LizzieThey're Not Talking To Your Brother
October 11th 2006 22:05
In all of the articles, books, tapes, and whatever other medium we find our spiritual or philosophical wisdom, the word "you" comes up over and over. It probably gets used more often than any of the other pronouns you'll find in those materials. Maybe it's used so much because the author wants us to be quite sure who's being addressed. But who do you think about when you read "you"? No, it's not a silly question.
A few weeks ago, one of my friends was reading Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power Of Positive Thinking". When he was about halfway through the book, the two of us were talking about it and he said, "ya know, my brother really should be the one reading this". Evidently, he missed the "self" part of self-enlightenment.
This made me think and I began to wonder how many people are missing the point by replacing "you" with "your brother", "your best friend", "your whomever". And you know what? I surprised myself and must admit that I was doing it! What's worse, I took myself out of the picture and was thinking about my friend who was thinking about his brother.
I always knew the people who don't like to read them say that none of the self-help, -enlightenment, -fulfillment studies work. Now I think I might know why.
Peace
A few weeks ago, one of my friends was reading Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power Of Positive Thinking". When he was about halfway through the book, the two of us were talking about it and he said, "ya know, my brother really should be the one reading this". Evidently, he missed the "self" part of self-enlightenment.
This made me think and I began to wonder how many people are missing the point by replacing "you" with "your brother", "your best friend", "your whomever". And you know what? I surprised myself and must admit that I was doing it! What's worse, I took myself out of the picture and was thinking about my friend who was thinking about his brother.
I always knew the people who don't like to read them say that none of the self-help, -enlightenment, -fulfillment studies work. Now I think I might know why.
Peace
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