How to Live a Life Filled with Meaning

Book Review The Shift; Taking Your Life From Ambition To Meaning

By Dr. Wayne Dyer

 

One of life's biggest questions – a question everyone will ponder at some time – is how to live a life filled with meaning and purpose.  Today Dr Wayne Dyer's latest book The Shift is being released. This book is the companion book to his movie The Shift: Taking Your Life From Ambition To Meaning. The book's main theme centers around exploring the process of moving away from a hollow existence to a life that is rich, meaningful and purpose-orientated. 

Dr Wayne Dyer explains the various shifts we encounter as we grow from children into fully functioning adults; this book teaches that we need to make some more shifts in consciousness during adulthood if we want to create a meaningful life, a life that will transcend the constant striving of the ego and ultimately fulfill the callings of the soul. The book is just over 100 pages and contains a lot of valuable insights and wisdom that the author has collected over many years of being a prominent writer and speaker in the self-help field.

Dr Wayne Dyer's recent books strongly show his interest and respect for the Tao and this book is no exception as he weaves the human journey from ambition to meaning along-side many of the ancient teachings of the Tao Te Ching. Dyer also pulls on wisdom from other religious traditions as well as numerous knowledgeable teachers and authors. The book reveals the deeper meaning of life and highlights what really matters, it asks what is fulfillment and whether striving towards always having more stuff, status or money is really fulfilling at all? Dyer takes the reader on a journey beyond the superficial strivings of the ego to discover the abundance of life that can be found once the limits of the ego have been transcended and we enter into a deeply spiritual life. This is described so eloquently through a quote in the book by the spiritual entity Emmanuel "Our mind doesn't know the way, our heart has already been there, and our soul never left. Welcome Home!" Dyer writes "Having arrived home, each breath we take is an expression of our life purpose. We no longer struggle to win; gain the approval of others; meet expectations others had for us; fulfill someone else's idea of our dharma; or acquire, achieve or hoard. We let go of conflict, certainty, being right, fighting, dominating, vanquishing, and feeling superior. All of this ego stuff loses its power and attraction when we arrive home, where Meaning welcomes us" (page 86). This is when we have made the shift in our lives to Meaning. However to arrive here, the book says that we need to go through various shifts from ambition to meaning.

The book is divided into four chapters: From, Ambition, To and Meaning and each chapter describes the different changes in our awareness that are necessary in order to let go of the ego and return to divine self. Personally, I found the first chapter a bit dry and I feel that many right brain readers could loose interest in the book before it moves on to the rich and fascinating content covered in the next three chapters. The first chapter mainly covers Dyer's theory of the beginning of life and his perspective could be debated. However, as chapter one draws to an end Dyer does provide the reader with a beautiful passage from A Course in Miracles that sets up a reflective reading experience that continues nicely throughout the remainder of the book.

This is a deep book. What I really did like about the book is the size and simplicity. It is an easy read and you will not feel overwhelmed with the content or feel as if you need a month's vacation lying on the beach to get through it. The reading experience is enjoyable and each page contains a wealth of powerful messages and insights to weave into your life.

There is no short cut through life, and sometimes we can only arrive in the Meaning phase of life through the occurrence of some traumatic event such as illness, death or divorce. However the beauty of the book shows the reader that life is a precious gift and by following certain guidelines one can know deep joy and experience heaven on earth simply by choosing to raise their level of consciousness. This book is not a quick-fix to finding one's purpose, but instead it offers a spiritual and service-orientated lifestyle that will lead a person down a path centered in love, humility, trust, service and oneness where a person can ultimately find a true sense of fulfillment, harmony and joy.

If you are asking one of life's biggest questions – how to live a life filled with meaning and purpose, then I strongly recommend Dr Wayne Dyers latest book. This book will help you weave together the strands of your life so that you can arrive at a peaceful place, put down your armor and allow yourself just to be who you truly are with no façade. This book can teach you to be yourself! I believe strongly in the importance of living a life of passion and purpose.

Over the years I have benefited greatly from many of Dr. Wayne Dyer's books and I am a big fan of his PBS specials, so I agreed to review this book. Hay House provided me with a free copy of this book which helped me to write this review.  I truly think the readers of this blog will benefit from insight shared in The Shift, it is packed with wise words to reflect upon and act on daily. I would suggest that the book and the movie go together; I believe they really do compliment one another and make for a more integrated experience. Although you could either watch the DVD or read the book.

If you would like to purchase The Shift: Taking Your Life from Ambition to Meaning, by Dr Wayne Dyer, you can order it at  Amazon. Book: The Shift: Taking Your Life from Ambition to Meaning Author: Dr Wayne Dyer Publisher: Hay House 2009 ISBN: 978-1-4019-2709-7

"Meaning is not achieved through your ego and its selfish ways, but through the part of yourself that is selfless" – Dr Wayne Dyer

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