Read 2010/1: The Game of Life and How to Play It

by Florence Scovel Shinn

What a perfect book to start a new year~ Recommended by AD, my partner-in-crime in Project Abundance.

What I love about this book is that life doesn't have to be hard. It is hard when you say (or think) that it's hard. When you worry about something, you only attract that something to you. It says in here that we have to believe in God, the Infinite Intelligence, and trust in Him and what He has planned for us.

I do believe in God and that everything that happens, happens for a reason. But what I kinda had difficulty taking in from this book is the seemingly absence of the concept of free will. We have this grand plan of things working for us and supposedly, if we resist it, things could get all wrong and we'll end up sad, poor, etc. etc. I don't know. It's just hard to really take it all in, sans questions. Where there is an effect there is always a cause; there is no such thing as chance. So, parang everything is predetermined? This is much harder to believe than "There are no accidents (Gojocco, ca. 2000)." Siguro dito galing ang destiny shizz?

But I do believe in positive thinking and the power of affirmations. I mean, it's free! All I have to do is repeat said affirmations every day. What have I got to lose? Nothing. If it doesn't work, okay. But what if it did? Bongga, diba? And it's not some kind of cult here, it just asks us to trust in God and put away all our worries.

The Law of Karma~ this is also one of the guidelines I live by. Karma is Sanskrit for "Comeback." What goes around, comes around, right? What you sow, you reap. Don't do to others what you don't want others to do unto you. At least I try to live by this rule and I try to tell others to live by this rule, too (esp. my girls at the spa). It's just that I feel I can't be around these people all the time and all I can do is trust that they wouldn't do anything wrong/bad. If they did? Well, karma's a bitch, baby.

I tell you, this is a great book to start the new year with because it helps you try to banish all forms of negativity and just focus on the good. Bawal ang kontra-bulate!

Repeat after me:
"LOOK WITH WONDER AT THAT WHICH IS BEFORE YOU."