Review: The Man Who Risked It All

Laurent Gounelle, personal development specialist and leader of international seminars, wrote his fourth book to assist us in understanding the principles of Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP), by initially portraying himself as a lowly employee, lacking in self-confidence, The Man Who Risked It All, and ultimately finding a level of confidence in himself, unforeseen in the opening chapters.

By the final chapter our narrator has become self-confident enough to pull off a solo sting operation at the firm which would have been his former employer if his plan had not worked. We watch the hero’s journey unfold as he initially finds himself on a window ledge, determined to end the pain and suffering of the life he feels destined to be his. Only by the presence of the stranger appearing at his side, does he become obliged to give life another try. Our author finds he is unable to break a promise he has made to the stranger. Fear controls his life and he feels assured if he runs, the threatened consequences will be delivered.

While reading the story, I pondered whether the stranger was to be revealed as an earthly version of Satan? However, by giving our leading man assignments that will open the door to his knowledge of how he has truly been limited by his own lacking self-confidence in his skills and abilities, we will ponder at the puzzle of his rude and painful treatment of our man in juxtaposition with the overall improvement of confidence in himself.

Accounting is his career and he has no qualms regarding his mathematical abilities as shown through his ability to perform mental math while being accosted from every side with negative comments, under the rueful eye of his employer. However, his self-confidence, as we might understand, eventually falters under the artful besiege of insults. The surprise ending reveals the stranger’s identity and his manipulations made behind the scenes.

The book held me spellbound as I drove to find out the stranger’s identity, the reason for his interest and our protagonist’s eventual success or failure. A very favorable review is in order. I plan to share this book with several friends, I highly recommend it.

I did receive a free copy of this book from Hay House Publishing in order to write this review. I received no monetary compensation and was not obligated to make it a positive review. I was simply asked to give my honest opinion and this is it.

Review of Feng Shui Simply

Cheryl Grace did an excellent job of creating an in-depth look at Feng Shui. While she lays out the principals commonly found in most books on the topic, she goes one step further to create a guide for fine-tuning one’s internal environment.

As the author begins to convey the principals of design that work with the location and orientation of the home, placement of furniture and use of color, artwork and accessories to create a harmonious environment, she goes on to provide the additional practices to aid and support this ancient art. As she notes, most of the focus of Feng Shui lies in external changes to the environment. She became more excited by working with the unseen world, the world of energy, using the tools of intuition and intention, according to the text. 

Ms. Grace utilized the traditional Bagua as a starting point for inner growth by association the qualities of inner life that she found to associate with each point on the map. For example, for Health & Family she connected with the inner qualities of discernment and forgiveness; for Helpful People and Travel, patience and an open mind.

The author brings attention to her work with the I Ching and its wisdom on the subject of transformation, which happens, as she states, when the truth resonates so strongly on the inside that the outside shifts on its own. Finally she sets out five steps, including listening deeply, seizing the moment and graciously receiving what you ask for, to help you reach your potential. She asks the questions that will enable you to find your personal truth in every area of your life.

This is a very well rounded, informative book on Feng Shui that considers the art in combination with various other helpful arts, practices and questions to consider, enabling the reader to create the life they most want.

I did receive a free copy of this book from Hay House Publishing in order to write this review. However, I received no monetary compensation and was not obligated to make it a positive review. I was simply asked to give my honest opinion and this is it.

I Surrendered

Mother's Day found me in South Haven Hospital with emergency surgery for my hernia. I wanted to heal myself but finally gave in, that it wasn't going to be taken care of by yoga - strengthening my core. I'm glad its over and now I can relax in my life again without fear that it will attack.

One week and one day since surgery - I've been doing some easy dancing and simple yoga stretches. It looks tremendous, using my own homemade herbal salve. Picture was taken Saturday night on Lake Michigan.

Dr. Stuart Boekeloo

Do Not go to this dentist. If you want the truth about my experience, email me at julieinmichigan99@yahoo.com or post a comment to this post with your email so I can describe the poor quality of this overpriced dentist, Dr. Stuart Boekeloo in St. Joe, Michigan.

Send Only Love

So important right now.

Healing Inguinal hernia with Alternatives to Western Allopathic Surgical Procedures

I received my results from the CT scan. My doctor wants me to go to surgeon, who will probably start by prescribing a Colonoscopy. I like my doc, he's a sweet guy and he probably knows me well enough by now to understand that while I do want his opinion, in the final analysis I'll do what I think is best. 

Now, my research has begun. I'm finding great but limited, information available, on those have healed this issue with Reiki, Yoga, EFT, nutrition, meditation, exercise. I'll be documenting my process on my blog. Hope y'all find it as interesting as I do. I know all the fear-factor tricks that western-medical-science believes in will be used against me. However, many of the believers have the same problem return or come back in a different form because they haven't solved the underlying problem. This is my journey. Wish me well~

Here is a link I found this morning - I'll continue to post links to blogs of those who have documented their process.
http://falconblanco.com/health/hernia.htm

Soap Making in the Planning Stage

I found the bucket with the Coconut Oil – I had purchased a twenty pounder awhile back. I recently ordered 4 gallons of Olive Oil from ebay and got it for about $12 a gallon, but I had to pay for shipping as well. The third oil which is basic to my recipe, vegetable oil, is easily obtained at a mainstream grocery in the form of ~crisco~ or something like that. Various other oils could be used such as shea butter, cocoa butter or many others – research into their skin beneficial qualities would provide many other choices but the three basics – coconut (for sudsing action), olive and vegetable are the ones I always use as a base. 

The lye was purchased in a larger quantity from a wholesaler in Dallas. I would have liked to purchase a larger quantity – like a 20 gallon drum, but storage of this very dangerous chemical would have been an insurmountable challenge before I had a safe, secure, dry location to store it. In the meantime I have 5 pre-measured bags of lye, enough for 5 batches of soap.

I don’t use water to mix my lye, rather an herbal tea, refrigerated overnight. My personal favorite is Comfrey, an herb known for its skin-healing properties. I think that making the tea must also establish the correct PH since I never have problems when I make it with tea rather than plain water. I’ve heard of mixing the lye with goat’s milk but someone had a problem with her end product stinging when she used milk for the mixture. I couldn’t say what caused this but I was getting my goat’s milk direct from the farm and never had that problem.

Cosmetic grade fragrance oils were purchased by the quart and I have 3 remaining – sugar cookie, patchouli and the label is worn off the third.

So, those are my ingredients although I could add oatmeal, fresh dried herbs and many other ingredients for varieties in selection and use.

Mixing the ingredients is a key step in the process. Both the hot and the cold have to meet in the middle at temperatures between 120-125 f in order for the chemical process to occur. To facilitate their merge, I use an electric mixer on a stand. The small bowls on these mixers won’t be large enough for the measurements I use so a purchase of a large aluminum bowl (glass too dangerous – I wouldn’t want to take a chance on that breakage) to fit a stand mixer that holds ‘other’ bowls. 

I recently purchased a Sunbeam FPSBHS030 250-Watt 5-Speed Hand and Stand Mixer Combo cookware kitchen that I will NOT be using for soap making – too flimsy. I bought on ebay but amazon sells cheaper. Doesn’t matter what you pay for it, I wouldn’t take a chance on making soap in it. 


In the past I’ve used a SUNBEAM MIXMASTER 12 SPEED STAND MIXER which worked very well. Unfortunately it was lost during a storage move. I’d like to find another and there are several on Craigslist for Kalamazoo. Guess I might have to make a drive over there. KitchenAid makes an expensive one that might be more power than I need for this project.

This is the Sunbeam mixer I’m looking for. Happy Shopping~