One of the first personal development books I read was also the first book Wayne Dyer wrote. In 1976 Your Erroneous Zones explored the self-destructive nature of negative thinking. As a teenager it made a big impression on me. The idea that thoughts were conscious choices and that we choose to be who we are, seemed radical to my sixteen year old self.
Fast forward to 2004 and once again Wayne Dyer had a deep impact on me. In his book, The Power of Intention, he encouraged readers to consider the impact they create by how they show up in the world. We are all interconnected in a giant web of energy. He pointed us to a simple, yet profound guiding principle:
When you meet anyone, treat the event as a holy encounter.
While I may fall short of that endeavour on any given day, it sticks with me as the bar to reach for.
In his lifetime Wayne Dyer Wrote more than 40 books with half of them as New York Times best sellers. In an age when everyone attaches the label “bestseller” to whatever book they have written simply because for a moment it was high in the ranks on Amazon, we can underestimate what it means for a book to be a true bestseller. Millions of Wayne Dyers books have been sold. Millions of people were drawn to his teachings during the 39 years he shared his wisdom.
Here are some of his ideas that resonate with me:
You have everything you need for complete peace and total happiness right now.
Happiness is a choice that is not dependent upon circumstances. Peace in the world comes from inner peace. They are both an inside job.
Love is the ability and willingness to allow those that you care for to be what they choose for themselves without any insistence that they satisfy you.
While we all want unconditional love, it’s a challenge to give it to those around us. We tend to filter their hopes and dreams through our wants, desires and fears. If we want love, we have to give love.
Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in a hostile world. Same world.
Perspective is everything. How we view the world determines our experience of the world. Period.
When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.
There’s a lot wrapped up in that idea. First what we go looking for in others is exactly what we find. Secondly, we project our own weaknesses onto those around us. And the act of judging others places us in the position of thinking we know far more than we likely do.
Present-moment living, getting in touch with your now, is at the heart of effective living. When you think about it, there really is no other moment you can live. Now is all there is, and the future is just another present moment to live when it arrives.
Long before mindfulness became part of the mainstream lexicon, Wayne Dyer was pointing us toward here and now living. Worry is simply future thinking. Regret is simply past thinking. It’s in the present moment that you make a choice about your actions.
Now that Wayne Dyer has gone on to the next great adventure, it’s lovely we have all those books to continue to guide us along our imperfect path.
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What Wayne Dyer quote had an impact on you?
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