Find out who you are and then give yourself away. Kody Bateman
Usually, the books I share are familiar to pretty-much everyone. But every once in a while, I find or receive something as a gift that’s brand new… never heard of the book or author… and whatdoyaknow?… I like it! This is one of those times.
Promptings by Kody Bateman was a gift from my friend Bonney, who wrote on the title page that she felt “a prompting” to present it to me. My friends are so awesome!
Bonney is … if I may digress just a bit… a true gem among (wo)men. She is always joyful, upbeat, energetic and a pleasure to be around. She’s *ahem* years older than me and you’d never guess it. Not ever.
I really like this book because Bateman asks you to trust and act upon your feelings. You know, a lot of books say not to do that. One of my health anxiety books says to tell yourself, over and over again, “Feelings aren’t facts,” and of course, we know that’s true.
Except.
What happens when “a prompting” (or feeling) is ignored and you find out later, it was truth? On the back of the book, there is a short story about how Kody ignored a prompting and it led to him missing out on the opportunity to say goodbye to his brother, who died two months later.
I guess that’s why I’m so maudlin… saying “I love you” each and every time I get off the phone with my kids, my parents, family and friends… the pizza delivery guy. Kidding!
I never want to leave “I love you” unsaid. Could there be anything worse than words permanently left unsaid?
I think I have a book with that title: The Words Left Unsaid. Or maybe it’s just a country song. PS: You’ll probably read about it later because I’m almost positive it’s a book. 🙂
This book is jam-packed with stories, ideas and personal reflections. Wall-to-wall words. Tons of good stuff.
He talks a lot about the notion of “I am” statements. My favorite story is about LeBron James, and I hate to give away the “punchline” so I’ll just say… this one story is worth the price of admission… or in this case, the book. Because, if you do the one thing LeBron James did, you can change your life.
The most important thing he talks about… at least in my opinion… is giving. The whole book is threaded with how good… no, great… relationships are built … on giving. And not just personal relationships! Every relationship! He shares this quote and it bears repeating:
The day of the ‘go-getter’ has passed. He has been supplanted by the ‘go-giver’. Napoleon Hill
Final note: Bateman is the founder of a program (organization?) called SendOutCards. I do have to share a disclaimer because when I went to find the link for SendOutCards, I saw that some people feel it’s a MLM scam. I had no idea! I honestly thought it was a really neat idea. So, I guess I’ll just say, “Do your homework” and follow your gut, er, promptings.
The Self-Help Whisperer® 