G403 The Gifted: how to live the life of your dreams

Title of the book:  The Gifted: How to Live the Life of Your Dreams

Author: Daphne Michaels

Publisher: Self published

Publishing Date: 2014

ISBN: 978-0-9914689-0-4

Summary:

The Gifted: How to Live the Life of Your Dreams is an inspirational, groundbreaking book from author, motivational speaker and licensed psychotherapist Daphne Michaels. Describing and celebrating the nine gifts we are all born with, Michaels teaches readers how to recognize each gift and use it on their journey of personal development and spiritual growth. Michaels shows us that the first three gifts we must recognize are Awareness, Potential and Stillness. These three allow us to identify and use with real life-changing power the remaining six: Disharmony, Harmony, Ease, Clarity, Freedom and Engagement. By approaching these nine gifts with real-world metaphors, Michaels answers common questions about personal transformation -- such as how it works and what kind of commitment it takes to reach a life of authentic happiness. Even Disharmony, Michaels explains, does not need to rule us. It is ours to use in positive ways as we discover the real purpose of Harmony in our lives. The final gift, Engagement, allows us to use all of the gifts with a joy and power we never imagined possible.

Other Works:

Apparently the author is planning on writing further books in The Gifted Series such as Gift of Your Dreams, The Gift of Charisma, The Gift of Creativity and The Gift of New Sunrises.

Background: 
(from the kit)

Daphne Michaels is an author, speaker and licensed psychotherapist whose institute has helped hundreds of women and men transform their lives through the "gifts" every human being is born with. Daphne began her own journey of transformation at a young age, pursued it fearlessly, and later studied formally in the fields of social science, human services and integral psychology. The Gifted: How to Live the Life of Your Dreams launches both Daphne Michaels Books and The Gifted series, whose goal it is to share with the widest audience possible the principles that guide the Daphne Michaels Institute. Daphne's earlier book, Light of Our Times, featured her conversations with such international figures in the fields of spirituality and personal development as Ram Dass, Julia Cameron, Dr. Masaru Emoto, and Thomas Moore.

Visit her website at www.daphnemichaels.com.

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Theme of the book:

"It is these nine gifts that I have joyfully, tenaciously and lovingly celebrated with the wonderful, committed women and men I have worked with at my institute over the years. It is to these nine gifts that the book you're holding-the first in a series about how "gifted" we all truly are- is dedicated. It is my hope that in understanding the power of these gifts you will see how to use them to transform your own life, and, by doing so, discover the eternal joy of embracing at last the amazing you are." (x)

Problems addressed:

I would guess that humans are perhaps not praised enough, or else humans aren't really aware of the gifts they possess, and the author wrote the book to remind them of these gifts.

Summary of content:

At least in this book, there are nine important gifts that one must learn about as well as take advantage of.

Thesis:

"That mountaintop decision never left. It drove my life's work and over the years led me to understand that there are gifts-nine of them, in fact-that we are all born with but rarely experience in their full glory and potential. These gifts- which make each and every one of us "the gifted" of this book's title-are the keys to living lives of endless possibilities and, in turn, achieving an authentic happiness that cannot be lost. They are, in other words, the keys to achieving the life of our dreams." (x)

Main points of the book:

Okay, here's a small sample of the gifts. There are nine chapters.

*The Gift of Harmony
*The Gift of Clarity
*The Gift of Freedom

Why its interesting and informative:

Its interesting to note what kind of gifts she talks about and how they help maximize potential, but beyond that, nothing interesting.

Supports thesis:

If people do achieve in attaining the levels and gifts, then they can live a fulfilling life, but that would be it.

Issues book raises:

I'm not sure what issues the book raises, besides the fact that people aren't really aware of the gifts she mentions.

Ideas in book vs larger ideas:

Again I'm not sure how the ideas in the book can be used as larger ideas.

Agree/Disagree:

While these are wonderful gifts, how does someone achieve them? Are there any concrete steps that can be taken to achieve the gifts?

Sources:

None

Conclusion:

While the author details what these gifts are, she doesn't give concrete steps to accomplishing these gifts, which is frustrating for me. Usually books give guidelines on how to achieve their claims, but this book reads more like an outline rather than a concrete plan. (Imagine telling someone that you want a house without specifying how many rooms or what floors or what kitchen should look like.)

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3 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)