The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it. ~James Bryce
I love to read. I’m more of a self-help junkie so to speak. But, yes, I can be very very choosy in what I read too. Hence when I recommend a book(or two) it will be super duper awesome! My personal guarantee 🙂

Today I am going to share with you 2 books I have recently read and loved to the core. Both the authors are amazing writers and beautiful souls too. Such a beautiful combination isn’t it..

Here are both the books in no particular order(cause I love them both), with interviews from the authors and how you can get your hands on them. THE BUDDHA BLUEPRINT By Nadia Ballas-Ruta & THE POWER OF ENJOYMENT By John Anyasor!

THE BUDDHA BLUEPRINT: Building the Foundation for Happiness and Inner Peace ~by Nadia Ballas- Ruta~

Nadia is one of those people you instantly feel connected to in the spiritual sense. She speaks from her heart and has been on an amazing journey to find her self and her happiness. I have been reading her blog Happy Lotus for 2 years now and have learned so much from her sharing & writing. I often call her my “Spiritual Fix”! She is that good. Her writing grips you and makes you rethink everything. Her book The Buddha Blueprint is a beautiful and heart warming tale of her journey, her experiences, her spiritual awakening & how she found her inner peace & happiness.
I asked Nadia a few questions about her book THE BUDDHA BLUEPRINT:

Me>What sparked the thought of writing your own book?
Nadia>The book was written because so many people (online and offline) have asked me about how I am always positive and happy. I have tried to explain it to people but I realized that the answer is just so complex. There are so many factors that go into being able to be happy and have inner peace. And happiness does not mean that you are in a state of perpetual bliss. Happiness is actually a form of awareness. Peace at knowing who you are, why you do what you do and how the world truly works on a spiritual level. When you see the world from a different angle, you realize that happiness is truly our natural state. Fear is not. So I wrote the book as a way to share how I learned to be happy. I was not always a happy person. I spent most of my youth and twenties being sad and miserable. I had my phases of anger. So if I could get over all of that and become happy…then anyone can. You just have to do the work. This book shows what I learned and realized.

Me>While writing your book, what was the most challenging part?
Nadia>Was there a time you wanted to just give up? There really were no challenges. In thirteen years of being on a spiritual quest, you learn a lot. So there was the question of what parts of my spiritual education do I share which other people could relate to. There are a lot of technical teachings from various religious traditions which are really complex and I realized that may overwhelm some people or scare them. So I decided to focus on the first teaching that Buddha gave because I think that is the foundation for attaining happiness and inner peace. It is also the teaching that I use on a daily level as I go about my life. As for there ever being a moment where I wanted to give up, the answer would be no. It felt like the right thing to do. Interestingly enough, when I was done writing that book, I realized that my thirteen year quest for meaning, inner peace and happiness had finally come to an end. So that book represents the close of that journey.

Me>Do you have a message for the readers of your book?
Nadia>Happiness does not mean that you live in a bubble and “bad” things don’t happen to you. Happiness is actually a state of awareness. You are not your possessions. You are not your bank account. You are not your titles. You are a being of energy that can do wonders. You are an embodiment of love. You are here on this Earth to either make it better or to make it worse. The choice is yours. You are the creator of your reality. Instead of looking at all the things you lack, see what you have. If you can get up in the morning and go to the bathroom by yourself, you are blessed. If you can go to the sink and have water come out of the faucet, you are blessed. Be grateful for what you have. Love yourself and by all means, forgive yourself for all your so called mistakes. Wisdom is earned. Not given.

Clicking the above button will allow you to purchase this e-book using your PayPal account or credit card. The price is $22.50.
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THE POWER OF ENJOYMENT ~by John Anyasor~

John for me is like my inner conscious voice! He is highly well read and intelligent in his ideas of the world. A minimalist by choice and a passionate writer. His writing makes me question so many things in and around me. In the past year and  half since I have known him and his writing on his blog HiLife2B , I have always been blown away by his creativity and amazing writing. An amazing person who knows exactly what he wants and is not afraid to GO for it. His book THE POWER OF ENJOYMENT gives you simple yet practical ways on how you can infuse your life with fun and enjoyment while living a happy & content life.
I asked John a few questions about his book THE POWER OF ENJOYMENT:

Me>What sparked the thought of writing your own book?
John>You know when you right a blog post and think to yourself, “That was awesome”. Then a day later, you come back to it and feel bad. Maybe it doesn’t sound right anymore or you probably had a lot more to say. In the case of writing a book, I felt that I had something important to say that I couldn’t just fit into one blog post.
In addition to that, since the purpose of the book was to help people define their own meanings of happiness, during the time before I wrote the book, I wasn’t very happy. I thought I needed all the things society said would make me happy (a hot girlfriend, a car, nice clothes). I set out on a journey to find out how we get this idea in our heads that happiness is something that has to be bought and acquired. America has serious problems with people thinking that happiness is found in trying to impress other people, and if you have more sex you’ll be that much happier.
Life isn’t all acquired materials and easy-to-get biological pleasure. There’s a lot more to life than people are willing to admit.

Me>While writing your book, what was the most challenging part? Was there a time you wanted to just give up?
John>I’m not someone who gives up easily. If I’m doing something I care about, I’ll just keep going until I have a good reason to stop. That being said, there were times when I thought my book wasn’t going to turn out very well at all. Maybe people weren’t going to resonate with it.
When this happened, I just stopped writing. Doubt, though normal, is crippling. It’s best to just ignore it until you get inspired again. People who say successful people are those who don’t doubt are wrong. Everyone doubts. We’re human, remember? But the difference between a failure and a success is someone who pushes past doubt and keeps going anyway, as opposed to someone who constantly obsesses over it.
With projects you’re working on, use doubt as an indicator to keep going.
Works for me, every time.

Me>Do you have a message for the readers of your book?
John>My favorite part of the book (this is pretty much the whole message) is the idea that you have to live for yourself. People are at their unhappiest when they spend the majority of their lives trying to live up to standards others have put in place. The TV commercials will tell you that you need sex to be happy! Now go out and get it, lest you be a loser. Your friends will tell you that you need to make more money to be happy! Now go out and work for it, lest you be a failure. Your family will tell you that you need to have an honorable profession to be happy! Now go out and sacrifice your dreams, lest you turn your back on where you’re from.
This is bunk. How can you be happy with another person if you can’t even find happiness by yourself? How can you be happy making money if you can’t be happy without it? How can you truly love your family when they’re forcing you to deny your soul and spend your life doing work you don’t even care about?
It’s time to take responsibility for our own actions. Live without regret and live with purpose; one that you define for yourself. This is the key to happiness.

Get Your Copy NOW!

Download THE POWER OF ENJOYMENT book here for $9.95

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I hope you enjoyed these interviews and will enjoy these books much like how I have. My enlightenment knows no bounds!

Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers. ~Charles W. Eliot

Thank you to Nadia & John for giving your precious time to answer my questions about your amazing books. Love you both!

With Immense Love & Gratitude,
~Zeenat~
Counseling Psychologist/Spiritual Counselor
Motivational Speaker/Naturopath

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