Author Guest Post
Feeling Elephants
It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about your view of your financial life, your relationships or your neighbor’s bathroom window (quit spying, dirty little bird). The point is that whatever YOU choose to see, either consciously or unconsciously, is exactly what it true for you. Let Mommy use an example.
In real estate, I often will see this exact scenario: two agents working in the same office, one is prospering and one is not. The one making bank will tell you the market is hot and buyers and sellers are all over the place. The one who is applying at Starbucks to help pay the bills, will tell you the market is horrible and his clients are crazy. They are in the same office and the same market but they are experiencing a completely different outcome. The tricky thing is, they are both right. Our perception paints our reality. Thus, we can only operate within the limits we see for ourselves. I looked out the window this morning and the sunrise was pink, but my pal in New York was talking on facebook about all the snow they were getting. These are real perceptions, but very different (and snow is cold). But beyond that, how many of our perceptions are only real because we ourselves have set silly limits that keep us boxed in some imaginary boundaries?
Is that really all the money you can earn?
Are you really unlovable?
Do I look fat in these jeans?
Well, do I?
These are the questions you have to ask yourself before assigning a limit to your greatness (and please get back to me on the jeans, because, um, they feel tight).
What if you woke up today and changed your perceptions to include unlimited abundance, harmonious relationships and all-you-can-eat shrimp? Wouldn’t you approach your day differently? Of course you would! You would make calls you normally put off, try things that might ordinarily scare you, and hey, all that shrimp will be yummy.
I perceive a world that is peaceful and loving. I perceive unlimited abundance. And I like wine.
See the world the way you want to see it, and watch how it changes.
Bear hugs,
T.
About The Author
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Secrets of a Spiritual Guru by Tamara Lee Dorris ~ Virtual Book Tour Page: Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours
Book Review
Secrets of a Spiritual Guru: Real Estate, Yoga & Lies by Tamara Lee Dorris
Book 1: Guru Series
Publisher: Independent Self Publishing
Publication Date: April 6, 2013
Format: Paperback - 204 pages / Kindle - 378 KB
ISBN: 1481805568
ASIN: B00CXWDM80
Genre: Chick Lit / Contemporary Women's Fiction
BUY THE BOOK: Secrets of a Spiritual Guru
Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours.
Book Description:
Profound insight on human nature delivered in what seems like a yoga book (it's not), a real estate book
(no way), but instead is a woman's fiction, humor tale that will keep readers smiling and longing for more.
Book Excerpt:
In two days I will be closing the biggest deal in two years. And in two months, I will have a birthday. I am ecstatic about the first one and suicidal about the second. A little about me: Previously, I spent eleven years in the retail industry, mostly squandering my paychecks on the employee discount. I like cute clothes. Eventually, though, I decided to get my real estate license. Five minutes later, the market crashed.
I am one of the lucky ones, though, because for one thing I live with my boyfriend, Ron, who has been around for several years now. OK, four years, eight months, and two days. How do I know this definite time frame? Because my mother reminds me weekly when we chat. I am certain she keeps a little calendar next to the phone entitled, How Long Since Melissa and Ron Have Been Dating Without Getting Married and Giving Me a Grandchild. And it’s not really a weekly chat as much as it is a guilt call, as in, if I don’t call her at least once a week she makes me feel even more guilty than she does about the fact I’ve not yet produced offspring for her viewing pleasure.
Now, about Ron: He’s a nice guy, really, and pretty cute, too. He’s nice in the sit-on-the-couch-with-a-beer-yelling-at-the-television-screen-when-his-team-is-losing kind of way. Oh, and he has become a bit of an Internet fiend lately. Always on the damn computer. Ron is the one who convinced me to get my real estate license. He said, “You’ve been selling clothes for years; I bet you’d be great at houses.” While Ron had the ability to see the big picture, I found it difficult to imagine that selling houses would be anything at all like working in the Women’s Fine Fashion Department of Haddock’s. After all, it isn’t like you can stand outside the dressing room while someone tries on a house. And customers get so agitated when they try to return a cardigan; what happens when it’s a condo?
Ron reminded me that with my own condo paid off (thanks to my father’s life insurance policy), and him covering the rest of our expenses (which is precisely how I donated so much of each paycheck to my special clothing and wine account) that living on commission would be a breeze, I would spend less on clothes (I knew he’d been snooping in my closet), and that when I did sell a house, it would be big money. So, I took the required classes online, passed the state exam, and suddenly found dozens of brokers pursuing me. OK, there were actually only two, but they both wanted me really badly. I choose Cal State Realty. Mostly because it’s close to my condo, and the broker reminds me of Sean Connery (without the accent).
My mother, of course, had a coronary over me giving up such a “promising” career as assistant department manager of such a “fine establishment” where she got to enjoy my employee discounts almost as much as I did.
“Oh, honey, I think it’s fine you got your real estate license, but you can’t be serious about quitting Haddock’s. There’s this cute little handbag I saw in the window last week—”
“Yes, Mom,” I say, cutting her off, but knowing exactly which handbag she’s referring to. “I’ve got enough saved, and of course I have Ron…” my words trail off as I consider what shoes I could wear with that damn purse.
“But I just read that the housing market is crashing. Things are going to get really bad.”
“I know, but really, I need a change, and I already have a deal in escrow. Do you realize the commission will be like four paychecks?”
My mother sits silent on the other end.
“Well, that was pretty easy,” she finally says, referring to the fact that I only took this nice couple out one time, wrote an offer that day, and did most of the paperwork in an hour or two.
“I know! Just imagine if I am not dead-dog tired from being on my feet all day, hanging up clothes and smiling at rude women.” And staying up drinking wine and eating ice cream from the container.
I am one of the lucky ones, though, because for one thing I live with my boyfriend, Ron, who has been around for several years now. OK, four years, eight months, and two days. How do I know this definite time frame? Because my mother reminds me weekly when we chat. I am certain she keeps a little calendar next to the phone entitled, How Long Since Melissa and Ron Have Been Dating Without Getting Married and Giving Me a Grandchild. And it’s not really a weekly chat as much as it is a guilt call, as in, if I don’t call her at least once a week she makes me feel even more guilty than she does about the fact I’ve not yet produced offspring for her viewing pleasure.
Now, about Ron: He’s a nice guy, really, and pretty cute, too. He’s nice in the sit-on-the-couch-with-a-beer-yelling-at-the-television-screen-when-his-team-is-losing kind of way. Oh, and he has become a bit of an Internet fiend lately. Always on the damn computer. Ron is the one who convinced me to get my real estate license. He said, “You’ve been selling clothes for years; I bet you’d be great at houses.” While Ron had the ability to see the big picture, I found it difficult to imagine that selling houses would be anything at all like working in the Women’s Fine Fashion Department of Haddock’s. After all, it isn’t like you can stand outside the dressing room while someone tries on a house. And customers get so agitated when they try to return a cardigan; what happens when it’s a condo?
Ron reminded me that with my own condo paid off (thanks to my father’s life insurance policy), and him covering the rest of our expenses (which is precisely how I donated so much of each paycheck to my special clothing and wine account) that living on commission would be a breeze, I would spend less on clothes (I knew he’d been snooping in my closet), and that when I did sell a house, it would be big money. So, I took the required classes online, passed the state exam, and suddenly found dozens of brokers pursuing me. OK, there were actually only two, but they both wanted me really badly. I choose Cal State Realty. Mostly because it’s close to my condo, and the broker reminds me of Sean Connery (without the accent).
My mother, of course, had a coronary over me giving up such a “promising” career as assistant department manager of such a “fine establishment” where she got to enjoy my employee discounts almost as much as I did.
“Oh, honey, I think it’s fine you got your real estate license, but you can’t be serious about quitting Haddock’s. There’s this cute little handbag I saw in the window last week—”
“Yes, Mom,” I say, cutting her off, but knowing exactly which handbag she’s referring to. “I’ve got enough saved, and of course I have Ron…” my words trail off as I consider what shoes I could wear with that damn purse.
“But I just read that the housing market is crashing. Things are going to get really bad.”
“I know, but really, I need a change, and I already have a deal in escrow. Do you realize the commission will be like four paychecks?”
My mother sits silent on the other end.
“Well, that was pretty easy,” she finally says, referring to the fact that I only took this nice couple out one time, wrote an offer that day, and did most of the paperwork in an hour or two.
“I know! Just imagine if I am not dead-dog tired from being on my feet all day, hanging up clothes and smiling at rude women.” And staying up drinking wine and eating ice cream from the container.
My Book Review:
If you like to read a book that is fun and full of laugh-out-loud moments, then Secrets of a Spiritual Guru is the book for you. Author Tamara Lee Dorris weaves an entertaining tale written in the first person narrative that follows the everyday trials and tribulations of real estate agent Melissa Murphy.
Melissa's world is turned upside down when Ron, her live-in boyfriend of four years, leaves her for Shanza, his yoga instructor. Determined to win Ron back, Melissa searches the internet to find information about Shanza's yoga studio, and discovers that Shanza is in need of a spiritual blogger, so Melissa applies for the position with no prior knowledge of yoga or any spirituality/enlightenment concepts. Can Melissa pull off the role as a yoga/spiritual guru and win back the heart of Ron, or will she be made out as a fraud if the truth comes out?
It was so much fun following Melissa as she overcomes challenges while trying to keep her personal and professional life on track. There is a nice balance of entertainment and spiritual concepts interwoven throughout the story. The reader is kept engaged as Melissa tackles the challenges in the real estate industry, learning and blogging about yoga and the variety of spirituality concepts, and her romantic issues with ex-boyfriend Ron. Melissa is a sassy and quirky lady that keeps the reader laughing with her witty humor and neurotic misadventures, it's easy for the reader to relate to the everyday life situations that she faced.
I really enjoyed the references to yoga and the spiritual teachings that were sprinkled throughout the book with a mixture of humor and real life examples. What more could a reader ask for then to be entertained and enlightened? This is a funny, insightful, refreshing and thoroughly enjoyable story that will leave a smile on your face.
Secrets of a Spiritual Guru is a delightful fast paced story that is chick lit at its very best. The only problem with the story is that the author leaves the reader wanting more with an open-ended conclusion that will be continued in the second book of the Guru Series.
RATING: 4 STARS ****
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Virtual Book Tour Schedule
Tour Schedule:
August 16 – Chick Lit Club Connect – Guest Post
August 21 – Book Reviews by Dee – Review & Guest Post
August 22 – Chrissy McBookNerd – Review
August 22 – Gin’s Book Notes –Guest Post
August 23 – Mommasez – Review & Excerpt
August 23 – Jersey Girl Book Reviews – Review, Guest Post & Excerpt
August 26 – Into the Land of Books – Q&A & Excerpt
August 28 – Tlassy Beyond Belief – Review
August 29 – Brooke Blogs – Review
September 2 – Mrs. Mommy Booknerd’s Book Reviews – Guest Post
September 2 – Keep Calm and Blog On – Review
Thank you for the opportunity to host the virtual book tour event. Fun read, can't wait to read the next book in the series. :)
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