Relationships are important. The past few years have felt like a whirlwind for me---juggling school, home and events but I've been able to catch up on my family time, my friendships with my girlfriends and most importantly my husband and my children. Now that I've graduated from Nursing and have finished studying for a little while...I was finally able to read for fun! Mind you, with a full-time job, a house to tend to, and a family who definitely need my attention....I didn't breeze through these books very quickly but they're worth the read. These were sitting on my night table when I wasn't reading past my bedtime.
MCB xo
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
Ekhart Tolle's message is simple: living in the now is the
truest path to happiness and enlightenment. And while this message may not seem
stunningly original or fresh, Tolle's clear writing, supportive voice and enthusiasm
make this an excellent manual for anyone who's ever wondered what exactly
"living in the now" means. Foremost, Tolle is a world-class teacher,
able to explain complicated concepts in concrete language. More importantly,
within a chapter of reading this book, readers are already holding the world in
a different container--more conscious of how thoughts and emotions get in the
way of their ability to live in genuine peace and happiness.
Tolle packs a lot of information and inspirational ideas
into The Power of Now. (Topics include the source of Chi,
enlightened relationships, creative use of the mind, impermanence and the cycle
of life.) Thankfully, he's added markers that symbolise "break time".
This is when readers should close the book and mull over what they just read.
As a result, The Power of Nowreads like the highly acclaimed A
Course in Miracles--a spiritual guidebook that has the potential to inspire
just as many study groups and change just as many lives for the better. --Gail
Hudson
The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt
Commitment to Your Mate
Are you and your spouse speaking the same language? While
love is a many splendored thing, it is sometimes a very confusing thing, too.
And as people come in all varieties, shapes, and sizes, so do their choices of
personal expressions of love. But more often than not, the giver and the
receiver express love in two different ways. This can lead to misunderstanding,
quarrels, and even divorce.
Quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch
are the five basic love languages. Dr. Gary Chapman identifies these and guides
couples towards a better understanding of their unique languages of love. Learn
to speak and understand your mate's love language, and in no time you will be
able to effectively love and truly feel loved in return. Skillful communication
is within your grasp.
The Happiest Toddler on the Block: The New Way to Stop
the Daily Battle of Wills and Raise a Secure and Well-Behaved One- To
Four-Year-Old
Toddlers can drive you bonkers...so adorable and fun one
minute...so stubborn and demanding the next! Yet, as unbelievable as it sounds,
there is a way to turn the daily stream of "nos" and
"don'ts" into "yeses" and hugs...if you know how to speak
your toddler's language. In one of the most useful advances in parenting
techniques of the past twenty-five years, Dr. Karp reveals that toddlers, with
their immature brains and stormy outbursts, should be thought of not as
pint-size people but as pintsize...cavemen.
Having noticed that the usual techniques often failed to calm crying toddlers,
Dr. Karp discovered that the key to effective communication was to speak to
them in their own primitive language. When he did, suddenly he was able to
soothe their outbursts almost every time! This amazing success led him to the
realization that children between the ages of one and four go through four
stages of "evolutionary" growth, each linked to the development of
the brain, and each echoing a step in prehistoric humankind's journey to
civilization:
- The "Charming Chimp-Child" (12 to 18 months): Wobbles around on two
legs, grabs everything in reach, plays a nonstop game of "monkey see
monkey do."
- The "Knee-High Neanderthal" (18 to 24 months): Strong-willed,
fun-loving, messy, with a vocabulary of about thirty words, the favorites being
"no" and "mine."
- The "Clever Caveman" (24 to 36 months):
Just beginning to learn how to share, make friends, take turns, and use the
potty.
- The "Versatile Villager" (36 to 48 months): Loves to tell stories,
sing songs and dance, while trying hard to behave.
To speak to these children, Dr. Karp has developed two extraordinarily
effective techniques:
1) The "fast food" rule--restating what your child has said to make
sure you got it right;
2) The four-step rule--using gesture, repetition, simplicity, and tone to help
your
irate Stone-Ager be happy again.
Once you've mastered "toddler-ese," you will be ready to apply
behavioral techniques specific to each stage of your child's development, such
as teaching patience and calm, doing time-outs (and time-ins), praise through
"gossiping," and many other strategies. Then all the major challenges
of the toddler years--including separation anxiety, sibling rivalry, toilet
training, night fears, sleep problems, picky eating, biting and hitting,
medicine taking "-- "can be handled in a way that will make your
toddler feel understood. The result: fewer tantrums, less yelling, and, best of
all, more happy, loving time for you and your child. "From the Hardcover
edition."
I have always enjoyed journaling. When I was a teenager, my diary knew all my personal stories. Piles of notebooks were filled with thoughts, song lyrics, movie quotes and my raw emotions. Since I loved taking photographs equally-so, I compiled it all by creating scrapbooks of my travels, my friendships and later on...my own family. To this day, I take the time to write in my journal....because every time I've come across an older one from the past, I realize how I've captured moments through my writing. Times have changed but I've grown and learned a lot in my life through reflection. 
However, I must admit that with all the goal-setting I've done, the checklists and things-to-do lists I've prepared for...not everything goes in the direction I thought it would. I do take comfort (many a times) that God's plan is always bigger and better than mine. 
