Self-Help Books

A very very helpful one for me was "The Dance of Anger" by I can't remember.........I
keeep
getting
older...............
ah ha! Harriet Lerhner, who also has a number of other terrific
self help books out there, The Dance of Intimacy, The Dance of
Deception - Oh that was a great one. I had no earthly idea of how much and how often I lied to me, and always to others. She is
a great find for the person who needs help, like me. Grew up with a bipolar alcoholic insane mother figure, who I am grateful to say I have since replaced with a nun named Mary, who since she is
childless, and I was motherless.........we are a great pair.
My mom Mary and me.

Ah, thank you for the information. Self-help is an area I don't know a lot about (I mean in the area of books - <smile> - you know what I mean).

Hey I just got this interaction in my E-MAIL

The Dance Of Anger, well I have tried to read it more than once because many friends have recommended it to me. I have even purchased it twice and still I have not read all of it. Can you tell us more about how these books have helped you? Or if not why?

What is needed is one final self help book on how to end the compulsion of constantly trying to remake one's self in the image of the current self help guru.

Another one that has had rave reviews for
such a long time is The Road Less Traveled.
by M S Peck
Also: Women Who Run With The Wolves
& In the House of the Riddle Mother
by Clarissa Estes
I often have alot of trouble reading
a book if it makes me feel uncomfotable,
because it hits a little too close to home
especially if it is an aspect of my life
that I prefer NOT to look at, I may not
even be aware that I do it, but a book
can assist me in finding out details.
If I am a lion with a thorn in my claw,
then IF I CAN FIND OUT WHERE THE
THORN IS, AND REMOVE IT, I STAND A
50/50 CHANCE OF HEALING JUST FINE!
I find that if I will just pursue it, even
at a paragraph a day only - I can read
through it, find out what about it
troubles me.
The Care of The Soul, is one I
have heard raves about, but
not yet read.

None of these books could possibly be looked
at as if it were a complete guide to anything as
Hazlitt expresses - instead ... rather than ignoring
some really painful, and perhaps useless problems
in relationships - I believe WE CAN LEARN TO
COMMUNICATE BETTER. There is alot we can
learn, and to adopt the attitude of Hazlitt is to
say - oh all self help books are the same, all
want you to follow some self help guru. Well
I would hazard a guess that self help books are
a BIG THORN in the side of Hazlitt. Perhaps
Hazlitt read one and took it too much to heart
and is now bitter and angry about that
unfortunate experience. I do not go to a
dentist because I can figure out how to
fix a cavity by myself. We EACH have different
skills and capacities to offer our fellow humans.
No one else's should be held above one's own
intuition, reason, knowledge and skill. In fact a
REALLY great book about self help is called:
IF YOU MEET THE BUDDHA ON THE ROAD
KILL HIM!!!
You see the point, of course, no one can do
what we alone must do for ourselves and by
ourselves. Thoreau understood this. The
values of enjoyment of the self, and some
of the simplest things in every day life.

Babs, I'm shocked to see your assessment of my previous post, and also to read your cutting analysis of my personality. I take heart, however, knowing that you say these things in jest.

You ever read those Calvin and Hobbes comic strips? Do you remember the one where Calvin goes nuts after losing a game? And Calvin say's "that's nothing, you should see me when I lose in real life". That's me. My mother, bless her, always used to send me self help books and tapes related to stress and anger management. She finally gave up, but I think I've done pretty well. I guess kind or sort of well. OK, I guess I'll have to actually read those things and listen to the tapes AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

"Your Erroneous Zones" and "Pulling Your Own Strings" by Dr. Wayne Dyer. I read these books in my early twenties and they touched home for me. I learned how to be in control of my own life (as much as possible), learned to recognize the garbage that people will attempt to pile on you, deliberately or not. Those two books really opened my eyes to living a life based on strength and self-respect.

"The Best Self Help is the Holy Bible!"