I have never liked Richard Eyre all that much. He's married to a cousin of mine. At the one family reunion we both attended I thought him to be over the top. His were the only kids with talent and he and Linda were the only parents worth their salt or so they presented themselves. They were so self promoting.
It seemed like Richard was pretty sure that he was the center of the universe. Some of that personality appeared in this book. The book is written in two parts: First, The Three Deceivers, Control, Ownership and Independence and Second, The Three Alternatives. All through the first part Eyre invites us to guess what the Three Alternatives are. His use of the word "guess" is typical of Richard's personality. It implies that he is wise and all knowing and we, mere mortals are not able to figure it out; we're consigned to mere guessing. To top it off, he made it impossible to guess because he invented the word for one of the alternatives leaving no way to guess the correct answer, at least to Richard's satisfaction. Anyway you get my drift.
Now, before you give up and go home, I've got to add that the ideas in this book are some of the most brilliant, forward looking, visionary notions I've ever seen! This book is not only good, it is great! That is a pretty big helping of humble pie for me to eat, but it is entirely true.
I have to admit that I've wasted a lot of time over the course of my life delving into self-help books in an effort to gain more control, ownership and independence. The methods were, perhaps, sound but the objectives were flawed. No wonder there was never any satisfaction, joy or sense of enough, in those pursuits. Abandoning the pursuit of Control, Ownership and Independence for the the Three Alternatives has been and continues to be the most emancipating activity of my life! Like anything worth doing, this paradigm shift is a process and not an event. Nevertheless, Richard Eyre has made the effort clear and concise enough to make the rewards immediate if not yet entire.
Life is abundant and comes from an infinite source. This fine book has more fully helped me realize this than any other. It has also helped me realize that much of my disdain for it's author has come of jealousy. He had pieces of the pie I wanted and with my scarcity mentality, there simply wasn't enough to go around. Richard has taught me an entirely different way to look at it and through that lens, I find him a lot more likable. I find it so interesting that by simply reading this book I not only feel better about Richard, I feel better about myself. Obviously, the passing of judgment has a lot to do with the Three Deceivers; judgment of both ourselves and others.
The principles in this book are not new. It is, in fact, startling, how old, tried, true, visionary and scriptural they are. Even more startling is how entirely they are rejected in our culture, even our religious culture. I suggest you put The Three Deceivers - The Three Alternatives at the top of your reading list. Your view of everything else, will be forever changed by it!
Five Stars!
