Wednesday, December 12, 2007

A NEW IDEA

I teach a weekly course in Personal Development at the DWI Alternative Facility, a section of the Suffolk, NY County Jail. I share the course with the men there. Yesterday I brought in the Secret DVD and played it. It is a long piece, running about an hour and a half. The reaction of the men was similar to reactions I have gotten when I showed it to previous groups. Most were very interested in the new concepts presented in the film. Prior to playing the DVD I asked if anyone had seen it before. None had, but one of them had read the book. There were about 20 in the class. We will discuss the film next week to try to get more out of it.

What struck me was that this film presented some brand new ideas to these men; ideas they had never considered. It was a hopeful session. They saw that there was a possibility to make their lives better. They saw that change is possible. They were presented with new ideas of how to go about improving their lives

I always talk about INTENTION as the first step necessary to making positive changes in our lives, and it is. But what so many of us lack is a new idea that will give us direction. The definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results". If we want our lives to get better, we need a new idea. A new perspective on things can be an eye-opening experience. A new perspective can breathe a new, refreshing life into us so we no longer view our lives as the same old same old.

New ideas are out there. We just have to keep our antennas up and search for them. Books are a fantastic source of new ideas. Here are a few books to consider:

Simple Happiness - Jim Ryan (My book; 52 great ideas!)
Ask and it is Given - Esther and Jerry Hicks
Seven Laws of Spiritual Success - Deepak Chopra
Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life - Wayne Dyer
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, and It's All Small Stuff - Richard Carlson

You won't believe how many good new ideas there are out there. Sometimes it's not a completely new idea. It's one you've heard before, but it's stated in such a way that now , all of a sudden, it makes complete sense to you. Life can be a wonderful journey filled with awesome experiences. Make sure you put some gas in your tank. New Ideas can be the fuel for that journey.

Enjoy your trip! Send me a postcard along the way.

Jim Ryan

Jim Ryan Talks

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