There’s something about a Hay House book which always seems to land in your hands exactly when you need it. Hay House sent me The Power of Your Spirit – A Guide to Joyful Living by Sonia Choquette to take a look at during a week when the power of my spirit was being crushed! 
Many things conspired last week-- all at the same time, to knock the wind…or spirit…right out of me. I was tearing my hair out setting up my first email newsletter and dealing with tech support people who didn’t know any more about the software than I did. After working for 5 hours on one newsletter, it didn’t Save—even though I pressed SAVE. I had to start again. It got erased again. Oh My God! Be glad you were not in the room, because I let out a scream heard round the…neighborhood …a few spontaneously chosen words that would make your hair curl. Not very spiritual I’m afraid. Luckily, on one side of me, I have retired neighbors who don’t hear very well. On the other side, I have the Seven Day Adventist Church. They only go to church on Saturdays and it wasn’t Saturday.
On top of my newsletter woes, an organization that I’m the President of was hosting someone from out of town for a seminar and she was being a complete Prima Dona.
The guy I’ve been in love with for seventeen years told me he was in love with another woman. Maybe I should have started with this one and worked my way down the list. Quite frankly, it’s something I would prefer to bury in the background of my life.
If that wasn’t bad enough, my blog software wasn’t working. Blogger was having technical difficulties but failed to inform anyone, so I spent numerous hours on Help Forums trying to fix the issue only to find out I couldn’t. Isn’t that true about everything in life?
Hmmm, let me think…did I leave anything out? Even people who write about spiritual metaphysical topics have weeks where they go off the rails. The good news is, we know when it’s time to put out an SOS to Spirit and call in the A team. Any one of Sonia’s books is great for reminding us to do that.
I carried Sonia’s book, The Power of Your Spirit with me everywhere I went during the week, hoping I would have time to stop and read. Every time I went to read a section, I was interrupted. Finally I said out loud, “I need help! Send help! LIKE NOW!”
Life’s a Beach
I decided I reeeeally needed to read Sonia’s book now more than ever, but I couldn’t catch a moment of peace to do it. So I went to the beach. I thought, It’s September. No one will be on the beach right now, right? I lugged my chair and The Power of Your (MY) Spirit with me, squatted in my beach chair and dug into Sonia’s book. Within 2 minutes, a group of women showed up and started chitter chattering away next to me. There was literally no one on the beach except for me and them…and now I couldn’t read because they were all catching up on gossip right next to my chair!
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I decided to move my chair a few yards down the beach to get away from them. I wanted to read Sonia’s book and needed to find the Power of My Spirit—Fast! I know what being in a low vibration for an extended period of time does to one’s life…and it was manifesting faster with each passing minute. I needed to stop the leak!
I read the following passage, “Spirit can be best felt in silence. If you pay close attention, you can actually distinguish the feeling of intuition and Spirit from that of ego-based intelligence. Spirit leaves you expanded, peaceful, surprised, and inspired; you’re left with an open heart and mind. Ego, on the other hand, leaves you feeling tense and contracted; you’re left with a closed or defensive heart and mind.”
I wrote in the margin, I’m in my ego right now. Extremely tense.
I read on, “The more you practice sitting in silence for a few short moments, the more quickly you can intercept these often highly subtle outreaches from your Spirit.”
My Donald Shimoda Makes an Appearance
I closed my eyes to try to get silent but…I was interrupted, “Hey Robin! How are you!”
It was Ace – the Fisherman.
Ace is the sweetest guy you could ever meet. He’s near retirement at a paper mill company up north where he oversees the boiler system—a job he’s had for 38 years. I only see him on the beach once or twice a year in August/September when he comes to fish on my beach. It’s strange, but he only seems to appear when I’m alone—always unannounced. One time, he even appeared through the fog while I was walking alone on the beach—like something out of a novel!
Ace and I can talk for hours. We usually talk about wood burning stoves, his kids, grand children, and…fish. He shows me pictures of his big catches. There’s wisdom in simple conversation. I think of him as my Donald Shimoda if you’ve ever read Richard Bach’s classic book Illusion. It’s not that he imparts any higher spiritual truths to me as we walk on the beach. It’s just that his kind heart always makes me feel better than I did before I talked to him. He’s a spiritual master dressed in a plaid shirt who shows up exactly at the right time!
After he left, I looked down at my book that I hadn’t gotten any farther in since I left home. It occurred to me in that moment, I felt exactly as Sonia described--expanded, peaceful, surprised and inspired—with an open heart and mind. I didn’t feel tense or in emotional pain anymore. I felt lighter. Since my Spirit couldn’t get through to me in the clutter of the events of my life, it got through to me by sending Ace. I asked for help and received it in the form I needed in that moment which put me back in the flow. Ace—what an appropriate name for someone sent to help me get out of my own way.
Later that day after reading a few more chapters in the book, I learned that Angels not only show up as fishermen, they work at email marketing companies too! I decided to try one last time to try to get my email newsletter issues resolved. I called tech support at Constant Contact and got a wonderful man named Aquiles on the phone. He was a Cracker Jack tech support person who fixed every one of my issues. It was smooth sailing from then on.
As I worked my way through Sonia’s new book, I was back in the Spirit saddle again and the A-Team showed up just like I had asked…ironically their names were Ace and Aquiles. When Spirit answers the call, sometimes they follow instructions…exactly!
The Book! The Book!
Sonia Choquette’s book The Power of Your Spirit – A Guide to Joyful Living is about finding your spirit…your mojo…whatever you want to call it, and the value of having a daily spiritual practice to keep it flowing. Her book is structured in four stages of reconnecting:
- Stage One: Awakening Your Spirit
- Stage Two: Discovering Your Spirit
- Stage Three: Surrendering Your Spirit
- Stage Four: Flowing with Your Spirit
Each section includes an inspiring lesson from Sonia. She includes personal examples of how she and others have temporarily disconnected from Spirit and how they found their way back. There are thought provoking questions for you to ponder which will help you uncover the truth as to why contact was lost. At the end of each chapter, Sonia includes some suggested daily spiritual practices to re-establish connection with your spirit and the positive flow of energy it brings.
Now…for my personal opinion…since someone asked.
I’m Getting Up on My Quote Box
I’ll first start with what I liked least about the book—the quotes! I read lots of spiritual metaphysical books and every darn one of them is packed with quotes on every page which I now call Filler. They interrupt my train of thought by bringing me out of the contents of the book. I’m looking for a book to give me some original thinking not the thoughts of other people. I see quotes everywhere now. Every time I open my Facebook News page…there they are…dozens of them, one post after another…average people turning guru with all their quotes!
There were 20 quotes in this book. Not needed. Enough said.
What I Loved About This Book
This is great book to curl up with on a quiet Sunday afternoon with a cup of tea. I wish that’s how I could have read it. What I loved the most were the personal stories—Sonia’s and those of her clients. Sonia’s book allows us to learn about ourselves through the personal journeys of others. All the stories in The Power of Your Spirit are unique and inspiring. I’ve read every one of Sonia Choquette’s books, and I love them for their originality…and the actual results I get from taking her advice.
Last week, I was moving too fast with my Blog and I didn’t have the energy to do my daily spiritual practice. As a result, my life went off the rails. I’m back in balance now thanks to Sonia’s book and a few friends. As for my love life…I cried a lot but I’m A-OK now. I trust that everything will work out exactly as it supposed to. It always does.
Disclosure: I am a Hay House Book Reviewer. I am an affiliate of Hay House Publishing and Amazon. This means I receive a commission if you purchase Hay House or Amazon books from this website. My credibility is extremely important to me. This site is independently owned and the opinions expressed here are my own. Sometimes that's very obvious
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