This book is a short, fun, thought-provoking read. I highly recommend it because it will leave you feeling both empowered and energetic, but it is not an inspirational book or just a”pump-up” book that is all fluff.
It is philosophical in nature.
The short chapters, snippets from the “handbook” and the overall length of the book, is short, all contribute to a calming feeling. Allowing the reader to feel “allowed” to take a step after each breaking point and ponder the word on the page.
I first read this book in 5th Grade. My brother had a friend who was his first friend to really experience drugs and alcohol.
By the age of 12 this kid would be getting high and talking about quantum physics and how life really is based upon the “observer effect” making life an illusion in its own right.
I remember him giving this book to my brother.
Now as a 10-year-old I didn't read much…or at all. No books in school. Definitely no books in my free time. I liked playing sports and eating. That was about it.
Not much has changed!!
But I read once in a while now.
This book drew me in. Maybe it is the fact that the first 20 pages are handwritten in a huge font that made the book approachable. Or my brother’s friend having gifted it, and acting differently than others got me curious.
And curiosity can not be stopped in a 10-year-old.
Side note about Curiosity!!
Curiosity is foundational to growth and happiness. This should be one of the driving forces in your life. Curiosity means you want to experience the world, not control it.
It means you want to explore the unknown - which also means you must be optimistic because you are generally exploring to learn something new or experience something better. Without curiosity, we just label things what they are and never experience awe!
Stay curious, as a little kid would!
I don't remember much about reading it, but I do remember re-reading it later in high school.
Again just vague memories of enjoying it.
It is late winter in 2022, and I am moving to Deadman Flats, Alberta to catch the last two months of ski season.
I live in a town with 377 people in the Canadian Rockies and as you can imagine, have plenty of time to look out my window at these huge mountains and read.
I brought Illusions.
Where I am in my life is interesting.
Everything I read. Every podcast I get drawn to. Conversations I have. Youtube clips I watch… all relate to some mystical power humans have to manifest their own reality like magnets.
Now when you see the YouTube clips part you are thinking YouTube knows what I watch and sends me more of it… of course.
I love this example because this is just a very clear and somewhat more tangible way to show how we manifest other things into our lives.
I have been working with coaches and spending a lot of my time meditation, visualizing, writing, and reading about manifestation.
That being said… I had no recollection of what the book Illusions is about but I knew I wanted to bring it.
Illusions is about the “story of a reluctant messiah”, and it depicts that we are all really “reluctant messiahs.”
Funny name. Because you can't tell if it is a good or a bad thing!
What the book means by this is that life is an illusion created by ourselves. We have powers beyond our current beliefs, meaning our beliefs are limiting us.
Limiting beliefs are not a new concept.
We see what others do, assume those are our limits and then we live within those boundaries.
We lose our ability to dream and believe. We start to repress our dreams and lead predictable lives.
Be very careful about your words and your thoughts.
They will become reality.
A close person to me recently said they want to have “just enough money to survive.” At the time they had no job and no savings.
They also had a large debt they needed to pay.
When we caught up next I heard that the company collecting the debt they owed decided to allow them to make very small payments on that debt. At the same time, they got a job! This job was 50% of what they made last time BUT this job covered their rent, regular monthly expenses, and that debt payment, leaving just enough to survive on!!
The best? The person complained to me! They weren’t making enough money.
When they told me this good news I said to them, Congratulations! You envision your dream reality and make it come true! Teach me! Teach me! How did you do that???
Baffled, they didn't know how to respond.
You have heard tons of examples of this. Babe Ruth calling his own shot. Jim Carry writing himself a check in the Future. Matthew McConaughey wrote his goals down at 18 and met them all.
I am not an expert here but I have had a great thing happen recently… I work less and make more money.
This has been my dream because I want to take time to write daily, read daily, play sports, train my body, study, be a good friend, son, boyfriend, etc.
My limiting belief WAS guilt. I wrote about it here. (See how I didn’t say it IS... It WAS…)
CHALLENGE: I challenge you to pick one limiting belief and realize how it is limiting you and change it fundamentally. Realization is the ultimate form of wisdom.
Take some quiet time.
Yes, scary dreadful quiet alone time… to think about what you want.
Be specific. Be clear. And live it.