Due to Rising Energy Costs, the Light at the End of the Tunnel Has Been Turned Off

Due to Rising Energy Costs, the Light at the End of the Tunnel Has Been Turned Off: How to have a Happy, Fabulous Life Even When Your Circumstances Look Dim by Karen Scalf Linamen

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Learning to rise above our circumstances and not letting our emotions be dependent on them is a summary of what this book talks about. "Peace, joy, and hope don't reside in our circumstances." In each chapter, the author talks us through various strategies for learning to rise above our circumstances - such as not taking things personally and learning to talk to ourselves in a positive manner rather than our inner Eeyore.

Chapter 1 - "I know that it's possible to experience peace, joy, and hope independent of my circumstances."

Chapter 2 - "I know how to manage old and new memories."

Chapter 3 - "I know how to tap into endorphins, adrenaline, and attitude."

Chapter 4 - "I know how to choose the tone and content of my inner dialogue."

Chapter 5 - "I know how to hang on to images that heal and empower."

Chapter 6 - "I know how to take it in stride when I have a temporary setback."

Chapter 7 - "I know how to choose life, making healthy choices whenever possible."

Chapter 8 - "I know that good stuff exists outside the periphery of what I see and feel."

Chapter 9 - "I know how to be still and listen."

Chapter 10 - "I know how to take care of my basic needs, including my need for intimacy with God."

Chapter 11 - "I know how to be inspired by big dreams."

Chapter 12 - "I know how to get unstuck."

Chapter 13 - "I know I'm gonna make it."

And some more quotes:
"...making a conscious effort to free my emotions from the tyranny of my circumstances."
"...what we believe about an experience can impact our emotions far more than the experience itself."
"...five ways to change the beliefs we attach to the events in our lives:
1. Don't take it personally - '...the truth is, we really don't know the motives behind much of what people say or do.' '...life is hard enough without always assuming the worst. Whenever possible, assume the best.' 'Out of a dozen possible motives behind any action or comment, try to pick one that will create the memory that will leave you nursing the fewest wounds.'
2. Don't generalize, catastrophize, or internalize
3. Be a spin doctor - 'Is there anything good you can glean from the experience? Did you learn something? Grow in some way?' 'We can remember the mistake or the flop or the wound. Or we can remember the growth that occurred as a result.'
4. Keep this, toss that - 'Keep the good stuff. Move past the pain.' '...skimming the fat from the milk, keeping the sweetest parts and tossing the rest.'
5. Don't be an elephant - 'If we're not careful, a "perfect" memory can keep us from getting over a snag in a normally healthy relationship, and it can also rob us of our own happiness, hope, and peace.' "
"Sometimes, to get where we wanna be, we have to forfeit a few rights along the way."
"...finish freeing my emotions from the boney grasp of painful circumstances."
"Feeling bitter, angry, depressed, hopeless, powerless, or inferior doesn't determine your future. What determines your future is believing that you'll always by there."
"Don't stay stuck. Dissolve something...but don't give up... or resign yourself to a place of immobility forever."
"...grief in itself is not a trap. Believing that you can never transcend it is." - from What Happy Women Know by Dan Baker and Cathy Greenberg
"Is there something you need to accept, forget, forgive, reframe, give up, identify, grieve, change, or ask for?" "...what would help you get moving again?"
"So where do peace and happiness and hope reside? Wherever the storms can't reach. In ourselves; in our faith; in the never-changing nature of God; in the healthy choices we make..."