Читать книгу Somebody Should Have Told Us!: Simple Truths for Living Well - Jack Pransky - Страница 11

Preface to the First Edition

Thirteen years ago, in the midst of what I would call a spiritual search—meaning, I read a lot of spiritual books, listened to a lot of tapes, met with spiritual groups, practiced some meditation—suddenly without warning and outside of anything I was examining, my search screeched to a halt. I didn’t mean for it to; I didn’t even particularly want it to. It happened automatically and effortlessly. I had found what I was searching for.

How did this happen? I only know through my work to prevent problem behaviors I bumped into a new, largely unknown paradigm that turned everything I knew inside-out. At first I couldn’t grasp it, but I knew it was important. I heard something deep within my soul that connected with my own wisdom. Consequently I began to live more in well-being. I experienced less stress. My relationships improved. I gained great appreciation for my new understanding.

To my surprise I then discovered I could help others find for themselves what I had found. They too began to experience more wellbeing and their problems dropped away. I was onto something that worked more powerfully than anything I had encountered. It became my life’s work. It has helped many people gain a sense of mental and spiritual health, balance and peace of mind.

I take no credit for this. All I do is help people connect with their own innate Health and wisdom. Most people, it seems, are not guided by their wisdom.

I never thought I would write a self-help book. It happened serendipitously. While on a publicity push for my book, Parenting from the Heart, my publicist required me to take media lessons. My tendency when talking with others was to start slowly until I got revved up enough to make my points with a certain power behind them. When talking with the media I didn’t have that luxury; by the time I got revved my few minutes were over. So “sound-bite school,”as I called it, seemed like a good idea. It helped me hone my important parenting points and put them up front. To find the points I wanted to make I took a walk in the woods to clear my head and allow them to bubble up from within. Interesting thoughts kept arising, but these points seemed important for everyone to know, not just parents; yet I knew almost no one who wasn’t a parent (or about to be) would read a parenting book. The thought then popped in, “You need to write a self-help book.”

This surprised me. What could I offer that hadn’t already been written? Immediately I knew what would set this apart from nearly all other self-help books on bookstore shelves. Most all self-help books tell people what to do to improve their lives. Often people read them, find it difficult to put into practice what the books suggest (because their own habits work against them), and nothing changes. Then they read another self-help book in hopes the next one will help.

Instead, what if people were pointed inside themselves to the source of their own answers? What if they were helped to see the “mechanism” at work behind how they function psychologically and spiritually? What if they were helped to see the principles behind what creates their very experience of life? Pointed in this direction they would have the key to unlock their wisdom to guide them through any difficulty. They could take it with them wherever they go—always— because it is already part of them. They only need to see it! Once they saw it they would no longer need any self-help books—including this one. I have seen dramatic changes in people’s lives result from helping people see life from the inside-out. My intent is simply to be of service to as many people as I can. A book potentially can reach a far greater number than those with whom I can work personally or in training groups.

I truly believe for people to realize how they can use the spiritual, creative gifts they have been given to their benefit instead of to their detriment is the hope for humankind. When wisdom speaks, humanity benefits.

I am merely a ripple in a pond.