self help | rebekahjmarshall

All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.

I am reading Hafiz’s Little Book of Life, poetry by Hafiz-e Shirazi. He is challenging me to become more comfortable with ambiguity. I will share his poem and some of my thoughts on his poem (sometimes with the help of experts when the concepts are too hard for me), followed by a poem and some art inspired by his poem.

Hafiz’s Poem 41:

The sanctuary of the heart is no place
For the company of antagonists

Where a demon departs
An angel arrives

Some thoughts:

This one is lovely. The imagery is that of simply letting go of negativity to make space for the beauty and love that will naturally flow into the vacuum created. We don’t have to do anything special to fill ourselves with goodness. We simply must make room. Remove bitterness and compassion can enter. Release antagonistic thoughts and peace has a place. Let go of prideful arrogance and humility will naturally make a home inside us. Release fear and love can breathe easily. There is no demon to fight, no dragon to slay, no war to be waged. They are simply not invited in, like vampires whose welcome has been rescinded. We would not walk into a sacred temple and spit on the floor. Our hearts deserve as much respect.

What are we allowing to dwell in our inner sanctuaries? Is it time for some hangers-on to be evicted? Our heart is not supposed to house every wound, fear, resentment, and lie we have ever been told. When harm finally leaves, healing can walk in quietly and take up occupancy. Instead of having to vanquish foes, we must merely open a window and allow pain to exit so holiness can enter. Time to do some inner house cleaning.

My Poem 41:

Sweep out the house.
Dirt belongs outside,
not in our hearts.
Throw back the curtains
and open the windows.

The stale air must exit,
so a fresh breeze,
sweet with spring scents,
can fill our space.
Then healing can begin.

Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.

Since starting my trading journey, I have been reading many financial strategy/growth mindset-type books as part of a book club on one of my platforms. I have not been very impressed with many of them. Millionaire Success Habits by Dean Graziosi was a much more enjoyable read. Not only is it written in down-to-earth, simple language, but the anecdotes, advice, and examples are relatable and realistic. Some of his ideas are a little unconventional but make a lot of sense.

One such idea his suggests is to work on strengths rather than weaknesses. So much focus is spent on trying to improve our weaknesses in our competitive culture, but why? What if we put more of our energy into focusing on our strengths and passions? Then we can hire people to do the parts we don’t excel at. It’s a win/win. He has excellent advice on short bursts of intense focus on one task to achieve more than when we multi-task. He develops the idea that relationships with our employees and customers should be better thought out and inclusive of everyone’s needs. And he has wonderful strategies for organization, productivity, and confidence building.

His tone is authentic, experienced, and direct. There is no double-speak or confusing lingo, and each chapter provides actionable steps a person could take to improve their life. He provides insight on vanquishing the inner villain who wants to sabotage us, harnessing our inner hero who wants us to succeed, and creating one clear overarching goal or why that we are working toward. He’s the one who started the whole “What’s your Why?” that every service industry uses.

Graziosi, Dean, Millionaire Success Habits, Hay House, 2019.

rebekahjmarshall

Tag Archives: self help

Hafiz – Poem 41

Millionaire Success Habits (Book Review)