So I just finished reading:  Declutter your mind: How to Stop Worrying, relieve anxiety, and eliminate negative thinking by S.J. Scott and Barrie Davenport.  Below is the review that I posted on amazon, and decided that I’d share here and maybe expand it a little as to why I enjoyed this book.

I will admit that I picked up this book because the title spoke to me of things that I needed to figure out how to deal with. The book gives practical advice on how to figure out what is important in your life, and then how to start dealing with the issues that might have you veering away from those core values and life priorities. These are strategies that I will be using as I try to get control of the “monkey mind” and determine how to get back being mindful and living closer to those core values and life priorities.

One of the things that I liked about this book is that it gave a list of words that you read through and decided which ones were valuable for both your personal and professional lives (or your core values).  You don’t have to use all of them, and some may be in both lists.  Right now I’ve got about forty core values for my personal life and about thirty for my professional life (though I will probably add more to that list as I re-read the list for thte third or fourth time).

Just reading through the list, I’ve realized that during the past few years I let a lot of things slide that were going against my core values, and my beliefs in myself.  Now I’m going to start weighing job opportunities against the top 5-10 professional values (after I list the values), and if it goes against more than 3 I’ll weigh the option of passing the job over. Also I’ve realized that being messy, and impartial at times to cleaning probably has also contributed to problems, and that the next step with that is to slowly start getting rid of things and trying to be a better housekeeper (even if it is just my bedroom and bathroom right now).

I’m also going to try to get my top personal core values back into alignment (along with my top professional values), though it will be a windy road and a work in progress–that is what this blog is for.

So, remember beauty is everywhere around us–just open your eyes and take it in.