Self Help Books: They Can Help, But...

Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.
-- Dorothy Thompson

I went to pick up a new journal a few days ago, and I noticed something for the first time. I mean it’s probably been like this for a while, but I just noticed. The self help section of the local Chapter's that I go to is now the biggest section in the store. Self help... this makes me wonder. With all of these self help books, why is everyone still so screwed up? I mean, you’d think that these books are helping. Oprah, Louise Hay, Eckhart Tolle, Marianne Williamson, and Wayne Dyer (just to name a handful of author's) all have books out there trying to teach people how to do/be/have any number of things in life. The world ought to be better, people should be healing, but I see no change, no real difference. People are buying these books, but I think they might just be using them as coasters or door stoppers. I can't tell you how many people have told me that they bought a certain book and got nothing out of it. When I ask whether they actually bothered to apply what they read, they get a look on their faces that tells me they haven't done a damn thing. Well, explain to me how a book is supposed to help you if you read it, but then continue to live your life the way you always have?? It's easy to blame a book (or a person) for how crappy your life is, but the fact is you are the only one holding you back. A book can open you to new ideas, but you need to get going and do something. I know no one wants to hear that, but -- reality check -- it's true. Don't get me wrong, I understand that change is hard and that change itself scares people, but only you can change your life.

JB