Tuesday, January 12, 2021

The Wisdom of Sundays - Book Review and Notes

This week I read The Wisdom of Sundays - Life-Changing Insights from Super Soul Conversations by Oprah Winfrey. I had mixed feelings about the book. There were some people who had things that resonated with me while with others, there was nothing to which I could relate. The majority of the book fell into the latter category.


Essentially The Wisdom of Sundays is a series of conversations that Oprah had with leaders in “great thought.” Some of these were guests who were on her show, Super Soul Sunday. Other guests were ones she knew had been on their own spiritual journey and, as Oprah said, their “wise words have led me to knowing for sure that we are all spiritual beings having a human experience.” 

Not related to the content of the book, I found that the typeface was challenging to read - especially the italics for some reason. So, that made me skim over some parts since it took too much effort to try to read the book. 

That being said, the following are quotes or passages that I found valuable

- Your spirit is the part of you that is seeking meaning and purpose. That's one way someone can relate to that. Another way to understand spirit is that it's the part of you that is drawn to hope, that will not give in to despair. The part of you that has to believe in goodness that has to believe in something more. (Caroline Myss)

- For many years, I suffered from what I call a "disease to please." I worried that if I ever said no to something, people were going to think I wasn't nice, or they might think I was selfish and ask, "Why wouldn't she do that for me?"I made the shift to listen to the truth of who I really was, telling me what I really wanted. Before you agree to do anything that might add even the smallest amount of stress to your life, ask yourself, What is my truest intention? When the intention is right, and the answer is yes, your entire body will feel it. (Oprah)

- When you find yourself in a new situation, a new circumstance, a new life experience, everything that requires healing is going to rush to the surface. And if you don't take a minute to breathe, to gather yourself, to pray, you will do what you've always done. (Iyanla Vanzant)

New situation - how to raise rabbits after t
he den was found by one of our dogs. 

- If you've been faking your way through life, ignoring your inner compass, the wake-up call can be harsh: job loss, the end of a relationship, money problems, disruption in any form. Your real purpose on Earth is to become more of who you really are - to live to the highest degree what is pure, what is honest, what is natural, what feels like the real you. (Oprah)

- I can use the best of my talent and ability and influence to enhance the kingdom of God on Earth, which I believe comprises peace and freedom and the alleviation of suffering, human rights...When I was president, we never dropped a bomb, we never fired a missile, we never shot a bullet. (President Jimmy Carter)

-I believe that everyone has a God-size hole inside of them that we try to fill with shopping or with a relationship or food or sex or drugs. But it's not out there. It's in here. It's an internal connection. And that's what a spiritual practice, listening to your intuition, having a creative expression, being of service is all about. That is how you sustainably fill up your God-size hole. Otherwise, it's like a drop that's disconnected from the ocean. You just wither and die. (Mastin Kipp)

- You will forgive because you love yourself so much that you don't want to keep hurting yourself for whatever happened. Whatever happened is done and cannot be changed. And we have to accept that and keep going with our life. (Don Miguel Ruiz)

- There is not one experience, no matter how devastating, no matter how torturous it may appear to have been, there is nothing that's ever wasted. Everything that is happening to you is being drawn into your life as a means to help you evolve into who you were really meant to be on Earth. It's not the thing that matters, it's what that thing opens within you. (Oprah)

- Any hint of discomfort or agitation that could lead to confrontation, rejections, or anyone being upset would cause me to eat. (Oprah)

- My life changed when I started writing down five things I was grateful for each day. (Oprah)


- Follow your bliss. Pay attention to those moments when you're lit up, when time just flies by. When you're in that field of joyful expression, which is generally in contribution and being in service of some kind. Some sense of connection in your life. (Gary Zukav)

- When I really wanted something, I always got it. Positive and negative. Because the Universe does not think. You have this subconscious mind that sometimes is attracting tragedy. Attracting bad things. Because you want to be a victim. Because to be a victim is to justify a lot of frustrations and failures in your life. The Universe is helping you. You want to be successful. The Universe is helping you. (Paulo Coelho)

- My belief is that the whole purpose of life is to gain mastery - master our emotions, our finances, our relationships, our consciousness- through meditation, things like that. And it's not about the stuff. All the stuff can be taken away. People lose their fortunes. They lose their reputation. Beautiful spouses die or leave you. But who you become in the process can never be taken away. Never. You are mastering through the process of overcoming these obstacles that you face in life. (Jack Canfield)

- We are busier than any other generation we have seen in the last three to four hundred years. We are so busy. And we think because we're busy, we're effective. But I want you to challenge your schedule for a minute and ask yourself, are you really being effective, or is your life cluttered with all kinds of stuff that demands you, and drains you, and taxes you, and stops you from being your highest and best self? And are you substituting busyness and all the chaos that goes along with busyness for being effective? (Bishop T.D. Jakes)

- The only limit to your success is your own imagination. Whatever you can imagine is possible. (Shonda Rhimes)

- You are fulfilled when you get up in the morning. So many times we get up in the morning, we're depressed. We're down. We're angry. We're frustrated. But when you can wake up saying, "I'm glad to be alive. There is purpose to this day." To me, that is success. And I would argue that once you have that internal success, then externally it's just a manifestation of what happens internally in the best possible way. (DeVon Franklin)

- When you love someone, the best thing you can offer him or her is your presence. How can you love if you are not there? You offer him or her your true presence. You are not preoccupied with the past, or the future, your projects. You are for your beloved one. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

- Love is when you choose to be at your best when the other person is not at their best. (Pastor Wintley Phipps)


- The triggers for happiness are similar worldwide. It's a deep social connection. The breadth and depth and the meaning in our relationships is one of the greatest predictors of long-term levels of happiness we have. Only 10% of our long-term levels of happiness are based upon the external world. 90% of our long-term happiness is how the brain processes the world we find ourselves in. (Shawn Achor)


1 comment:

Rita said...

Re: baby bunnies. Vets have kitten bottles and kitten formula that would probably work. Have to feed them every few hours.

I tried to raise some when I was ten. Mother killed by a construction crew building our senior high school. Two were injured and died right away. Three were left. One died in a day or two and then another right after, but I managed to raise one to adulthood. She lived in our neighborhood for years and the neighbors hated it because she ate out of their gardens--LOL! I only had an eyedropper and whole cows milk I watered down. Later I got the kitten bottles and they ate rabbit pellets and grass (which you won't have now but could grow some cat grass if they live).

You could contact a wildlife rescue, too. See what they have to say and if they would take them or give you advice. :)