Book Review

NOTE: This review was produced for Common Threads, a sub-site of Men's Wearhouse devoted to the promotion of humanistic business practices.

Real Magic: Creating Miracles in Everyday Life
by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer (Harper Collins, 339 pages)

When we speak of miracles, we think in terms of parting the waters, or walking on them. Or maybe we think of such modern-day "miracles" as feats of engineering or great advances in the realms of scientific discovery.

When we speak of magic, it's in terms of sleight-of-hand stunts or people sawed in half. Or we may be talking about "magical" cures for the common cold.

But how many of us think of real miracles and real magic as being part of our everyday lives? Most of us do not. We cast a doubtful eye at anything that can't be explained scientifically, that doesn't fit into our preconceptions of "the real world". We live our lives in a state of skepticism; typically our motto is I'll believe it when I see it.

With his book Real Magic: Creating Miracles in Everyday Life, Wayne Dyer wants to help us change this motto to its opposite: I'll see it when I believe it. Seems to me that adopting this attitude will change our lives for the better, even if it only helps us see how magical our lives already are. But it can do much more than that.

As Dyer explains in the introduction, "This is a book about miracles. . . . and how you can create [them] in your own life." His intent is to show us how to bring about a life we previously considered unattainable.

Part of learning what Dyer wants to teach us is unlearning what we already "know". We live under many debilitating misconceptions. For instance:

We believe that we're genetically or environmentally predisposed to a mediocre life, instead of knowing that our lives are what we choose to make of them.

We believe that luck is something others have and we don't, instead of knowing that we can create our own luck and success.

We believe that we're destined to suffer through hardships, instead of knowing that every experience brings a valuable lesson if we only choose to learn it.

We believe that life is dull, drab, and boring without expensive toys and trappings, instead of realizing that the world around us -- like our very lives -- is full of wonder, beauty, and adventure, regardless of how much money we have to spend.

So how do we go about trading up to a new mindset? How can you learn to create magic in your own life? In Chapter Three, Dyer offers the following summary of his 14 keys to a miracle mindset:

Don't worry if you don't immediately understand all of this; Dyer discusses each of these points in detail. And at the end of each discussion, he offers suggestions for implementing each point in your life. These simple exercises will help you begin to alter your focus, see your life in a new way, and act in concert with your deepest desires.

Part Two of the book delves into how to use real magic to transform different aspects of your life, including your relationships with others, your prosperity and physical health, even your identity. Again, in addition to in-depth discussions on these areas, Dyer offers specific suggestions for putting your new knowledge to good use.

For instance, to create prosperity in your life, replace old thought patterns centered on scarcity with thoughts focused on the things you'd like to have. Commit these thoughts to paper, and use the exercise as a means to plant your desires firmly in your mind. This can be the beginning of your process of manifesting your desires, because every action is preceded by a thought. See it in your mind, believe it in your heart, and then create it in your life.

Want to change some personal trait? First define the change within your mind: how this new person would act, speak, and carry himself or herself. Once you see the new you in your mind's eye, you can begin to act like this new person you've envisioned. Take it one small step at a time, one action at a time. Focus on it daily, and pretty soon you'll discover that you no longer need to become this new person because you already are this new person.

Can it be as simple as this -- that creating miracles in your life hinges on the fact that (according to Dyer) "You become in the physical world that which you create in your invisible world"? Yes, it can.

But first you have to believe. You have to know that it can. Then you'll see the first evidence of it in your life. And once you do that, the real magic begins. From that point, is there any limit to the possibilities?

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