Happy end of May, everyone!
This month was a busy one, so I only had time to read two books. I started a third on audiobook, but I’ll save that one for June. While roaming around on a Sunday in Urban Outfitters a few weeks ago, I was about to check out with my new sundress when their display of books caught my eye. Of course, I went for the one with the brightest cover. It was called Instructions for Happiness and Success. HA! I was sold. The next book, the Four Agreements, was sent to me by my lovely mother. Now, this book had been on my list for awhile. How she knew that? The world might never know.
Instructions for Happiness and Success
With how powerful this book is, I was pretty surprised that it wasn’t more popular. It came out in 2011, which makes me think maybe it wasn’t as “hip” then as it would be now. When you flip through the book at first glance, there’s all these pretty vibrant colors and pages saved just for you to write out your thoughts based on prompts Susie Pearl gives you. I’m a lover of You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero, whose message is centered around empowerment. Susie is basically saying, “Look, I’ve got some good ways to improve your life. Yes, it all works. Take it or leave it.” This woman is not playing games and I love it. I would come home from work every day, go directly to this book, and stay there for at least an hour. Susie centers her work around the Law of Attraction, manifestation, intentions, and setting goals to get to the place you want to be. My favorite part hands down was the end of the book where she goes into 25 tools to use alongside her instructions. From that, I’ve created my own Gratitude, Giving, Receiving, and Rejoicing journal. It truly allows me to dive deeper into the amazing things happening in my life and instantly puts me in a better mood. Hello, high frequencies! If you’re one to get bored with normal books, the interactive tools Susie continuously gives you will make you never want to put it down.
You can purchase Instructions for Happiness and Success here.
The Four Agreements
In the Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz frames each belief you have as an agreement that you’ve made with yourself. The core four chapters are dedicated to each agreement, going into why it’s important and why it will change your life to make this agreement with yourself instead of push against it. As we go throughout our lives, our experiences are what frame the things we’ve agreed upon within ourselves. Ruiz really helps with showing how changing your beliefs (agreements) can allow you to view life and your interactions with others differently. By breaking old agreements and forming new ones, we can experience a tremendous amount of growth. Though at first you might think “well, I know this stuff already.” Think about how much you actually practice what he says and really hone in on the explanation of why each agreement is important. It’ll bring your understanding to a completely different level.
Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, I always tend to have faith in the knowledge of books such as these because what Ruiz is speaking on is based on centuries of ancient practice. I loved this book, and I am totally going to write down the agreements to remind me every day.
You can purchase the Four Agreements here.
