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A review by jedore
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach
5.0
When I was finally ready to read this book, I had to dig deep down into my pile of unread books to find it. I had gotten it years earlier after seeing Sarah on Oprah. I knew then that what she was teaching - to fully reside in the present and see the spiritual in the seemingly mundane - was exactly what I needed to grasp. The problem was that I was buried so deep in the mundane that I didn’t make this a priority until several years later.
Simple Abundance is a “day book”...to get the most out of it, you read just one passage per day and focus your energy on the philosophical lesson or practical task of the day. Being quite anal retentive when it comes to order, I didn’t allow myself to start until January 1 (thankfully, it was late in the year when I picked it up again!)...but, “normal” people can allow themselves to start on any given day. ;) To stay on track, I kept it by my dining room table so that every day at breakfast, I could read - and ponder - the day’s passage.
While this book didn’t adequately address my deeper spiritual needs, it definitely brought me to the present a little bit each day and helped me to readjust my attitude about cooking, laundry, cleaning, etc. It reminded me that preparing dinner was not only filling my family’s stomachs, but filling all of our spirits. It taught me that every “thing” I owned needed to connect with my spirit in some way. It reinforced the feeling I had that being organized on the outside helped me to achieve greater clarity on matters of the spirit. The details, the mundane, the seemingly unimportant are just as significant as the significant moments that are scattered throughout our lives...they are the bulk of life.
Simple Abundance was a great starting point for my adventure into the spiritual wilderness. It changed my outlook on my life. After a few months, I found myself faltering a bit...it takes continuous effort to be in the moment and stay positive about the mundane. I may start reading it again...on January 1, 2011. ;) Or, I may check out her other book: Something More: Excavating Your Authentic Self. (Fortunately, this one is not buried very deep in my “To Read” pile...in fact, if I turn my head to the right I can see it right next to my dining room table.)
Simple Abundance is a “day book”...to get the most out of it, you read just one passage per day and focus your energy on the philosophical lesson or practical task of the day. Being quite anal retentive when it comes to order, I didn’t allow myself to start until January 1 (thankfully, it was late in the year when I picked it up again!)...but, “normal” people can allow themselves to start on any given day. ;) To stay on track, I kept it by my dining room table so that every day at breakfast, I could read - and ponder - the day’s passage.
While this book didn’t adequately address my deeper spiritual needs, it definitely brought me to the present a little bit each day and helped me to readjust my attitude about cooking, laundry, cleaning, etc. It reminded me that preparing dinner was not only filling my family’s stomachs, but filling all of our spirits. It taught me that every “thing” I owned needed to connect with my spirit in some way. It reinforced the feeling I had that being organized on the outside helped me to achieve greater clarity on matters of the spirit. The details, the mundane, the seemingly unimportant are just as significant as the significant moments that are scattered throughout our lives...they are the bulk of life.
Simple Abundance was a great starting point for my adventure into the spiritual wilderness. It changed my outlook on my life. After a few months, I found myself faltering a bit...it takes continuous effort to be in the moment and stay positive about the mundane. I may start reading it again...on January 1, 2011. ;) Or, I may check out her other book: Something More: Excavating Your Authentic Self. (Fortunately, this one is not buried very deep in my “To Read” pile...in fact, if I turn my head to the right I can see it right next to my dining room table.)