Giveaway and Book Review #43: ALPHATUDES: The Alphabet of Gratitude by Michele Wahlder

Rules for entering this giveaway are at the bottom of this post.

ALPHATUDES: The Alphabet of Gratitude

by Michele Wahlder

Pub. Date: January 2010
Publisher: Life Possibilities Publishing
Format: Paperback, 128pp
ISBN-13: 9780982364505
ISBN: 0982364504

Description (from the publisher):

Sometimes complicated problems have simple solutions.

In Alphatudes: The Alphabet of Gratitude, Michele Wahlder reveals the unexpected and simple secret to living a joyful life: gratitude. In a world obsessed with negativity, we must deliberately choose to focus our attention toward the positive.
The good news is the homework is already done! Alphatudes utilizes your earliest grade school victory—the ABCs—to elicit a sustainable shift in your thinking and outlook on life. This book will help you:

•Heighten your awareness and appreciation of life’s daily gifts

•Attract opportunities with a positive mind-set

•Surmount life’s challenges with a healthy reservoir of gratitude

•Find the hidden blessings in difficult situations

•Free yourself from worry, negativity and resentment
 

Alphatudes shares the practical, yet remarkable, secrets of embracing a grateful, positive outlook and approaching life’s little challenges with grace, gratitude and hope.

Resplendent with breathtaking illustrations, heartfelt prayers, uplifting affirmations and quotes, Alphatudes takes you on an extraordinary 26-step journey grounded in spiritual principles and universal human concepts. An inspiring guide that serves as a road map and a trusted companion on life’s journey, Alphatudes: The Alphabet of Gratitude provides an uplifting, simple method for positively transforming your life … one day at a time.

Click here to visit the author's website.

Click here to read an interview with the author.

My Rating:  4 out of 5 Stars

My Thoughts:  I've frequently heard how valuable it is to consciously express gratitude on a daily basis, and I've often wanted to start a gratitude journal. Somehow, I never got around to it. When I was offered the opportunity to review ALPHATUDES: The Alphabet of Gratitude by Michele Wahlder, I took it as a sign to put my intentions into action.

One of the things that had held me back from focusing on gratitude was that I had convinced myself of how it had to be done. I thought I needed to have a special journal and write in it every evening a list of things for which I was grateful. With the help of this little book, I've realized that I can express my gratitude anywhere, any time of day, and in a multitude of ways.

The book is lightweight and slim and it's easy to carry around in my purse - so I have been. Some mornings I pull into the parking lot at work and read a segment and then hold those thoughts in my mind throughout the day. Sometimes I don't read it until my lunch break or before I head home. Then I think about one of the concepts, such as forgiveness, joy, obstacles, or even "now", and apply them to interpreting events that occured that day. Other times, I don't read it until just before I go to sleep. Regardless of the time of day, I've found reading it, focusing on the concepts, and applying them to events in my life to be a relaxing, restorative, and centering exercise.

In ALPHATUDES, each letter of the alphabet is dedicated to a positive and uplifting discussion of a concept. Included are such diverse subjects as beauty and music and the "universal yes." The segment begins with a colorful illustration which visually connects to the concept. Then there is a quote on the topic, a short discussion followed by an affirmation and, finally, a short prayer. Each concept is covered in a total of 4 pages. It's a wonderful format for a busy person.

I've been very pleased with my copy of ALPHATUDES and, of course (here it comes . . . ) grateful! I've read it on an almost daily basis. Some of the images are ingrained in my brain and I only have to call up the illustration to bring to mind the positive message of that concept. A few of the quotes are beginning to stick with me and guide me through my day. I've found this book to be a valuable and comforting resource and definitely recommend it, especially to those who want to be more spiritually expressive, but don't really know how to begin or have a lot of time to devote each day.

My copy of ALPHATUDES is a keeper, but thanks to the author and publisher, I have one (1) copy to giveaway. Here's how to enter:

RULES FOR ENTERING THE GIVEAWAY:

• Leave a comment on this post telling me you would like to win. Include an email address with your comment so that I can contact you if you do win. Use a spam-thwarting format such as geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com or geebee.reads [at] gmail [dot] com

• You must leave an email address in order to qualify. If I can't contact you, you can't win!

• You can earn an extra entry by being or becoming a Follower or Subscriber of this blog and telling me about it in a separate comment.

• Blog about this contest and provide me with the link to the post in a separate comment, and I'll give you yet another entry.

• Tweeting about this contest and providing me the link in a separate comment will get you one more entry. I've added a Retweet button at the bottom of every post.

• Stumble this blog, Digg it, or Technorati Fave it, whatever, and leave a separate comment for another entry.

• Winners must provide a U.S. or Canadian street address - no P.O. Boxes.

• Deadline for entry is 11:59 p.m. EST on Saturday, March 19, 2010.

• Winners will have 48 hours to respond to my email announcing that they have won; if I don't hear from a winner, I will draw another name.

Thank you to Rebecca
of The Cadence Group

for providing my review and giveaway copies.

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!