFULLY” Pick friends that will support your. Share your dreams and process with people who support your and lift you up. Friends who are nay-says can stop a dream dead in its tracks. To keep on when reality sets in, you need good support.
4. “MASTER A FORMULA AND THEN LEARN A NEW ONE” Don’t reinvent the wheel. There are tried and true methods of making money (or reaching any dream). Find out the steps to your dream and learn them well. After that you can learn new or alternative ways to reach your dream.
5. “PAY YOUR SELF FIRST” I wish I followed that advice as a young women. This step is about self discipline. Saving (any amount) on a regular basis, no matter what financial pressures, will pay off big time in the end. Here he say that the 3 most important management skills to start a business are: management of cash flow, management of people, and management of personal time. Sounds like good personal stewardship to me.
6. “PAY YOUR BROKERS WELL” Your attorney accountant, real estate broker, stockbroker are professionals. They may be expensive but they should make you more money with their information. You usually get what you pay for. And until you are the expert, get good advice. It is well worth it.
7. “BE AN ‘INDIAN GIVER'” This isn’t what you might think. It is about getting something for nothing. You will have to read the section.
8. “ASSETS BUY LUXURIES” Don’t buy on credit. Buy from your profits. It is the cash flow game again. If you have to do credit, then you don’t need it.
9. “THE NEED FOR HEROS” As kids, we have heroes. A little boy playing baseball may pretend to be Yogi. During a basket ball game, a kid might think of Michael Jordan. I used to dream of I was Dorothy Hamill when I would ice skate. Heroes inspire us. They make it look easy and that convinces us to want to be just like them. Many people this investing is too hard. Find a hero who makes it look easy.
10. “TEACH AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE” He has one simple idea. “Whenever you feel ‘short’ or in ‘need’ of something, give what you want first and it will come back in buckets. That is true for money , a smile, love, friendship.” This is so true. Try it.

This is a great book. It will give you a great insight on how people with money think and act. Read this book. It can get you thinking about your beliefs about money. There is another side to the money story. You deserve to open yourself to all financial possibilities.

Blessings,
Mary Pat

Mary Pat FitzGibbons RN MS writes on leading edge issues for health, thinking and life.

Book Review: School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

I am a healer. I work in the Human Energy System to help people to return and maintain health and wellness. Energy work, such as Healing Touch, Brennan Healing Science and Reiki, fall in the realm of “Subtle” healing. By this, I mean, the makes very small and infinitesimalshifts and their life changes. For instance, “getting a new job” is a big happening. We are very aware of that. What we are not so aware of are all the little tiny shifts in thinking, attitude and actions that go into “gettting a new job”. When I explain subtle energy healing to new clients and students, their faces offen go blank.

The other weekend, I was making a long trip. I went to my favorite library and picked up this book on CD that looking interesting and that I could complete within the travel time. There I was, last Thursday evening, after a brief appearance at business function for my husband, car was packed and gassed up, I slipped in the CD and was tooling down the highway.

From the first sentence, I was intrigued. I hated to stop the car and turn off the CD.

Can you smell the difference between peppermint and spearmint and wintergreen? Can you smell or taste the difference between Mediterranean basil and regular no name basil?

Subtle, yep. The differences are subtle (slight, delicate, faint, fine). This book is about subtle flavors and techniques used in cooking to heal the soul.

Woven around the ingredients found chopped and simmering in Lillian’s restaurant cooking class are sniplets of the stories of healing for nine people. The first story is about Lillian, the restaurant owner. She learned to cook to help heal her mother’s withdrawal after her father left when Lillian was four. To Lillian, food, the colors, textures, aromas and flavors could awaken sleeping memories, stir emotions and heal the heart. She now owns a very successful restaurant and offers a monthly Monday night cooking class. This story is around her Monday night class and 8 students all there for different reasons.

There are eight students in the class. Carl and Helen have been married forever. They have a secret that is tender to the heart. Have you ever been a young mother? Lost your identity in the process? Well, Claire is and has and finds herself among the dishes, spices, wines of the class. There is Tom, a lawyer who lost his beloved and lost himself. Then there is Antonia, who is new to America. She is an Italian kitchen designer who finds her way in America in the sweetest of ways.

Lillian has a knack for knowing how to pick the right student to help with the right dish with the right ingredients to stir deep healing. How about a journey in baking a white on white cake, that provokes wistful thoughts of delicate love. Or how to make pasta, a garlic red sauce, choose the best wine, and find that it is the catalyst that breaks apart your relationship, setting you free.

Tuck yourself in a corner of Lillian’s kitchen, or a corner table in the restaurant. Imagine having a dark espresso with sweet textures of tiramisu. You can taste this just from listening or reading this delightful book. Erica Bauermeister is that good. Her words and descriptions make the meals, the students and the stories come vividly to life in your mind and senses.

This is a must book for students and practitioners of energy healing. Healing occurs in all situations: in the doctor’s office, on a healers table, and in the kitchen. We all would do well to remember that even a slight shift in perception, attitude, taste or activity can and will make a profound difference in one’s life.