BOOKS THAT CHANGED MY LIFE:

Shurri

I always thought SHIRLEY MacLAINE was a nutter. (I’m sure that’s what “they” wanted me to think!)

Now I realise that she is just a few steps ahead of me on the same spiritual journey as millions of others.

I’ve just started reading her 2011 book “I’m Over All That”.

 

This book has sat on the shelf in my bedroom for a long time.  The shelf where I have a collection of books for “future reading”.  In fact, it’s been there for so long I have no idea where it came from or when it was purchased… or how it got there at all. Late last week I was walking past the shelf, and “saw” the book for the first time… like it had not been there until that moment when it suddenly caught my attention.

I love how the universe provides me with an endless supply of “the right book at the right time” to help me along my spiritual/life journey.  The book I was previously reading was one that had to be digested in slow portions because it was way beyond average daily reading… “Catastrophobia” by Barbara Hand Clow, which I now realise is a book that Shirley would definitely have read herself.  (That magical “one degree of separation” appears again in my life.)

My initial thought at seeing “I’m Over All That” was, ‘that sounds like me talking, I’m over it all too,’ followed by ‘this will at least be something light to contrast with the heaviness Catastrophobia.’ As I started to read, I realised it was actually necessary for me to have read the two previous books so I could appreciate all the wisdom that was waiting for me in this new book.

The timing was simply beyond what I would expect for my life, but as always, it was perfect.  I’d been struggling with a cold/cough/sinus infection for over six weeks. I caught it at the Cher concert we recently attended, probably because I’ve worked from home for over a year my immunity to minor bugs has lowered, so it was easy to pick up something form all those “germy people breathing all over me” in the crowded venue.  I was getting depressed from the long illness and didn’t understand why it was hanging around when all my blood etc tests showed me to be healthier than any average person. 

I read a comment in Shirley’s book that suggested illness is often a sign that we need to change something in our life. Long story short that led me to ask my “people” (guides, angels whatever you prefer) who gave me an immediate answer, which I then started to question, so I consulted my Angel Cards which, in only ONE selection pounded home the same point… that I had to re-balance a certain distracting obsession in my life immediately.  So I made the agreement with them and, with the help of my doctor, I began to see an immediate release from the illness. 

No, I won’t tell you the specifics, but suffice to say it was one of those very “human” situations where you know the obsession or addiction to some distraction is taking over your life, but you just keep ignoring all the signs… until the universe has to back you into a corner and MAKE you see what you are pretending to ignore.  This time I was backed into the corner and handed a book written by Shirley MacLaine published seven years ago to slap me back to reality… and get me writing again as well!

There’s so much in “I’m Over All That” that resonates with me, it’s like I’m becoming more and more like Shirley without even knowing her… or put more simply, we are on the same spiritual journey through a very similar list of life lessons. (By the way, if you want to know why I’ve called this post “Shurri” you’ll have to read the book 😉  )

Here’s just one of those passages:

I’m Over Fear Taught In The Name Of Religion. (Page 28).

I never cease to be amazed at how far some religious people will go to turn their destinies over to god rather than take charge of them for themselves. If the devil really does exist, he would beat his chest with pride at how significant we humans have made him. More movies and books have been made heralding his existence than anything else… because the FEAR of him makes so much MONEY. Fear seems to be the most common human emotion and the easiest to exploit. Fear of god, fear of the devil, fear of terrorists, fear of death, fear of life, fear of race, (fear of authority), fear, fear, fear. Learn how to propagandise FEAR, and you can control a civilisation and make a LOT of MONEY…

 In fact, everywhere I have traveled in the world, the conflicts I’ve seen stemmed from organised religion in one way or another…  

 What I was learning about religion around the world as I traveled was that it afforded each denomination and culture an opportunity to BYPASS RESPONSIBILITY for itself and assign that task to god. (Also creating their devil in the image of their longtime cultural enemy or their “imagined” enemy, also declaring them an enemy of their god to justify their godless hatred and war.)…

Therefore, I gave up religion a long time ago. I’m over all that religion thing and have been ever since I put my experiences with my own karma together with my strong sense of SELF-RESPONSIBILITY…

Shirley MacLaine 2011.  

(Emphasis is mine… Michael Young)