Also by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
BOOKS
Change Y our Thoughts—Change Y our Life
Co-cr eating at Its Best  (with Esther Hicks)
Don’ t Die with Y our Music Still in Y ou  (with Serena Dyer)
Everyday W isdom
Everyday W isdom for Success
Excuses Begone! Getting in the Gap
Good-bye, Bumps! (children’ s book with Saje Dyer)
I Am  (children’ s book with Kristina T racy)
I Can See Clearly Now
Incr edible Y ou! (children’ s book with Kristina T racy)
Inspiration
The Invisible For ce
It’ s Not What Y ou’ve Got! (children’ s book with Kristina T racy)
Living the W isdom of the T ao
Memories of Heaven  (with Dee Garnes)
My Gr eatest T eacher  (with L ynn Lauber)
No Excuses! (children’ s book with Kristina T racy)
The Power of Intention
The Power of Intention  gift edition
A Pr omise Is a Pr omise
The Shift
Staying on the Path
10 Secr ets for Success and Inner Peace
Unstoppable Me! (children’ s book with Kristina T racy)
Y our Ultimate Calling
W ishes FulfilledAUDIO/CD PROGRAMS
Advancing Y our Spirit  (with Marianne W illiamson)
Applying the 10 Secr ets for Success and Inner Peace
The Car oline Myss & W ayne Dyer Seminar
Change Y our Thoughts—Change Y our Life
(unabridged audio book)
Change Y our Thoughts Meditation
Co-cr eating at Its Best  (unabridged audio book)
Divine Love
Dr . W ayne W . Dyer Unplugged  (interviews with Lisa Garr)
Everyday W isdom ( audio book)
Excuses Begone! (available as an audio book and a lecture)
How to Get What Y ou Really , Really , Really , Really W ant
I AM W ishes Fulfilled Meditation  (with James T wyman)
I Can See Clearly Now  (unabridged audio book)
The Importance of Being Extraor dinary  (with Eckhart T olle)
Inspiration  (abridged 4-CD set)
Inspirational Thoughts
Making the Shift  (6-CD set)
Making Y our Thoughts W ork for Y ou  (with Byron Katie)
Meditations for Manifesting
101 W ays to T ransform Y our Life  (audio book)
The Power of Intention  (abridged 4-CD set)
A Pr omise Is a Pr omise  (audio book)
Secr ets of Manifesting
The Secr ets of the Power of Intention  (6-CD set)
10 Secr ets for Success and Inner Peace
Ther e Is a Spiritual Solution to Every Pr oblem
The W ayne Dyer Audio Collection/CD Collection
W ishes Fulfilled  (unabridged audio book)
DVDs
Change Y our Thoughts—Change Y our Life
Co-cr eating at Its Best  (with Esther Hicks)
Excuses Begone! Experiencing the MiraculousI Can See Clearly Now
The Importance of Being Extraor dinary  (with Eckhart T olle)
Inspiration
Modern W isdom fr om the Ancient W orld
My Gr eatest T eacher  (a film with bonus material featuring W ayne)
The Power of Intention
The Shift, the movie  (available as a 1-DVD program
and an expanded 2-DVD set)
10 Secr ets for Success and Inner Peace
Ther e’ s a Spiritual Solution to Every Pr oblem
W ishes Fulfilled
MISCELLANEOUS
Daily Inspiration fr om W ayne Dyer Calendar
(for each individual year)
The Essential W ayne Dyer Collection  (comprising The Power of Inten-
tion, Inspiration,  and Excuses Begone! in a single volume)
The Shift Box Set  (includes The Shift  DVD and The Shift
tradepaper book)
All of the above are available at your local bookstore, or
may be ordered by visiting:
Hay House USA: www .hayhouse.com®
Hay House Australia: www .hayhouse.com.au
Hay House UK: www .hayhouse.co.uk
Hay House South Africa: www .hayhouse.co.za
Hay House India: www .hayhouse.co.in
Copyright © 2006 by W ayne W . Dyer
Published and distributed in the United States by:  Hay House, Inc.: www .hayhouse.com® •
Published and distributed in Australia by:  Hay House Australia Pty . Ltd.: www .hayhouse.com.au  •
Published and distributed in the United Kingdom by:  Hay House UK, Ltd.: www .hayhouse.co.uk  •
Published and distributed in the Republic of South Africa by:  Hay House SA (Pty), Ltd.:
www .hayhouse.co.za  • Distributed in Canada by:  Raincoast Books: www .raincoast.com  • Published
in India by:  Hay House Publishers India: www .hayhouse.co.in
W ayne Dyer ’ s editor:  Joanna Pyle
Editorial supervision:  Jill Kramer • Design:  Bryn Starr Best
Interior illustrations used under license fr om Shutterstock.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or
electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval
system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private use—other than for “fair use” as
brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews—without prior written permission of the publisher . The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a
form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician,
either directly or indirectly . The intent of the author is only to of fer information of a general nature to
help you in your quest for emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of
the information in this book for yourself, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for
your actions. Library of Congr ess Contr ol Number for the pr evious edition:  2005929672
Hardcover ISBN:  978-1-4019-1038-9
T radepaper ISBN:  978-1-4019-5173-3
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1st edition, February 2006
2nd edition, July 2016
Printed in the United States of AmericaFor Elizabeth Crow. 10,000 thank-yous for your magical,
loving presence. It is evident on every page of this book. For my brother David. We balanced each other
through all the lean years. I love you. CONTENTS
Intr oduction
CHAPTER 1:  An Infinity of For ests Lies Dormant W ithin the Dr eams of
One Acorn
CHAPTER 2:  Ther e’ s Mor e to Life Than Making It Go Faster
CHAPTER 3:  Y ou Can’ t Kiss Y our Own Ear
CHAPTER 4:  Y our Addictions T ell Y ou, “Y ou’ll Never Get Enough of What
Y ou Don’ t W ant”
CHAPTER 5:  Y ou’r e Not  What Y ou Eat; Y ou’r e What Y ou  Believe about
What Y ou Eat
CHAPTER 6:  Y ou Can’ t Discover Light by Analyzing the Darkness
CHAPTER 7:  Fighting Any Adverse Condition Only Incr eases Its Power
Over Y ou
CHAPTER 8:  Love Is What’ s Left Over When Falling in Love Fades A way
CHAPTER 9:  Earth’ s Crammed with Heaven
About the Author“Want is a growing giant whom the coat of Have
was never large enough to cover. . . .”
— RALPH WALDO EMERSON
INTRODUCTION
The concept of b alance defines our Universe. The cosmos, our p lanet, the
seasons, water , wind, fire, and earth are all in perfect balance. W e humans
are the only exception. This boo k is my attempt to help you restore this natural equilibr ium in all
aspects of your life. Getting in balance is not so much about ad opting new
strategies to change your behaviors, as it is about realigning yourself in all
of your thoughts so as to create a balance between what you des ire and how
you conduct your life on a daily basis. When my editor completed her final reading of this book, she scribbled
these wo rds to me on a cover sheet: “W ayne, Being in Balance  i s great ! No
one can read th is and not come  away revitalized. I feel as if I’m back in
balance myself.” I trust that you will feel the same sense of joyful
awakening to the perfect balan ce of our Universe as you read and adopt
these nine principles. It is precisely what I had in mind as I allowed these
ideas to flow through me and materialize within these pages. I love this book. I love the way it feels in my hands, and I love the
message it has for you. May you use these principles every day to restore
yourself to that perfectly balanced place from which you originated. — In love and glorious light,
W ayne W . Dyer ,  Maui, HawaiiCHAPTER ONE
AN INFINITY OF FORESTS LIES DORMANT
WITHIN THE DREAMS OF ONE ACORN
B A L A N C I N G  Y O U R  D R E A M S  W I T H  Y O U R  H A B I T S 
“The greatest achievement was at rst and for a time
a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird sleeps in
the egg; and in the highest vision of the soul, a waking
angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities. . . .”
— JAMES ALLEN
“True imagination is not fanciful daydreaming;
it is re from heaven.”
— ERNEST HOLMES
O 
ne  of the huge im balances in life is the disparity between your
daily ex istence, with its routines and habits, and the dream you
have deep within yourself of some extraordinarily satisfying way
of l iving. In the quote that opens this chapter , James Allen  poetically
explains that the dream is the ma gical realm out of which newly created life
emer ges. Buried  within you is an unlimited capacity for cre ation, what
Allen calls a waking angel  that’ s anxious to plant seedlings to fulfill your
dreams and your destiny . I simp ly couldn’ t resist adding the Ernest Holmes
quote describing this dynamic imagination as “fire from heaven.” They’re
both appropriate  invitations and reminders that you need to tend to that
burning fire, the dream within you, if living a balanced life is important. How This Imbalance Shows Up in Your Life
This absence of balance between dreams and habits may be very subtle. It doesn ’ t necessarily reveal itself in the obvious symptoms of heartburn,
depression illnes s, or anxiety—it’ s more often something that feels like an
unwelcome companion by your side, which continually whispers to you that
you’re ignoring  something. There’ s some often-unidentifiab le task or
experience that you sense is part of your beingness. It may seem intangible,
but you can fee l the longing to  be what you’re intended to be. Y ou sense
that there’ s a higher agenda; your way of life  and your r eason for life  are out
of b alance. Until you pay attention, this subtle visitor will continue to prod
you to regain your equilibrium. Think of  a balance scale with on e side weighted down and the other side
up, l ike a teeter - totter with an obese child on one end and a skinny kid on
the other . In this case, the heavy end that tips the scale out of balance is the
overweight kid representing you r everyday behaviors: the work you do, the
place where you reside, the people with whom you interact, your
geographic location, the books  you read, the movies you see, and the
conversations th at fill up your life. It’ s not that any of these things are badin an d of thems elves. The imbalance exists because they’re unhealthy for
your  particul ar life—they simply don’ t mesh with what you’ve im agined
yourself to be. W hen it’ s unhealthy , it’ s wrong, and on some level you feel
that. Wh en you live your life going th r ough th e motions,  it may seem to be
convenient, but the weight of your dissatisfaction creates a huge imbalance
in the only life you have now . Y ou’re perplexed by the ever -present gnawing feeling of dissatisfaction
that you can’ t seem to sha ke, that pit-of-the-stomach sensation of
emptiness. It shows up when you’re sound asleep and your dreams are filled
with rem inders of what you’d love to be, but you wake an d return to
pursuing your safe routine. Y ou r dreams are also demanding yo ur attention
in w aking life w hen you’re petulant and ar gumentative with others, because
in actua lity you ’re so frustrated with yourself that you try to relieve the
pressure by venting anger outward. Imbalance masquerades as a sense of
frustration with your current lif estyle. If you allow yourself to think about
this “fire from heaven,” you p roceed to rationalize your status quo with
explanations and mental mean derings that you know in your heart are
excuses because you don’ t think you have the tools to get in balance. Y ou may  get to a point where you become increasingly hard on yourself
and beg in see king medicatio n and other treatment for feelings of
inadequacy—and for what’ s called depr ession . Y ou’ll surely witness
yourself feeling  more and more angry and moody , with mo re frequent
occurrences of minor af flictions  such as colds, headaches, and insomnia. As
time goes on in this state of imb alance, there’ s less enthusiasm for what has
become the drudgery of life. W o rk is now even more routine, with even less
purpose and drive. These blahs  begin appearing in your beha vior toward
your family and those you love . Y ou’re easily agitated, picking on others
for no apparent reason. If you’re able to be honest with yo urself, you
recognize that your irritability stems from being out of balan ce with the
bigger d ream you’ve always had, but which is now apparently slipping
away . When th ese subtle symptoms surface, it’ s crucial to explore th e kind of
ener gy you’re giving to the s cale to create balance—or in this case,
imbalance. The heavy angst is w eighing down your reason for being—butyou are the only one who can rebalance this scale of your lif e. Here are
some too ls to help you return to  a balanced life, beginning with recognizing
the ways in which you may be sabotaging yourself. Mental Energy That Makes the Manifestation of Your
Dreams Impossible
Y our de sire to be and live from greatness is an aspect of your spiritual
ener gy . In order to create balance in this area of your life, you have to use
the ener gy of y our thoughts to harmonize with what you d esire. Y our
mental ener gy attracts what you think about. Thoughts that pay  homage to
frustration will attract frustration. When you say or think anything
resembling Ther e’ s nothing I can do; my li fe has spun out of contr ol, and
I’m trapped , that’ s what yo u’ll attract—that is, resistance to your highest
desires! Every thought of frust ration is like purchasing a ticket for more
frustration. Every thought tha t agrees that you’re stuck is asking the
Universe to send you even mor e  of that glue to keep  you stuck. The sing le most  important tool to being in balance is knowing that you
and you alone a r e r esponsible for the imbalance between wha t you dr eam
your life  is meant to be, and the daily habits that drain life fr om that dr eam . Y ou can  create a new alignment with your mental ener gy and instruct the
Universe to send opportunities to correct this imbalance. When  you do so,
you disc over tha t while the world of reality has its limits, the world of your
imagination is without boundaries. Out of this boundless imagination comes
the s eedling of a reality that’ s been crying out to be restored to  a balanced
environment. Restoring the Balance
The objective of this principle is to create a balance between dreams and
habits. The least complicated w ay to begin is to recognize the signs of
habitual ways of being, and th en learn to shift your thinking to being inbalance with your dreams. So what are your dreams? What is it that lives
within you that’ s never gone away? What inner night-light continues to
glow , ev en if it’ s only a glimmer , in your thoughts and dreams? Whatever it
is, however absurd it may seem to others, if you want to restore the balance
between your dreams and you r habits, you need to make a shift in the
ener gy that you’re contributing to your dreams. If you’re out of balance, it’ s
primarily because you’ve ener getically allowed your habits to define your
life. Tho se habit s, and the conse quences thereof, are the result o f the ener gy
you’ve given them. In the early stages of the rebalancing process, concentrate on this
awareness: Y ou get what you think about, whether you want it or not. Commit to thinking about wha t you want, rather than how impossible or
dif ficult that dream may seem. Give your personal dreams a place to hang
out on the balance scale so that you can see them in your imagination and
they can  soak up the ener gy they deserve. Thoughts are mental ener gy;
they’re the currency that you have to attract what you desire. Y ou must
learn to stop sp ending that currency on thoughts you don’ t want, even
though y ou may feel compelled to continue your habitual behavior . Y our
body mi ght con tinue, for a while, to stay where it’ s been traine d to be, but
meanwhile, thoughts are being aligned with your dreams. The esteemed
19th-century wr iter Louisa May Alcott phrases this idea in an encouraging
and inspiring manner:
Far away in the sunshine
are my highest inspirations. I may not reach them,
but I can look up and see the beauty,
believe in them and try to follow
where they lead. . . .Choosing to restore a semblance of balance between your dreams and
your habits seems possible with Ms. Alcott’ s phrases in mind: “look up and
see,” and  “believ e in them.” The  words bring to life an ener getic alignment. Rather t han putting your thoughts on what is, or what you’ve habitually
thought for a l ifetime, you shift to looking up and seeing, and firmly
believing in what you see. When you begin to think in this manner , the
Universe conspi res to work with  you, and sends you precisely what you’re
thinking and believing. It doesn ’ t always happen instantaneous ly , but once
the realignment is initiated in your thoughts, you’ve begun being in balance. The Habit of Thinking in Alignment with Your Dreams
Oscar W ilde onc e observed that “we are all in the gutter , but some of us
are l ooking at th e stars.” This is a perfect example of what it means to align
your vision and thoughts so th at they’re balanced with what you sense
you’re here to be. A thought such as It is my intention to cr eate a place to
help underprivileged childr en  is in reality a message to the Universe. If you
feel stro ngly tha t you came her e for a particular purpose, then  you should
cultivate ener g y to match this dream. It doesn’ t matter what the
circumstances of your life are. Y our current financial status is unimportant
when it comes to your pursuit o f this purpose. The presence of  a gaggle of
naysayers shoul dn’ t sway you or make you doubt your attraction to your
calling. What you’re doing as yo u get your life balanced with your dream is
beginning to co-create your life. Co-creation is cooperatively usi ng the ener gy from the invisibl e field of
Spirit. It is perfectly balancing your in-the-world calling with the pure
ener gy of creation. Y ou emulate this creation field by being as much like it
as possi ble. This involves your willingness to contemplate yourself as a
being of balance attracting the c onditions you desire to produce. It is in the
contemplation o f this power that you actually acquir e this power . Reread
that statement until it sticks with you like super glue. Y ou cannot manifest a
place f or helping underprivileged children by contemplating the
impossibility  of that happening. Even if you’re in the gutter , you have the
option of looking at the stars. This means thinking star thoughts andrejecting the weight of those that attract the gutter . Y our balance point is a
certainty that you af firm with th oughts along the lines of I know it, I desir e
it, it’ s on its way , nothing can stop it, and ther e’ s nothing for me to be upset
about. This alig nment will completely turn your world around. The Universe is
based on a Law of Attraction. Y ou’ll begin seeing the Universe  conspiring
with you  to attract the right pe ople, the right finances, and the  seemingly
synchronistic ev ents to turn your dreams into reality , here and now . When
you’re balanced with thoughts of deserving this cooperation from the world
of S pirit, you a ctively engage in bringing it about. Y ou’re e njoying the
lightness of being in balance wi th the creative ener gy of life. It’ s no longer
possible to sit around complaining or feeling frustrated. Y ou are ener gized! Why? Because you’re balanced with the Source of all creation. And just
like it, you acc ess creativity by attracting all that you need with your
thoughts. It just doesn’ t work if you’re in a state of imbalance, complaining,
living in fear , or expecting the worst. The same logic of realignment  for balancing your dream ene r gy with
your daily habits applies to any thing you’re capable of imagining: writing
and producing your own music  album, training horses, adopting a child
from an impoverished land, own ing your own home in the country , landing
the job that’ s always eluded you, making the kind of money th at will free
you from debt, running a marathon. . . . Y ou name it, and if you can dream
it, y ou can achi eve it. But only  if you align your inner creative ener gy—
your thoughts— so that they match up perfectly with your desire s. Thoughts
that rein force cu rrent habits that are incongruous with your desire must be
replaced with aligned ener gy . No o ne has said it better than Jesus of Nazareth: “Believe that you shall
receive and you shall receive.” What’ s the point of living a li fe disputing
such in-balance wisdom?CHAPTER TWO
THERE’S MORE TO LIFE THAN
MAKING IT GO FASTER
B A L A N C I N G  Y O U R  D E S I R E  T O  E N J O Y  L I F E
W I T H  Y O U R  N E E D  T O  A C H I E V E 
“One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous
breakdown is the belief that one’s
work is terribly important . . .”
— BERTRAND RUSSELL
“The more you advance toward God, the less He will
give you worldly duties to perform . . .”
— RAMAKRISHNA
T 
he k ey t o balancing your desire to be at peace with your need to
achieve, perform , and earn a living is in recognizing that there’ s no
such thing as stress; there are only people thinking stres sful
thoughts. It’ s really as simple as that. When you change the way you
process the world, the world you’re processing changes. Stress is an insi de job. Y ou can ’ t fill a container with it because tension
isn’ t a physical item or object. There isn’ t some thing  that you can point to
and say , Ther e it is, that’ s str ess! It simply doesn’ t exist in that form. Y et
112 mill ion people in America take medication for stress-related symptoms,
which in clude fa tigue, heart palpitations, indigestion, diarrhea, c onstipation,
nervousness, excessive eating, rashes, nail biting, loss of appetite, insomnia,
anxiety , irritability , panic, moodiness, memory lapses, the inability to
concentrate, ulc ers, obsessive-c ompulsive behavior , feeling up set . . . and
on and on goes an almost inexhaustible list. And they’re all caused by
something that doesn’ t exist in the physical world. Being out of ba lance on this st ress measure results in being one of the
millions of people requiring medication to manage the symptoms listed
above. It means that you often feel exasperated because you never really
enjoy the life yo u work so hard  to achieve. Y ou may frequently feel as if
you’re spending  your life running on an endless treadmill. All of the
pressure of working and striving may have many worldly rewards, yet at the
same time there’ s a feeling of going absolutely nowhere. If this sounds familiar , it’ s a signal to begin reconsidering ways of
processing thoughts about your  life and work, and start pursuing freedom
from the symptoms of stress b y becoming more balanced. Getting into
balance isn’ t necessarily about changing your behavior . Certai nly you can
pursue stress-reducing activities such as meditation, exercise, w alks along a
beach, or whatever works for you. But if you continue to align yourself with
achieving more, defeating the other guy , winning at all costs , and going
faster because you believe that’ s how to keep up, then you’re guaranteed to
attract th e vibrat ional equivalent  of this thinking into your life—even if you
do yoga and stand on your head chanting mantras every day!Stress Reduction Is about Realignment
Y ou become what you think about all day long. Y ou also become how
you think  al l day long. T o measure the we ight of your thoughts, you need to
think in terms o f vibration and ener gy . Let’ s suppose that you have a high-
frequency desire to be a person who has no symptoms of stress. Let’ s assign
this thought a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10, with the lowest-ener gy thought of 1
representing a nervous breakdown, and a 10 representing enlightened,
peaceful mastery . Next, yo u need to note the thoughts you have that support your desire for
a p eaceful, stress-free life. Thou ghts such as I’m overwhelmed, I never have
enough time, I have so many p eople wanting things fr om me that I don’ t
even have time to think, I have so much mor e on my plate than I can handle,
and I fee l pr essur ed by my need to  make money to pay my bills  aren’ t
balanced and peaceful. These thoughts are resistant ener gy , which counters
the desi re for a peaceful, stre ss-free existence. In other words, they’re
nonaligned and out of balance. Y our desire may be a 10, but y our mental
ener gy in this situation is in a much lower range, perhaps a 2 or 3. Simply c hanging your behavior isn’ t going to get you back into balance. Y ou’re s till attra cting symptom s of stress when you say no to  people and
their demands, but vibrate to a frequency that’ s thinking, I r eally should be
doing what they ask of me,  or Maybe I can squ eeze in their r e quests later . Y ou may have pulled back from an overly full and frenzied schedule, yet
you con tinue to  radiate thoughts of fear and scarcity that will activate the
Law of Attraction to bring you fear and scarcity . If st ress thoughts are tipping the scale, that’ s what the Law of Attraction
brings. Remember: Y ou become what you think about! If you’re thinking
scarcity or anger or fear , guess what? That’ s what the Law of Attraction
attracts! Even with a well-balanced schedule that allows for mo re free time,
and even with plenty of stress-reducing activities on your pared-down
personal calenda r , if you fail to align your thoughts with the suc cess you’re
capable of attracting, the weight  of the dominant thoughts will tip the scale
away from a bal anced life. How you live your daily life will remain out ofbalance, and you’ll have failed to assimilate the essence of Gandhi’ s advice
that there is more to life than “increasing its speed.”
What yo u most need to learn is how to create a match between what it is
that you  desire in your life, and what thoughts, or vibrational ener gy , you’re
choosing to attract those desires. Realigning Your Point of Attraction: The Art of
Becoming
Here’ s one of m y favorite quotes from my teacher in India, Nis ar gadatta
Maharaj:
There is nothing to do. Just be. Do nothing. Be. No climbing mountains and sitting in caves. I do not even say “be yourself”
since you do not know yourself. Just be. This idea may c ontradict everything you’ve been taught and how you’ve
lived so far , but let it sink in any way . If your lifetime inventory of ideas and
rules has contributed to your being one of those 112 million who use
medication to handle nonexis tent stress, you can certainly af ford to
entertain this thought. As you begin practicing the principles to realign with
a vibrat ion that matches your desire for a tranquil, peaceful life, you’ll
become more conscious of your  thoughts. These thoughts of yo urs literally
determine who you are. And the fact that you’re reading these wordssuggests that you’re intereste d in becoming more conscious of your
thoughts. Being  and becoming  are use d synonymously here. I n order to restore a
sense of  balance  between your d esire for tranquility and your de sire to meet
the requirements of your life, you must practice becoming,  and being  the
vibration that you desire. — BEING PEACE:  Pea ce isn’ t something that you  ultimately receive
when you slow down the pace o f your life. Peace is what you’re capable of
being and bringing to every encounter and event in the waking moments of
your life . Most of us are wagin g a nonstop internal mental sk irmish with
everyone we encounter . Being peaceful is an inner attitude th at you can
enjoy when you’ve learned to s ilence your incessant inner dialogue. Being
peaceful isn’ t dependent on wha t your surroundings look like. It  seldom has
anything to do with what the people around you think, say , or do. A
noiseless environment isn’ t a requirement. St. F rancis’ s famous prayer sta tes it better than I can: “Make me an
instrument of thy peace.” In other words, St. Francis wasn’ t asking God to
provide him with peace. He wa s asking for guidance to be more like the
peace he trusted was his Source. Being peace  is dif ferent from looking for
peace. This principle isn’ t about merely choosing tranquil thoughts when you’re
feeling frayed and anxious. I suggest picturing a container deep within
yourself out of w hich all your thoughts flow . Inside of this con tainer , at its
very cen ter , ima gine a candle fl ame. Y ou need to make a commitment that
this flame in the  center of the container holding all of your th oughts will
never , ever even flicker , although the very worst may go before you. This is
your container of peace, and only peaceful thoughts can fuel the burning
candle. Y ou don’ t need to chan ge your thoughts as much as you need to
learn to be an ener gy of peace lighting the way and attracting serene,
harmonious thoughts and beings. In this way , you’ll become a being of
peace.Obviously , you take this inner  receptacle with you wherever you go. When people attempt to put som e kind of pressure on you, when you feel
overwhelmed, o r when situations arise that previously incited your distress
or bellicosity , you can immediately turn to your inner candle flame of peace
and see how to keep your light  glowing. This is being  the peace that you
wish for yourself. This is of ferin g a matching vibration to your desire to be
a tranquil and amicable being, rather than a person suf fering from the
disease of trying to make life g o faster . Y ou’ve already seen th e results of
that foll y , and you notice the sy mptoms of stress in virtually ev eryone you
meet. As a being of peace, you make a huge impact on those around you. It’ s
almost i mpossible to be totally s tressed out in the presence of someone who
has opte d to be peace. Peace is a higher and faster ener gy—when you’re
being peace, just your presence alone will often nullify the uneasiness and
tension in those around you. In fact, this state causes pheromones of
measurable ener gy to emanate from you. They af fect others, who become
more peaceful without even bein g aware of the transformation t aking place. The secret of this principle for restoring balance to your life is: Be the peace
and harmony you desir e.  Y ou cannot get it from anything or anyone else. So you’ re not ready to take Nis ar gadatta’ s profound advice and just be? Then work at becoming  t hat  being with  the inner light of a steady candle
flame. Here are some exercises to initiate becoming and being peaceful:
Want the Peace You Desire for Yourself Even More
for Others
Practice giving peace away w herever you go by imagining that only
thoughts of peace are in the container within you. Of fer the se ener gies
wherever possib le. Become a p eacemaker with your fellow workers, your
family members, and especia lly those with whom you’re in a love
relationship. Leave your ego outside, where it can’ t extinguish your candle
flame. Then of fer someone with  whom you usually ar gue and make wrong
a ne w th ought f rom the light: Y ou’r e making a good point; I’l l think aboutthat. Or Thanks for giving your opinion; I value what you have to say . These statements may at first shock the recipient, but you know that you’re
practicing becoming a being of peace by giving away what you want. Ask
Use the words of St. Francis to ask to become peace: Make me an
instrument of thy peace. The  act of asking, even if you don’ t feel an answer
right away , will alter the balance toward becoming the peace that you
desire. Once you’ve asked, you’ll find that it is given more readily than you
may have suspected. This is a process of suspending your ego and allowing
the higher , more spiritually b ased ener gies to weigh in to ward your
becoming more balanced. Slow Down
T ake your time. I ur ge you to  reproduce Ramakrishna’ s and Bertrand
Russell’ s quotes that are at the beginning of this chapter . Post them where
you constantly notice them and let them become a part of your being. Y our
work isn’ t terribly important . . . your worldly duties are n’ t terribly
important. . . . Make your first and primary priority in your life being in
balance with the Sour ce of Cr e ation. B ecom e thoughtful in your slo wed-
down time, and invite the Divine to be known in your life. Being the peace
you desire means becoming a relaxed person whose balance point doesn’ t
attract anxiety and stress symptoms. Make deliberate, conscious ef forts to slow yourself down by relaxing
your mind. T ake a little more tim e to enjoy your life here on this planet: Be
more co ntemplative by noticing the stars, the clouds, the rivers, the animals,
the rainstorms, and all of the natural world. And then extend the same
slowed-down lo ving ener gy to all people. Begin with your fam ily—take a
few extra hours to romp with yo ur children, to listen to their ideas, to readthem a story . Go for a walk wi th your most cherished loved o ne and say
how much you treasure him or her in your life. Extend this slowed-down perspective outward at work, in your
community , and  even to stranger s. Make a deliberate ef fort to give someone
your pla ce in line rather than hurrying to be first. Become conscious of your
ef forts to become the peace yo u desire and to live in balance, even while
you’re driving. As you slow your thoughts down and decide to enjoy your
life more, bring your car to a stop at a yellow caution light rather than
speeding on through. Consciously drive at a relaxed pace rather than in a
frenzy to get so mewhere two minutes sooner . Let other peop le into the
stream of traf fic by being courteous rather than right. These are all ways to begin the process of realignment. Become
conscious of your desire to be at peace, and then match yo ur present-
moment thoughts to that desire. Y ou’ll become more compassionate without
trying to be, simply because y ou’ve aligned your inner world with your
desire to  be in b alance. Y ou’ll find that your body will feel mor e in balance
as y ou p ursue th is glorious quest, as it will experience fewer s ymptoms of
stress. Y our body weight will ad just to the optimal level as you return to a
state of perfect equilibrium. Y o ur skin will reflect the balance  and peace
that you’re becoming. Y our digestion will return to normal wit hout the aid
of pills. Y our sleep patterns will adjust. Y our bowels will function perfectly
as they were designed to. In short, you will be in perfect balance. Y ou will  not only be in balance, but irony of ironies, you’ll become more
productive! Y ou’ll have more abundance flowing in your life while being
peaceful for the first time since  you were a child. T ake the ad vice of my
teacher Nisar gadatta Maharaj: Just be! Give it a try , and I promise that you’ll be peacefully surprised. CHAPTER THREE
YOU CAN’T KISS YOUR OWN EAR
B A L A N C I N G  H O W  Y O U  S E E  Y O U R S E L F
W I T H  W H A T  Y O U  P R O J E C T  T O  T H E  W O R L D 
“I care not what others think of what I do, but I care
very much about what I think of what I do. That is character!”
— THEODORE ROOSEVELT
“It is better to be hated for what you are,
than loved for what you are not.”
— ANDRÉ GIDE
T 
he opening quote from Theodore Roosevelt is both compelling and
filled with irony . Y our balance  point is often found in feedback
from those whose opinions you trust and respect. This is an
exceptionally va luable option to give yourself. Being concerned with just
your ow n person al assessment of your behaviors or actions, at the expense
of what others th ink, can cause y ou to be out of balance. I’m not advocating
that opi nions or criticism, or even praise from others, in any way
immobilize, ups et, or flatter you . T oo much emphasis on what others think
can mea n that praise or criticis m is part of the package tipping the scale
toward imbalanc e. What follows is a personal example to illustrate what I
mean. I vividly recall my very first ye ar teaching as a college profess or in the
summer session  at W ayne State University in 1970. A small group of
graduate student s was making a presentation to the class as a p art of their
final cou rse requ irements. I repeatedly heard twitters and outright laughter
at some of the antics of the presenting group, and I sat there, mystified by
what wa s so funny . Finally , as m ore and more of the students looked in my
direction to see my reaction to the presentation, it hit me li ke a ton of
bricks: T hey we re imitating me! One student had pulled his belt down to
expose a  dour -p ostured protrudi ng gut sticking out above the belt. Others in
the group spoke in excessively loud voices and gesticulated wi ldly , all the
while making indecipherable marks on the chalkboard. And there I sat , watching myself  bei ng portrayed good-naturedl y , in a
manner that was in total contr ast to how I saw myself and what I was
projecting to the world. That little episode still sticks with me more than 35
years later . It was almost immediately after that experience that I made a
deliberate decisi on to permanently get rid of that protruding gut and get into
optimal physical shape. I also le arned the hard way , by being the tar get of a
spoof, how to be a less dogmatic teacher in the classroom. W e can actually  learn a lot about how we’re being perceived by others if
we’re able to assimilate the input. It’ s been my experience, particularly in
helping to raise eight children, that there’ s often a huge imbalance between
how we  see ourselves and how we’re perceived by the rest o f the world.Becoming aware of this disparity can be exceedingly helpful in leading a
more fulfilling and balanced li fe. Y ou certainly don’ t want to  base your
entire ex istence upon how pleasing you are to those around you. A balanced
individual, however , is free to make the choice to change something if
they’re comfortable with feedback that may be unflattering. What This Imbalance Looks Like
Perhaps the most important question in this regard is: How do  you want
to be  per ceived in this world? Anyone who responds that they don’ t care at
all is trying to li ve with blinders on—a rather unbalanced style , to be sure. Of cours e you care! In some ca ses, your very livelihood depends on your
response to this question. Y ou want to enjoy relating in a joy ful, playful,
intimate, loving, helpful, concerned, caring, and thoughtful manner with
others. I t’ s the nature of all of o ur human relationships to want to give and
receive those emotions, and to feel connected to each other . If you also desire spiritual consciousness, then you need to be more in
harmony with your spiritual Sou rce. This is a Source of love, ki ndness, joy ,
beauty , nonjudgment, creativity , and endless abundance. If yo u think that
you pers onify a ll of these qual ities, yet everyone else perceives you in a
totally d if ferent light, then it’ s l ikely that you’re living an illus ion and will
continue to be in a state of imbalance. The answer to how you want to be perceived in the world is, at its
simplest: I want to be seen as a truthful person. Y ou  wa nt the truth of who
you believe you are to mesh wit h what you’re projecting outward. If this is
unsuccessful, you’re aware of it, even if you opt to ignore it. The imbalance
surfaces in your daily interactio ns, showing up in feelings of being upset,
out o f so rts, confused, and often  misunderstood. My intentions ar e good, so
why is it that no  one else sees it this way? and I try  to be a good employee,
father , citizen, and husband, but I always seem to be misc onstrued or
misjudged. T his results in a continual state of frustration and even ange r . Y our anxious or saddened emot ional state says: I kn ow I’m a good person
with good intentions, but no one else seems to r ealize this.Y ou need to make a decision to realign yourself on an ener geti c basis to
get t he scales ba lanced between your idealized self and your r ealized self,
as perceived by the majority of people in your life. Restoring the Balance Through Realignment
When you balance the way you  want to be with the way you’re being
received, there’ s  a distinctly pleasurable feeling of being in ha rmony with
life. It’ s  not that you’re seeking approval or groveling for respect or love. It’ s more that yo u’re in the worl d in a way that’ s congruent with your inner
desire to be the kind of person you are. Y ou acc omplish this by first no ticing when you’re feeling misperceived,
then determining if your words and actions match the truth of your inner
thoughts. This alignment check will eventually and almost automatically
give you a read ing that compares what you’re projecting outwardly with
what you’re inwardly wanting to  express. Let’ s take a look at some of these
indices, keeping  in mind that every thought you have about yourself has an
ener getic component. Here are some of the most obvious qualities that describe the ways you
feel about yourself. Review these elements, keeping in mind that your
objective is to b alance what you send out in your daily inter actions and
behaviors with the truth within  you. This alignment check ca lls for self-
honesty along with a willingn ess to experience radical humility in the
process. — I am a loving human being. If you both desire and believe this to be
true about yourself, then you’re two-thirds of the way towa rd being in
balance in this p rinciple. Y our desire to be a loving person, and at the same
time your truth that you ar e  a loving person, leaves only the third element:
how others perceive you. If you’re feeling misunderstood or unloved, then
before you can p erfectly balance the scales, you need to determ ine whether
the lovin g human being you see yourself as, and want to be,  is seen by
others.Here ar e some ways of bein g that are counterproductive to being
perceived as a loving human being and create an imbalance:
A strong position of hatred toward anyone or any group of
people—you’re out of balance. V iolence in any form, including aggressive verbal outbursts—
you’re out of balance. Support for weapons designed to produce megadeath
explosions—you’re out of balance. Y ou enjoy being entertained by films portraying hatred and
killing—you’re out of balance. V erbally belittling others’ beliefs and insisting that your beliefs
are superior—you’re out of balance. In order  to realign yourself to create the balance you desire, seek the
feedback of significant people in  your life. Ask them if you come across as
the l oving human being you believe yourself to be. Then begin the process
of m onitoring your thoughts to see how they line up with your self-portrait. And fina lly , let your thoughts of love become the driving force behind your
unloving behaviors. This is true alignment. Begin looking at the world as a vast mirror reflecting back to yo u exactly
what you are. If you truly are a loving human being, the world will look like
a loving  place to you, and this w ill be how you’re perceived. Y o u will have
restored balance , and consequently , there will be no discrepancy between
how you  see yourself and what  the world is reflecting back to you. If the
world continues to look like an unloving and unlivable place, I ur ge you to
keep examining the kind of ener gy that you’re projecting outward. — I am  a kind human being. Y ou cannot be kind to me and  unkind to
your wa iter . . . and be in balance. When you persistently extend arrogance
outward in the direction of othe r people, even if you feel justified in your
actions, that’ s how you’re perceived and defined. Y ou need to  know that
you’re not coming across as a balanced, kind person.Y ou may indeed exemplify kindness in how you treat your children and
your gra ndmother , and even all of the children and all of the grandmothers
of the world. But if you honk yo ur horn in red-faced anger at a s low-driving
grandmother who’ s taking her grandchildren to school, then you’re way ,
way , way  out of b alance. The discrepancy  between your own idealized s elf
and how others perceive you is vast, and it will create a real sense of
imbalance within you that can m anifest as a personality disorder . Y ou know
that you  aren’ t living up to wha t you say about yourself, and other people
are pointing it out more and more frequently . Y ou’re the only person responsible for the decision to generate a
vibrational matc h to your desire  to be seen as a kind human being, and you
can begin to notice when you feel out of sync with that desire: Y ou can
cancel an unkind thought in midstream and decide in an instant to be
harmonious. Y ou  can stop yourself at the moment you’re cursin g somebody
and elev ate you r thoughts to ki ndness. If you see yourself as desirous of
being a kind person, then consciously spend time daily aligning your
thoughts with your desire. The Universe will cooperate, bringing you more
and more of the same kindness. — I am a joyful, happy human being. I n this category , your feelings a re
the mea surement you need to p ay attention to. In fact, they require your
undivided attention. Do you feel good most of the time, or are you a person
who loo ks for occasions to be o f fended? Do you feel happy and content, or
are y ou easily o utraged over the misconduct of others? Does your joy turn
quickly to despair when you read the newspaper or listen to the news? Do
people a round y ou really think that you’re a happy camper in your daily
life? Do  you regularly hear othe rs telling you to “lighten up” or “chill out”
and “sto p letting  yourself get so  worked up”? These are clues indicating the
balance or imbalance between h ow you see yourself and what you project
to others. The alignment check for this principle involves noticing your
feelings and your ability to sustain them, along with feedback from people
you trust. Y ou’re a  joyful person if you liv e from joy , extend joy wherever  possible,
and if those ar ound you feel joyful in your presence. Here are some
suggestions to restore balance in this principle:Make a commitment to look for joy everywhere. Of fer joyful commentary wherever possible. Reach out to others in cheerfulness, even if you initially have
to fake it. Go on a rampage of appreciation, rather than discussing the
evils of the world. Use every opportunity to radiate joy . If you can let jo y be your habitual way of responding to the world, you’ll
restore balance on the scale of how you see yourself, and how others
perceive your attitude of gratitud e for life. If you project ener gy that results
in others  feeling threatened, uncomfortable, and not wanting to be around
you, then you’re simply out of balance. If you’re unclear about your ef fect
on o thers, take an inventory of those who are willing to be hone st with you,
and discover how your self-perception matches up with their input. — I am  a nonjudg mental human being. If you’re truly nonjudgmental,
then it will be i mpossible for you to categorize or generalize individuals
into grou ps such as: old, Southern, uneducated, teenyboppers, belonging to
Red or Blue states, conservativ es, liberals, and so on. A stereotype is a
judgment—you cannot be nonjudgmental and be critical of the dif ferent
ways pe ople talk, eat, dress, s ocialize, dance, or anything else. If you
believe that you’re nonjudgmental but admit that you have a tendency to
generalize and criticize, then you’re out of balance! Y ou’re due for a
realignment so that your curren t thoughts, and ultimately your behaviors,
will become a vibrational match to your inner self-portrait. Make a conscious decision to look for what is right and pl easing in
others. C reate a new habit of complimenting those around you. Decide that
you’re g oing to disregard stereotypes, and refuse to engage in conversations
that dwell on judging anyone. T urn judgments into blessings to restore the
imbalance betwe en how you wa nt to be and how you’re actually presenting
yourself to the world.If you want to be a nonjudgme ntal person and associate with others at
this leve l, I suggest that you shif t to a state of awe and bewilder ment as you
appreciate the beauty that’ s in all people and all things. Stop your habitual
way of noticing what you don’ t  like, and instead look hard and deliberately
for wha t you find pleasing. Th en articulate what you’ve discovered as a
way to reinforce  the new habit of being unconditionally accept ing. Even if
your judgments are nothing more than thoughts, I ur ge you to change those
thoughts immediately upon recognizing them. If you see an obese person
and think, He’ s disgusting,  you’re aligning with a point of attraction that
attracts disgust. Rebalance this ener gy by sending a silent blessing to the
person. On the nonjudgmental side of the balance scale, think about how
much lo ve and support this pers on could use. I guarantee that you’ll feel the
dif ference internally , and at the same time feel more comp assionately
connected to that individual. The ener gy of nonjudgment is totally balanced,
as opposed to the ener gy of contempt, pity , or some other negative opinion. Become aware of all of your behaviors and feelings. Then a ttempt to
determine if they match your vision of yourself, and if that self-image is
what others see. Y ou’ll immediately feel discord when you discover
imbalance, and that’ s when you  can choose to change habits to match your
desires and restore equilibrium to your life. D. H . Lawrence once observe d: “What you intuitively desire, that is
possible to you.” I couldn’ t agree more. However , you must repeatedly ask
yourself, Does my  intuitiv e desir e match up with what I give to the world? When it does, balance is restored, and self-fulfillment is your reward. CHAPTER FOUR
YOUR ADDICTIONS TELL YOU,
“YOU’LL NEVER GET ENOUGH
OF WHAT YOU DON’T WANT”
B A L A N C I N G  Y O U R  D E S I R E  F O R  W H A T  Y O U  W A N T
W I T H  Y O U R  A D D I C T I V E  B E H A V I O R 
“For a just man falleth seven times,
and riseth up again.”
— PROVERBS 24:16
“Everything terrifying is, in its deepest being,
something helpless that wants our help.”
— RAINIER MARIA RILKE
I 
f I were to rate the nine habits discussed in this book, this one might
get the prize for being the most unbelievable: spending our
pr ecious life ener gy chasing af ter something we don’ t want, and
never getting enough of whate ver it is that we’r e r elentlessl y pursuing! Fortunately , this  is one imbalance that’ s relatively easy to corr ect, despite
all we’ve been told about the dif ficulties involved in conquering addictions. The con cept of fighting  and conquering  add iction is the  wrong approach—I
believe that we need to beg in by removing those words from our
vocabulary . Martin Luther King, Jr ., once remarked that the o nly way to
convert an enemy to a friend is through love, not hatred or fighting. We Don’t Conquer Anything, and There’s Nothing to
Fight
Consider the results we’ve achie ved when we’ve tried to fight something
in order to conqu er it. For example, ever since war was declared on poverty ,
there’ s more of it in the world  than ever . Our wars on drugs have only
served to  triple our prison populations and bring illegal substan ces to more
people a t young er ages. (As ea rly as junior high school, there ’ s hardly a
child who doesn’ t know how to  acquire all manner of drugs.) Our wars on
crime ha ve resulted in more cri minals, more fear , more surveillance, more
distrust, and more abuse by law -enforcement personnel. Our war on terror
has turned us into people who behave toward those we label terr orists  in
ways that emulate the terrorism we’re supposedly desirous of eliminating. When war was of ficially declared on Iraq, America became more hated, and
the number of people signing up to become suicide bombers multiplied
dramatically . And our wars on cancer , obesity , and hunger have not
eliminated those conditions either . Here’ s t he reasoning behind what I’ve just elaborated: The tru th of this
Universe is that we live in an e ner gy system that operates on the Law of
Attraction. That  is, we become  what we think about all day long. If we
think ab out wh at we hate, this is an ener gy that we’re of fering to ourdesires. In this system, then, we’ll attract more of what we t hink about. Consequently , m ore of what we hate is what we will attract. W e act on our
thoughts: Our thoughts of hate, violence, fighting, and war generate actions
of hate, violence, fighting, and war . And lo and behold, we see the fruits of
this thinking showing up even if our intentions are positively aligned with
God ener gy . W e get what we think about, whether we want it or not. Thoughts that translate into fighting and war almost always guarantee
that the response is a counterforce—that is, others will respond in kind to
our des ire to fight and conq uer . This kind of force/counterforce can
continue for centuries, with unborn generations programmed to carry on the
fight. This same understanding of how  fighting weakens us and gener ates more
imbalance in our lives is applic able to our experience with addictions. W e
can bec ome addiction free relatively quickly if we make a decision to
eliminate fighti ng and conquering from our ef forts. The th oughts and
ener gy t hat repla ce fighting need to be in the form of nonwarlik e thoughts. As Eme rson sai d so succinctly: “The remedy of all blunders, the cure of
blindness, the cure of crime, is love. . . .” And addictions constitute one
huge blunder , I can assure you, having spent a great deal of my own life
immersed in such folly . Overcoming Blunder-Filled Thinking
For those of you who may not be familiar with my friend Ram Dass, in
the late 1960s h e helped shape the awakening consciousness of an entire
generation with his bestseller Be Her e Now . One of my favo rite Ram Dass stories is the one he tells about an early
encounter with Neem Karoli B aba, his guru in India. Ram Dass brought
some capsules with him to Ind ia that were designed to dramatically alter
one’ s state of c onsciousness. N eem Karoli Baba confronted  Ram Dass
about these pills and asked him to give all of them to him. Ram Dass
thought that he’d brought a long-term supply of this very powerfulpsychedelic substance—yet he watched in horror and amazem ent as this
enlightened bein g swallowed all of them right before his ey es, with no
visible reaction. His guru then asked him if he had any more, since these
obviously weren ’ t working. After telling this story , Ram Dass concluded
with one of his most sagacious observations: “If you’re already  in Detroit,”
he observed, “then you don’ t have to take a bus to get there.”
Addictions of every description are vehicles that people board in  order to
get someplace higher , more pleasurable, more peaceful, more tuned in and
turned on, and so on. But if you’re already aligned with this ener gy , then it’ s
obviously unnec essary to climb aboard any vehicle headed to a place where
you currently reside. I’ve play ed with  addictions and addictive behaviors for a lar ge part of my
life. In fact, I’d  say that these  various addictions have been among my
greatest teachers, allowing me to see that there’ s a higher level of
consciousness an d blissful awareness available to us all. But I’m  also aware
that usin g substances of non-well-being in order to experience this separate
reality is assuredly a counterfeit means of doing so. The patt ern goe s something like this: W e must have more and more of
what we desire. The more of it we take or imbibe, the more we need. The
less ef fective it is as we consume more. Then, to top of f this huge
imbalance, what  we’re using to get to this place of bliss is toxic to our well-
being! T he addiction is increasing our imbalance. Our desire is for bliss,
peace, lo ve, hea lth, freedom, and so on, but the addictive behavior gives us
precisely the opposite. If it goes unchecked, it will wreak havoc on our
body and mind, and ultimately destroy us. I’m esse ntially addiction free, and I want you to know that I didn’ t get to
this place by fighting my add ictive nature. In fact, the more I tried to
conquer addictio ns at various sta ges of my life to things such as sugar , soda
pop, caf feine, nicotine, alcohol, and certain drugs, the more they’d gain a
foothold on me. For ce/counterfor ce:  I’d  apply my weapons, and they’d
bring ou t their artillery , with my body as the battleground where the war
was bein g wage d. I was blunder ing my way into deeper addictio n. Earlier , I
quoted Ralph W aldo Emerson, who said: “The remedy for all  blunders islove.” H ow wou ld things be dif ferent if we followed his advic e? The two
key words are blunder  and love . Let’ s examine them more closely . — BLUNDER. Wh y call an addiction a blunder? Demanding more and
more of  something your body and mind vehemently despise is addiction. Choosing the lopsided world of  addiction over the equilibrium that is your
spiritual heritage  is a major distortion of your birthright. When you do that,
you’re mismanaging this life. This is something I strongly b elieve is a
blunder that can be balanced with love. Y ou originated from an invisible  spiritual ener gy field of pure well-being. Y our des ire is to be balanced in that spirit in your thoughts and behaviors—
now , in this lif e, in this moment, in your bodily form. Y ou want that
harmony and sense that it’ s available without having to leave your body , or
in ot her words, die. So, in that interpretation, you’re seeking a balance that
allows you to die while you’re alive. Y ou’ll re turn to spirit, the non-form, upon your death, but you have the
option of choosing to live in true enlightened balance, or God-realization . . . n ow , in this p hysical state. Y our Source doesn’ t create from toxicity . It
doesn’ t fill your veins or your stomach or any part of you with poison or
excess. I t creates from well-being, balance, and ef fortless perfection. This is
your spiritual heritage. And lov e can correct the blunders that distance you
from your spiritual self. — LOVE. Wh y is love the antidote to addictions? It’ s very simple—
because love is what you are; it’ s the center of your creation. It’ s your point
of origin ation a nd can become your point of attraction as well. As Karl
Menninger told his patients, and anyone else who was suf fering  and willing
to listen , “Love cures, the ones who receive love and the ones who give it,
too.” In transcending your addic tive habits, you have the oppor tunity to be
both the giver and the receiver of the spiritual balm of love. As you apply it,
you feel the b alance returnin g to your life. Y ou no longer pursue acounterfeit freedom, and you no longer attract what you don’ t want. Instead,
you seek the balance of being connected to your authentic nature. Reconnection to Well-Being
Our proclivity toward addictive behaviors subsides measurably as we
begin to practice reconnecting to our Source of being. Many books have
been written on the subject of overcoming addictions. There are countless
rehabilitation programs and centers to help those who are caught in the grip
of d rugs, alcohol, food, caf feine, sex, gambling, or something e lse that fits
the description of chasing after what we don’ t want. I s uppor t any program designed to help people escape this imbalanced
cycle that is such a destroyer of lives. My contribution here is a brief
description of the key points I’ ve found extremely useful in becoming an
addiction-free pe rson. The following five thoughts helped interrupt my out-
of-balance thinking and behavio r . Practiced with honesty and integrity , they
can cont ribute to  a new sense of empowerment and well-being  that allows
you to be free of unwanted addictions. 1. It’s All about Realignment
This is number one because when you really practice it, you ne ver want
to pursu e what you don’ t want  at the expense of what you do  want. Y ou
long to be in h armony , and you desire well-being. Y ou came from well-
being, so you simply need t o choose thoughts that align with that
foundation to find your way back into alignment. Practice praying silently as a steady background whenever and wherever
you can. Personalize and vary prayers such as this example derived fromthe St. Francis Prayer: Make me an instrument of thy well-being. See
yourself always summoning the ener gy of well-being from your spiritual
Source. Think like an animal who would never think of pursuing what it
doesn’ t want. Why don’ t bird s chase after butterflies? Because they’re
poisonous. Ever heard of a robin  in therapy trying to overcome its desire to
eat butterflies? Silly , yes, but it’ s a helpful image to hook onto. So think  like a h uman being with well-being. Eventually you’ll think like
the Divine soul that you are, an d you’ll be in vibrational harmo ny with the
well-being that is your very nature. 2. Love Your Addictions
If it’ s food, love it. If it’ s cocain e, love it. If it’ s painkillers, love them. If
it’ s cigarettes, love them. These are some of your greatest teachers. They’ve
taught y ou throu gh direct experience what it is that you no longer wish to
be. T hey’ve taken you to the depths for some reason. This is an intelligent
system you’re a part of. There a re no accidents in a Universe supported by
omniscience and omnipotence. Be grateful for these teachers. If you hate them, curse them, and attempt to fight these addictions, you
tip the balance toward hatred and fighting. Y ou then continue to chase after
what you don’ t w ant because you’re in a weakened state. Fightin g weakens;
love empowers. So tip the scale toward love. B e grateful for the addictions that have
taught y ou so much. Send them  a silent blessing. By doing so, you shift
toward the love that you are. 3. Love Yourself
This is the natur al outgrowth of choosing to love your addictions. Think
of your body as a sacred temple,  and extend reverence as a form of love. Beaware of, and grateful for , every or gan, every drop of b lood, every
appendage, and every cell that constitutes your body . Start right this minute
by of fering a silent prayer of gratitude for your liver , your hea rt, and your
brain. Ju st say: Thank you, God, for this glorious gift. I tr easur e it, and with
your help, today I will begin the  pr ocess of loving it uncondition ally . If you
still fee l attracted to substances that you despise, say this silent prayer
before ingesting  them. Love will ultimately become the added weight that
rebalances your life. One of my favo rite American poets, Henry W . Longfellow , tell s us: “He
that respects himself is safe from others; he wears a coat of mail that none
can pierce.” When we truly respect and love ourselves, it’ s as if we have a
shield of flexible armor made of  metal rings and loops of chain t hat protects
us from the addictive other  that’ s been a part of our life. 4. Remove All Shame
Y ou’ve done nothing wrong. Y ou haven’ t failed—you’ve only produced
results. The question isn’ t about how bad you’ve been; it’ s about what you
intend to  do with the results you’ve produced. If you opt for shame and
guilt, you choose the one emotional reaction that will disempower you more
than any  other . Whatever your present-moment status in relation to your
addictions, it’ s all perfect. Y ou had to go through the traumas you went
through. Y ou had to disappoint the people you’ve mistreated. Y ou had to get
this far down. Y ou needed this out-of-balance ener gy in order to aid you in
generating the ener gy to get you to the higher place where you’re now
headed. Y ou are still a Divine being in t he eyes of God, despite any weaknesses
that you  feel are incongruous with God’ s love. Y ou needed all of those
experiences, and  now that you’ re contemplating leaving them behind and
rejoining your spiritual Source of well-being, shame will only hamper you
and send  you back to that absur dly imbalanced world where you never get
enough of what you don’ t want.5. Live from a New Knowing
Finally , create a space within yo urself, somewhere very private  that only
you and God are  privy to. In this inner space, post the words I Know . This is
your invisible connection to Go d, where purity and well-being define your
new addiction-f ree self. Regardless of how many people distrust you and
remind y ou of how many times in the past you’ve failed to live up to your
promises, this is your space of knowing. From th is unshakable space, ask for Divine guidance. Ask to  have the
ecstatic ener gy of purity and well-being flow directly to your heart. If you
slip, retreat immediately to this space of knowing. For give your self and see
yourself surrounded by God’ s love, holding you in balance once again. As a
man who has be en there, I can promise you that you’ll be provi ded with all
of the guidance,  direction, and strength that you need—and you ’ll get what
you do  want rather than what you do not  want. Overcoming the  imbalance of addictive thinking begins and ends with
your aw areness that you, with th e help of your Source, have everything you
need right now to end your imbalance. As an ancient Hindu saying reminds
us: “God gives food to every bird, but he doesn’ t throw it into the nest.”
Realign with God, and fly without the weight of addiction.
_OceanofPDF.com_Being_in_Balance_-_Dr_Wayne_W_Dyer.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        Also by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
BOOKS
Change Y our Thoughts—Change Y our Life
Co-cr eating at Its Best  (with Esther Hicks)
Don’ t Die with Y our Music Still in Y ou  (with Serena Dyer)
Everyday W isdom
Everyday W isdom for Success
Excuses Begone. Getting in the Gap
Good-bye, Bumps. (children’ s book with Saje Dyer)
I Am  (children’ s book with Kristina T racy)
I Can See Clearly Now
Incr edible Y ou. (children’ s book with Kristina T racy)
Inspiration
The Invisible For ce
It’ s Not What Y ou’ve Got. (children’ s book with Kristina T racy)
Living the W isdom of the T ao
Memories of Heaven  (with Dee Garnes)
My Gr eatest T eacher  (with L ynn Lauber)
No Excuses. (children’ s book with Kristina T racy)
The Power of Intention
The Power of Intention  gift edition
A Pr omise Is a Pr omise
The Shift
Staying on the Path
10 Secr ets for Success and Inner Peace
Unstoppable Me. (children’ s book with Kristina T racy)
Y our Ultimate Calling
W ishes FulfilledAUDIO/CD PROGRAMS
Advancing Y our Spirit  (with Marianne W illiamson)
Applying the 10 Secr ets for Success and Inner Peace
The Car oline Myss & W ayne Dyer Seminar
Change Y our Thoughts—Change Y our Life
(unabridged audio book)
Change Y our Thoughts Meditation
Co-cr eating at Its Best  (unabridged audio book)
Divine Love
Dr. W ayne W. Dyer Unplugged  (interviews with Lisa Garr)
Everyday W isdom ( audio book)
Excuses Begone. (available as an audio book and a lecture)
How to Get What Y ou Really, Really, Really, Really W ant
I AM W ishes Fulfilled Meditation  (with James T wyman)
I Can See Clearly Now  (unabridged audio book)
The Importance of Being Extraor dinary  (with Eckhart T olle)
Inspiration  (abridged 4-CD set)
Inspirational Thoughts
Making the Shift  (6-CD set)
Making Y our Thoughts W ork for Y ou  (with Byron Katie)
Meditations for Manifesting
101 W ays to T ransform Y our Life  (audio book)
The Power of Intention  (abridged 4-CD set)
A Pr omise Is a Pr omise  (audio book)
Secr ets of Manifesting
The Secr ets of the Power of Intention  (6-CD set)
10 Secr ets for Success and Inner Peace
Ther e Is a Spiritual Solution to Every Pr oblem
The W ayne Dyer Audio Collection/CD Collection
W ishes Fulfilled  (unabridged audio book)
DVDs
Change Y our Thoughts—Change Y our Life
Co-cr eating at Its Best  (with Esther Hicks)
Excuses Begone. Experiencing the MiraculousI Can See Clearly Now
The Importance of Being Extraor dinary  (with Eckhart T olle)
Inspiration
Modern W isdom fr om the Ancient W orld
My Gr eatest T eacher  (a film with bonus material featuring W ayne)
The Power of Intention
The Shift, the movie  (available as a 1-DVD program
and an expanded 2-DVD set)
10 Secr ets for Success and Inner Peace
Ther e’ s a Spiritual Solution to Every Pr oblem
W ishes Fulfilled
MISCELLANEOUS
Daily Inspiration fr om W ayne Dyer Calendar
(for each individual year)
The Essential W ayne Dyer Collection  (comprising The Power of Inten-
tion, Inspiration,  and Excuses Begone. in a single volume)
The Shift Box Set  (includes The Shift  DVD and The Shift
tradepaper book)
All of the above are available at your local bookstore, or
may be ordered by visiting:
Hay House USA: www. hayhouse. com®
Hay House Australia: www.
Wayne W. Dyer
Who is the author of this book?
The book is about the importance of balancing one's thoughts and habits to achieve a harmonious life.
What is the main theme of the book?
The author suggests that one should not try to change their behavior to reduce stress, but rather align their thoughts with their desires to achieve balance and inner peace.
What is the author's approach to stress and stress-related symptoms?
The author suggests that one should not try to fight or conquer their addiction, but rather choose to love and respect themselves, and seek guidance from a higher power.
What is the author's advice for overcoming addiction?
The author emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and self-love in achieving balance and inner peace.
What is the author's view on the concept of "staying in balance"?