Riches of the Heart
Readings that Make a Difference
$12.95 - includes FREE shipping.
Sample passages
Losing the Dead Part
I am discovering that many people want, above all else, to live life fully. But sometimes the past prohibits our living and enjoying life to the utmost in the present.
A schoolteacher entered his room a few minutes early and noticed a mealworm laboriously crawling along the floor. It had somehow been injured. The back part of the worm was dead and dried up, but still attached to the front, living part by just a thin thread.
As the teacher studied the strange sight of a poor worm pulling its dead half across the floor, a little girl ran in and noticed it there. Picking it up, she said, “Oh, Oscar, when are you going to lose that dead part so you can really live?”
What a marvelous question for all of us! When are we going to lose that dead part so we can really live? When are we going to let go of past pain so we can live fully? When are we going to drop the baggage of needless guilt so we can experience life? When are we going to let go of that past resentment so we can know peace?
Have you been dragging something that is dead and gone around with you? Are you ready to “lose that dead part so you can really live”?
My Reality is Virtual
Someone once quipped, “A lot of my reality is virtual!” Whether or not you can say the same thing, I find it is true that a lot of my reality is the way I perceive it. Let me explain what I mean with a true story.
In the “Journal of the American Medical Association,” Dr. Paul Ruskin demonstrated how our perception of reality (not actually what is going on, but how we perceive it) determines how we feel about it. While teaching a class on the psychological aspects of aging, he read the following case to his students:
The patient neither speaks nor comprehends the spoken word. Sometimes she babbles incoherently for hours on end. She is disoriented about person, place, and time. She does, however, respond to her name. I have worked with her for the past six months, but she still shows complete disregard for her physical appearance and makes no effort to assist her own care. She must be fed, bathed, and clothed by others. Because she has no teeth, her food must be pureed. Her shirt is usually soiled from almost incessant drooling. She does not walk. Her sleep pattern is erratic. Often she wakes in the middle of the night, and her screaming awakens others. Most of the time she is friendly and happy, but several times a day she gets quite agitated without apparent cause. Then she wails until someone comes to comfort her.
After presenting the case, Dr. Ruskin asked his students how they would like caring for this person. Most of them said they would not like it at all. He then said that he believed he would especially enjoy it and thought that they might, also. He passed a picture of the patient around for his puzzled students to see. It was his six-month-old daughter!
Most of the students had already made up their minds that they would not like caring for such a patient. But the age of the patient, rather than the actual duties, made the task seem fun and enjoyable! When they thought the task might be fun, they were positive about it, though their reaction just moments before was quite negative.
You and I have numerous tasks ahead. How will you look at them today? As pleasant or unpleasant? As chores or as fun? When you think you may actually enjoy them – you probably will!
Testimonials
" Last year I gave Riches of the Heart to a "DJ" friend in Miami. He rates your book as one of the best gifts anyone has ever given him and goes so far as to share your writings with the general public when he's on air. He treasures Riches of the Heart. - Rosanna Browne, Anguilla
" (Steve Goodier) delights the reader with new and positive ways to approach and benefit from the soul school of life's challenges and opportunities. Steve Goodier has created a love gift of inspiring stories for anyone who wants to live every day as a form of practical spirituality." - Judith Sherven, Ph.D. and Jim Sniechowski, Ph.D. Authors of Be Loved for Who You Really Are
" I have ordered all Steve Goodier's books before, and will not give up my copies... so I will keep ordering more...." - Chiquita Lockhart, subscriber to the Life Support System newsletter.