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Summary: fabulous
Review: Some of us need 100 self help books in one! This book is wonderful and clarifies so much for so many. Debbie Ford blesses us with her open loving attitude, and books like this make a difference in our world.
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Summary: Jung Would Have Been Very Pleased!
Review: Carl Jung would have been very pleased to read Debbie Ford's simple yet profound work. This is not a book that can be read intellectually, but rather, it must be read with the heart. One of the keys to partaking of the life-changing efficacy of this book was offered by Ford herself on page 12: "One of the pitfalls of the Information Age is the 'I know that' syndrome. Knowing often prevents us from experiencing through our hearts. Shadow work is not intellectual, it is a journey from the head to the heart. Many on the path to self-improvement believe they have completed the process but are unwilling to see the truth about themselves." If you are self-satisfied, feel that you are a victim, or not sincere about growing whole, save your money. This book is not the run-of-the-mill "psycho-babble" you find in bookstores, and on talkshows. This stuff is for real! If you can quiet your ego long enough to let her gentle and wise words speak to you, it will be next to impossible to argue against what she is trying to get across. You'll see your (shadow)self in every verse, because you are part of the human family, like it or not. In his book "Self Efficacy: The Exercise of Control," social congnitive theorist Albert Bandura observed that "(t)he value of a theory is ultimately judged by the power of the methodsit yields to effect changes." I know so many people, besides myself, whose world has been turned upside down by this book. After reading it, I can no longer look at myself, or the world in the same way I did before, nor would I want to. This book has changed my life.
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Summary: Being the way you are
Review: There is nothing wrong with you! This could sum up the message of this wonderful book. "The reason for doing shadow work is to become whole. To end our suffering. To stop hiding ourselves from ourselves. Once we do this we can stop hiding from the rest of the world" Learning to accept ourselves and uncover the aspects of ourselves that we thought were not acceptable yields many gifts: the gift of self acceptance and self love, as well as recognizing and owning the power that the previously deemed "unacceptable" emotions (or caracter traits) carry. I also loved the way she tried to be every person she discovered having judgements about. "What I discovered, whe said, is my potential to act like the people I had been most harshly judging" - A fun exercise to entertain you on your way to work or in the mall! If we don't resist what we discover about ourselves, but just see it without applying judgement to it, with neutral awareness, it will dissolve, tells us another book: "WORKING ON YOURSELF DOESN'T WORK" by Ariel and Shya Kane, which I highly recommend as a very good complement to "THE DARK SIDE" Another recommendation: "THE FOUR AGREEMENTS" by Don Miguel Ruiz - as it relates to uncover our shadow, not listening to our mind, ... and is altogether a wonderful book!
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Summary: If you are seeking ways past your shadows.....
Review: Okay, I confess, I haven't read this book, so it's NOT a review. I had to rate the book in order for this to be accepted! It is, rather, a recommendation. If you are reading this book in order to pass some crisis, or understand dark places in your life, I strongly encourage the reader to get and read thoroughly "Beyond the Shadow of Doubt" by Dr. Mark Chironna. He illuminates one man's revelation of his own obstacles, mixing this man's passage through and beyond shadows with his own personal journey. He then takes the reader through a journey with one who walked the earth 2000 years ago, showing how this man moved, as we can, "beyond the shadow of doubt." Give it a try. You will be blessed, and possibly your life will be transformed!
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Summary: A truly wonderful journey!
Review: This is a truly wonderful book! Filled with a lot of feeling and perception yet written with atrocious honesty and gets right to the peak. It helps explain how we can deal with our ' Shadows " (your dark side, amend ego, your dark twin, or your introverted self) This book will help you change your own awareness of the entire universe, others and yourself. That is what this book is all about, letting you see this universe, and helping you to hold all parts of yourself and start to be whole. When you are whole, you have no inner conflict. The steps outlined really need to be followed in order to appreciate what you can truly accomplish. This wonderful, well-developed works that incorporates concepts of others, but yet applies them in a sensitive, caring way. Full of emotions, affection, feelings and love.
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Summary: Use your power to stop being a victim
Review: Our psychologists and many popular self-help movements have seem absolutely determined to make us permanent victims of our past. We are the way we are because of mom, dad, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, did so and so or did not do so and so, causing us to be the way we are today. This philosophy of blaming others for our own shortcomings has created a whole society of victims. And all of these victims have been going around "confronting" everyone they know for making them the way they are. Thank God for a refreshing breath of common sense! We are the way we are because we get something out of being the way we are. If we want to change we need to first accept responsibility for being the way we are and then determine what we get out of being that way. This is Debbie Ford's message. Using Ford's techniques along with those suggested by Lewis in his book An Encounter With A Prophet, you will be able to stop being a victim of your past and your present. I strongly recommend both books for those wishing to attain some real lasting peace of mind.
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Summary: AMAZING BOOK - WELL WRITTEN AND THOUGHT PROVOKING!
Review: From a psychological perspective, I can tell you that the concepts presented here are not new, many are the adaptations of Karl Jung but, nonetheless, they are presented in a thought- provoking manner. Those distinctive traits that we generally disapprove of in others are subconsciously the same traits we generally surpress in ourselves. This book deals with "shadows" - the alter ego, and our "dark side" - that which is beyond our conscious awareness. If you are familiar with Eastern religions and Buddhism, you will find a remarkable similarity to the approach taken in this book to some of those philosophies. In essence, you are cleansing your soul and becoming all that you are capable of being, i.e., becoming your "true self" - the person you were meant to be. It is unfortunate the book ended so soon; there were some concepts which could have been expanded upon. However, "The Dark Side of the Light Chaserss is a beautiful, well written and based on some sound psychological principles.
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Summary: Lasting Changes
Review: The philosophies shared in this book are significant. Unlike many of the theories written in other self-helps, Debbie provides the reader with tools that seem to make true lasting changes. Take the time to do the exercises as I have and you will find yourself on a higher path of consciousness and serenity.
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Summary: She is a Great Mentor
Review: What Ms Ford does, is challenge women to take responsibility and to be authentic or what My Dad would call, be themselves, and not what they think other people want them to be. She writes to reminds me of the woman who falls in love with a wonderful man, or becomes successful at work, and over time the women changes, into something totally different. She becomes bitter and stressed out and entering her fourties, maybe even sooner she starts crying internally and wondering, where did "I" go? Ms Ford gives some constructive lessons in how one day at a time we can become all we may wish to be. Ms Ford way of teaching is like the favorite teacher or mentor we remember in school who made us think, who didn't give us the answers. She asks a question for each question we ask and in doing so she shows us that the answers really do exsist and are there is we look hard enough. And if we are willing to use the lessons as change. This is a book I read and re-read.
Rating: 
Summary: 100 self help books in one
Review: A cute collection of sound bites from 100 self help books. Repeat of some interesting concepts, not much depth or order. The few times that the author gets you interested she doesn't follow through. The end is mildly motivating. Not ready for prime time.
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