Life Loves You: 7 Spiritual Practices to Heal Your Life
By: Robert Holden, Louise L. Hay / Narrated By: Robert Holden
Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
For Valentine’s Day? Here! Love Yourself first; go ahead, and fall in love!
Over on Audible, eeeeeons ago, whenst I was doing reviews over there, I’d written about Robert Holden’s Shift Happens! so I was already familiar with Holden, and I’d decided that I’d really liked him, the way he looked at life, the way he was able to package large concepts, huge life events, and then come up with pithy little lessons.
Plus, the guy has a jolly good sense of humor.
That said? Well, I’d heeeeard of Louise Hay, of Hay House, and I even have some of her audiobooks in m’ Library. -But- I’ve never gotten around to listening to her, am unfamiliar with her words. So NATurally, for Valentine’s Day 2023, I was really looking forward to giving Life Loves You a try. Yeh yeh yeh, got PLENTY o’ romances on that Occasion page, but lemme add one nonfiction choice about how to live, how to be comfortable, nay: Happy! in one’s own skin.
The first time Holden met Hay, she’d given him words before he stepped out onto a stage, a keynote speaker in a massive conference: Life Loves You, she told him. And it’s become an oft bandied about phrase for him ever since, a guiding principle for his own work.
Now, lemme just say that m’ best friend and I have reconnected, now on the same spirit-seeking path, and “Life Loves You” is very much a phrase, a concept, that’s been front and center. Still, I muuuust admit that a bit of this book is kinda sorta rather hokey to me. I mean, it opens up with Mirror Work. As in: Mirror Work is the ONE THING YOU HAVE TO DO FIRST AND FOREMOST… Yikes!
You just look in the mirror and say affirmations, be gentle with yourself, learn to not only accept but love yourself, warts and all. And by the way? You actually don’t even acknowledge the warts as this exercise is meant to be all positivity, no dwelling on the flaws that come part and parcel with the whole dratted Just A Human Experience. This is NOT Toxic Positivity; it’s just directing that single indestructible thing in the Universe: Energy towards what you’d like very much to increase in your life.
Okaaaay… I’ve been avoiding mirrors for yeeears now, and I’d feel horribly self-conscious if m’ husband happened to walk in on me cooing to a mirror. But? Well, the aforementioned best friend told me: Jeez, NOW you’re gonna be a Cynic?!
There are several practices here, and some DID resonate with me. Forgiveness? For me, that’s a huuuuge necessity. And the hardest person to forgive? Myself, of COURSE (Who has an easy time with THAT?). I sooo liked the exercise where you, right off the bat, from 0-100%, determine at which percent you’re at with forgiving yourself, or other people you’ve difficulties with (I was at 62% with m’self). The next step is to ask yourself: What would, saaaay, 63% look like, and what single action can I take right now to get myself there?
See? I mean, to me, that’s awesome as that’s actionable -AND- immediately loving and kind.
Add other practices such as 10 Dots, with 10 stickies stuck to places/objects that get much use. You repeat an affirmation when you see one as you go about your day. This is something I rather like; I’m not that keen on sitting silently and repeating positivity, but I dooo like the thought of new neural pathways developing and being reinforced each time I remember to think p’raps a bit differently.
One tiiiiiiny quibble I have is with author Holden reading this himself; I mean, it’s all well and good to have his usual cheeky good humor delivering lines; it’s just that, at points, it rather came off as tho’ he was relating Uber Positive things to a class of grade school kids. I’d prefer a trifle more solemnity, but I honestly think that’s just a personal preference… -AND- I was feeling self-conscious… -AND- a wee bit Cynical. So Boooo! meee!
Plenty of food for thought in this little gem o’ a book, plenty to think about, and plenty Yesss! to DO!
My theme, my challenge for 2023 is Joyful Acceptance; there’s a LOT of Change going on in m’ Life right now, and I’m trying DESperately to be open to the gifts from a Loving Universe. Even if they come disguised as complete and utter shite, I’m trying to be ready.
No, really: Life Loves You!
And I’m totally hoping it loves meeee too!!!
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.