Did a book(s) and/or a person ever change your life?
By GreatMartin
@GreatMartin (23672)
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
December 11, 2018 3:25pm CST
2 out of 3 books that saved my life--the third is "Games People Play" by Eric Berne
In 1971 I went to a regional franchise meeting---that I first heard the name Eric Berne for having come up with a new look at why people did certain things and publishing his findings in 1964.He called it Transactional Analysis. A few years later Thomas Harris wrote and published the best seller "I'm Okay, You're Okay" based on TA. Basically it was the theory that each of us has 3 parts to our beings which was parents, children and adult. It is as an adult that we function best.
At the regional meeting (wish I could remember her name!!) one of the members was excitingly talking about this new movement that helped her tremendously and I became interested and she told me to write her and she would let me know what she knew. (Remember 1971 was not quite google time!) After some writing and calling back and forth she gave me a name of a Memphis therapist who was working with Berne's and Harris's theories.
Joe--as we called him--operated out of a house where he held individual and group sessions. (Today with the Internet this tells a little about him and what his son has done with the 'business' )
My business life was unbelievable the best. I was doing a job I loved--I couldn't go anywhere without being recognized--I was getting requests from WW franchisee owners to come and talk in their States--and with us opening Chattanooga more and more money was coming in. I was making $800 a week from the Memphis company and $800 a week from the Chattanooga company---remember this was 1971 money!! The ONLY expense I had was my rent--everything else from clothes to food (I was experimenting with recipes and writing cookbooks) to trips was paid for by both companies. It was my private life that was hell. I was drinking too much among other things.
It would take a few months but I would get my head on my shoulders, discover who I was, what 'tapes' I had in my head that I didn't have to follow, etc., etc.
And during that period I learned 30 rules to live my life by and though I was to have some very hard times ahead I survived them to have the great life I have now!
Have you ever read a book that changed your life?
5 people like this
5 responses
@GreatMartin (23672)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
12 Dec 18
I still have those two books--the pictures are of them--and reread them every now and then along with "Loneliness: The Fear of Love"
@DWDavis (25805)
• United States
11 Dec 18
I've not read a book that changed my life. A book, actually two, did change my life in many ways. The first was RIVER DREAM, my first self-published novel. When it started to sell, I felt like I was finally the writer I'd always wanted to be. The second was my fourth novel, THE BOY FROM BUZBY BEACH. It was picked up by a small publishing company and sold very well (still does) for a book from a small publisher written by an indie writer. The relative success of these two books compared to what most indie writers achieve gave me the inspiration and incentive to keep writing.
1 person likes this
@DWDavis (25805)
• United States
12 Dec 18
@GreatMartin I'm grateful to have hit my writing stride just as the self-publishing industry really took off as it gave me an avenue to get my books in front of readers. I may not have the marketing muscle I would if a big house was publishing me but I do have a core of solid, loyal readers that continues to grow.
@GreatMartin (23672)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
12 Dec 18
Writing is a tough field--I have had 8 books published, 1 play produced off-Broadway, the cookbooks mentioned above---wrote a column for a local newspaper The Weekly News--did restaurant reviews---finally got the dream job I wanted in 2011--I was 75--became a paid drama critic which I still do!!
1 person likes this
@xander6464 (43896)
• Wapello, Iowa
12 Dec 18
I forgot to mention that you were doing a little better than I was doing in 1971. I was making 50 cents a week. It was rough. MAD Magazine was 40 cents a month. Candy bars were 10 cents. Baseball cards were 5 cents...Well, you can see it didn't go far. I needed a job like yours!
@xander6464 (43896)
• Wapello, Iowa
11 Dec 18
-that I first heard the name Eric Berne for having come up with a new look at why people did certain things and publishing his findings in 1964 -----Have you ever thought about how many great things came out of 1964? It was the best most perfect year ever.
Have I ever read a book that changed my life? I can't think of a single book all by itself...But then again, I'm so old that I forget a lot of things.
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@GreatMartin (23672)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
12 Dec 18
HA! You can't even read!! I just wonder what comic pictures changed your life??
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@xander6464 (43896)
• Wapello, Iowa
12 Dec 18
@GreatMartin That's what I was talking about...It seems like a dumb waste of time to me to learn words when we have pictures!
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@GreatMartin (23672)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
12 Dec 18
@xander6464 Obviously you don't waste time!!
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