A personal application from 9 Things You Simply Must Do

As I began to read this book, I knew immediately what the author was talking about when he describes the "alive feeling" that someone gets while doing something they truly love. I always enjoyed art class in school, but I never did much drawing outside of school. What I did enjoy was writing. Not the process of putting my thoughts on paper, but the act of writing.

I loved the way a pencil gave resistance and the way a pen glides over the paper, creating two different effects in my handwriting.

I used to trace other people's handwriting and then try to recreate it. I would get distracted while taking notes in class because I would be spending too much thought on how my words looked.

I even started training myself to write with my left hand in order to develop yet another style. When I was about fourteen, I got a calligraphy set for Christmas. It wasn't easy for me right away, and I was frustrated at my lack of ability. But I kept practicing. I wrote letters to friends with those pens and used them in my diary for months. I had to think of things to write in order to keep it interesting. I remember copying verses out of the Bible for no reason other than to practice my calligraphy.

As I got older and my time became more demanding, I cut back on the amount of time that I spent on my calligraphy. I enjoyed doing it, but I had no real use for the talent, so I let it fall away. For the next ten years, I rarely pulled out the calligraphy set.

After getting married and having four kids, I went through a time of depression. I couldn't seem to pull myself out of it. I went to a doctor and started on an anti-depressant. Within a few weeks I knew that I was feeling better when I had the desire to pull out my calligraphy set. After playing with it for a while, I decided to use my talent to create Christmas presents for my whole family. I used almost every spare minute for the next two months creating those gifts. And for the first time in years, I felt really alive.

My amazing sister is doing a holiday give-away!! All you have to do to enter is follow these rules.

A Book Review of

9 Things You Simply Must Do To Succeed in Love and Life

Dr. Henry Cloud has found nine characteristics that successful people possess which can make a big difference in anyone's life who chooses to practice these principles. Ignoring or failing to practice these principles can cause failure and pain.

• Dig it up - The first principle is to dig up the issues that are deep in your heart. The deepest desires can lead to ultimate happiness while the deepest pains must be dealt with and discarded.


• Pull the tooth - The second principle is similar to the first in that it encourages the reader to get rid of negative energy. But instead of focusing on inward negativity, this principle is about eliminating the outward forces that drain our time and energy.


• Play the movie - The third principle is to think through each action to the final consequences before making a decision. The author emphasizes that not all good or bad actions will produce a positive or negative end result. Therefore, careful consideration is needed in even the small decisions.


• Do something - The fourth principle is to take action instead of waiting on events or other people to make the first move.


• Act like an ant - The fifth principle builds on the fourth in that it encourages action on projects that need to be divided into smaller steps. Successful people do not get overwhelmed and quit because of a complicated, difficult, or long-term task.


• Hate well - The sixth principle is to examine values and determine what is worthy of love and hate. The focus of the principle is on hating the right things with the right attitude, instead of hurting people and destroying lives.


• Don't play fair - The seventh principle is to treat others better than they deserve rather than treating them fairly. Cloud states that treating others positively or negatively based on how they treat you "will destroy every relationship in life." (p. 169)


• Be humble - The eighth principle is to be humble. This attitude will allow a person to help others when they fail and allow a person to accept their own failures as a "normal part of the process." (p. 198) Being humble also facilitates conflict resolution because a person will be more willing to apologize and to forgive.


• Upset the right people - The ninth and final principle is to avoid trying to please everyone and to know when it is profitable to upset someone for the right reasons.

Dr. Cloud concludes the book with encouragement about how God helps us along in our journey by providing the people and tools that we need to succeed. Then Cloud offers twelve practical tips for applying the principles found in his book.

Obviously, I could go into a lot more detail about each point, but I just wanted to give a quick summary. The best part of the book, in my opinion, was all of the personal stories he gave to apply each principle. It's a great book to challenge anyone to live and love a little better. I will write more about this book in another post.