Bestselling author Debbie Ford, writer of such popular spiritual books as Secret of the Shadow and Spiritual Divorce, has written a great, compact little book that packs a lot of power. By focusing on just ten simple questions we can ask ourselves throughout our day, Ford has succeeded in providing us with a “pocket guide to life” that can completely change our lives if we pay heed to their simple wisdom.
Ford tells us that our decisions, even the small ones, profoundly shape our lives, and that the choices we made last week, last month, even a year ago or more, are visible in the totality of what our lives are like today. Yesterday’s decision shaped today’s outcomes, and by placing more thought and attention into our choices, we can literally alter the outcome of our future. How often do we get lost in the humdrum of daily life, only to later wonder why we chose to do this, or not do that, without so much as an afterthought about the consequences? By asking ourselves these ten key questions each time we are faced with a choice or a challenge, we can stop living like robots and take charge of our lives, our goals and our deepest dreams.
As Ford urges us to first “wake up from autopilot,” we find ourselves getting excited about the possibilities that await when we do things from a deeper place of decision-making – namely our spirit and our alignment with purpose. I won’t tell you the ten actual questions, but will mention two of them to give you an idea of how just a handful of powerful words can redirect your attention and your intention and change the outcome of your tomorrows.
WILL THIS CHOICE ADD TO MY LIFE FORCE OR WILL IT ROB ME OF MY ENERGY? Wow, just asking this every time you go for the cookie jar when on a diet, or decide to not go on your daily walk despite your desire to improve your health, should be empowering indeed.
IS THIS AN ACT OF FAITH OR AN ACT OF FEAR? Perhaps one of the most potent and important of the ten questions to constantly ask yourself as you go about the business of your life. Faith requires a suspension of belief and control, turning things over to that higher part of yourself, or the God of your understanding. Fear requires staying stuck and hiding from life. How do you make decisions? From faith, or from fear?
Again, all ten questions are designed to really get you to think about what you are doing when you make a choice, and whether that choice serves you or stops you from being the person you wish to be, and living the life you have always dreamed of. I read the book, then put the ten questions on an index card and I ask myself these questions whenever anxiety or fear threatens to derail me. It works! I especially like Ford’s description of the burning flame within us that is either diminished or brightened when we make a choice. That visual image stays with me all day as I make my choices, and I am constantly “looking inside” to see if what I am doing is dimming my light, or making it shine.
This is a small book in size, which makes it easy to carry around with you until you get the ten questions onto a card, or memorize them. But even if you only asked yourself one or two of these questions, your life will no doubt be all the better for it. Decisions are much easier to make when we learn, as Ford teaches in this priceless book, to align our choices with our spirit, our desires and our integrity.