Connecting with the Bliss
of Life:
Powerful Lessons for Living a Peaceful and Happy Life by Former Navy SEAL David Michael Ferruolo
Book Review by Marie-Claire Wilson
The author, a former Navy SEAL, gives
us a spiritual guide that is very simple yet very compelling. David
M. Ferruolo elaborates on the most important theme of all times
by naming the four spiritual objectives which we all strive for:
* There is a way to live in peace and harmony every day and every
moment.
* You could be in a peaceful, serene state of mind, regardless
of circumstances.
* Connecting with the bliss of life is a choice you can make right
now.
* There really is a better way to live.
Doesn’t this sound great? But how can we do this in
our everyday, real-world lives? Don’t those four objectives
essentially boil down to the age-old questions - indeed,
the age old QUESTS - for wisdom sought by philosophers down
through the ages right on up to present day, ordinary people seeking
to live in harmony and with less stress in our modern times?
Wouldn’t we all like to know how to accomplish those four
objectives listed above? Well, we can. Ferruolo takes us
by the hand with his book and covers every angle in a direct manner. He
covers those objectives in 22 chapters with mantra-like titles
that alone are almost enough to steer us where we want to go: Some
of the chapter’s titles are introduced below;
Many of these concepts sound familiar to us and most make perfect
sense. Of course, love and family matter, meditation reduces
stress, and we should all strive to be the best that we can be.
What is different about this book is the author’s style and
the way that he validates what we already know, along with giving
practical advice about how to stay on that blissful path.
The author calls his chapters “lessons,” but I did
not sense a scolding tone that is too often familiar with this
subject. He gives us the information, the tools, and he guides
us in such a positive way that I immediately want to follow his
advice. His whole tone is positive, and his goal is to give
us these tools to turn our own powers into positive and productive
directions for our own lives. With such tools, elegantly
simple yet complex, we can take back our personal freedom, which
we feel has been compromised by situations and events beyond our
control. We can take back control of our own lives. The
central tool is to diminish, little by little, our selfish ego.
The author uses the terms centripetal and centrifugal for an example
of selfishness versus bliss. Our selfishness traps us in a centripetal
whirl. Centripetal is defined as moving toward the center, and
in this sense, as centering ourselves more and more on our selfish
ego, blinding us to the possibilities of life, and imprisoning
us. We move more and more into a smaller and tighter “universe” that
is only of our own making, of our own perceptions. This imprisons
us and makes us feels powerless.
Yet when we use the tools the author gives us, we CAN break free. We
can turn ourselves around and begin to act, not react. We
can reclaim our power. We can take back our freedom. We can
become strong on the inside and act in concert with the outside
forces. We can move in an increasingly centrifugal direction
- an outward progression from a central axis and toward the Divine
and bliss.
Progressing toward the Divine also involves our thinking processes. Our
thoughts are energy! Energy from our thoughts directs all parts of our lives,
including our actions, our reactions, our bodily functions - and it infuses our
very soul. So by redirecting our thinking and getting our mental plane pointed
in the positive direction, we can begin to change our attitudes, our ideas, and
our feelings toward the positive.
Our thoughts as actions, directed toward the positive and therefore, toward the
Divine, are really the key to clearing the space so that we can allow those feelings
of joy, happiness, and a love of life. We will automatically begin to change
our lives for the better as we change our attitudes. In turn, this will
have a positive effect on the circumstances around us and the events that affect
us. All of those things seemed out of our control before we began to work on
our thinking and our attitude.
Even though we have free will, we are to some degree, subject to
destiny, to the greater forces of the Universe and of this Earth. Until
we get our selfish ego in the true perspective, we will always
feel inferior. But as we progress spiritually toward the positive,
we will feel more and more part of this greater power, and more
and more joyful about life. And we all have the capacity to
channel nature and the forces of the Universe toward our positive
spiritual evolution.
There is no cause without effect. So why not contribute to
the most positive causes, and so to contribute to the most positive
effects? We can apply this cosmic law directly to our own
personal lives. What we make of our lives does not come from
an exterior source; it comes from within us. Here is a positive
application of our free will: to dig deeply enough inside
of ourselves and go to our own source, that inner Divine spark
that is in all of us. This book gives us a good plan to accomplish
this.
Here are some of my favorite excerpts from the book. From
the chapter, “Clean Up Your Life,” the author writes: “Being
blissful does not mean ignoring or becoming unaware of the circumstances
and situations around you. It means being more in touch with
yourself and active in your decisions when you respond to your
surroundings. To walk the path of bliss is to adopt an attitude
of taking care of the little things, which need to be done as they
arise. It also means knowing when not to do something when
your plate is already full. Your list of things to do will
never be complete, so concentrate on the things at hand that you
can have an effect on.”
Another excerpt that I liked is in the chapter, “Be Yourself,” where
the author writes: “You are incredibly powerful when
you choose to be yourself and let your uniqueness show. Within
each of us is a powerful and creative individual, with much to
offer the world. We are all different. We all have different
ideas and concepts of the Universe and the world around us. That
is part of the beauty of the self, its separateness and differences
from others. Just imagine how the world would be if everyone
were the same - dressed the same, thought the same, liked
the same things, had the same desires and goals. What a boring
world we would live in [in that case].”
Thus, perception is everything. It begins with how we perceive
ourselves. Did you realize that changing your self-perceptions,
and putting aside selfish ego, can change so much in our lives
and all around us? This is the victory that is within reach
of each one of us!
No one has to live life blindly or carelessly. No one has
to live life always dominated by an indifferent and cold-hearted
destiny. Ferruolo has laid out the path to happiness for
us. All we have to do is grab onto our courage and to work
on ourselves, to develop ourselves, to make progress within ourselves. Then
we can joyfully stride into our considerable personal power, intellectual
and moral, having learned to apply our mighty spiritual forces
in more positive and productive ways.
“Connecting with the Bliss of Life” is a book that
leaves me with a distinct message: NOW is the time to begin
loving our lives. It is up to US to make our lives blissful
so that we can love living. It is well within our capacity
to do so, RIGHT NOW. And finally, prolonging the bliss in
our lives is what makes our passage in this physical body and through
this physical world one that evolves us all the more on a spiritual
level.
This spiritual guide book is straightforward
and accessible even to the beginner. I highly recommend it and I believe that
when you read it, you will get as much pleasure and wisdom out
of it as I did. Enjoy!
Marie-Claire
Wilson, author of the Spiritual Tarot: The Keys to the Divine Temple,
is a bilingual writer and poet. She has been a practicing medium
for 28 years using direct clairvoyance, the Tarot, numerology and
palmistry. For an appointment face-to-face or phone readings call:
404.847.7330
www.Marie-Claire.tv
Marie-Claire
Wilson, author of the Spiritual Tarot: The Keys to the Divine Temple,
is a bilingual writer and poet. She has been a practicing medium
for 28 years using direct clairvoyance, the Tarot, numerology and
palmistry. For an appointment face-to-face or phone readings call:
404.847.7330 
