Book Review: Easier Than You Think

Easier Than You Think,
by Richard Carlson.

Carlson, who passed away December of '06, is best known for his Don't Sweat the Small Stuff series.

I chose this book on CD from the library to listen to on the way to and from the campground last month. It's a series of short "vignettes" on "The Small Changes That Add Up to a World of Difference."

A couple that stood out in my mind were:

Watch your thoughts. I am always intrigued by the power of the mind. Part of the Genesis Process we use at the Mission teaches that the brain is very powerful and it learns patterns of behaviour. The good news is, we can re-train our brain!

Set your expectations to zero. Okay, I've always heard to lower your expectations, but zero?! This was encouraging to me because, while I push people to their best on the job, if you attach that to expectations, you are in for trouble! The only one you can control is yourself.

Don't take notes. Are you kidding me? I can't NOT take notes. It's part of my learning process! I'm stressed out about this one. Your feedback will be appreciated.

Leave things as you found them. Well, this is about not taking seashells from the seashore, and always leaving a place a little neater than you found it. It's about reusable grocery bags. I think in my past I've been a little too hasty in this category. My reasoning has been that we're going to have a new Heaven and a new earth one day anyways! But God's command to take care of the earth has not been overturned. Steve is right. It's a stewardship thing.

In the end, Ken wondered if there were too many easy solutions that we couldn't remember them all. Kind of defeats the purpose. I pictured him, head in his hands, tearing his hair out, saying, "I should have remembered rule 72!"