A Personal Journal of Beliefs, Assumptions and Behaviors

Why would I write my own musings at age 40 as if it mattered to someone else?  How do I write my thoughts and avoid appearing self-important?

This book about examining your own beliefs, assumptions and behaviors.  One's beliefs, assumptions and behaviors lead to one's own rules (and rules always sound preachy when they are written out or spoken out loud). 

Harry van Bommel is a writer, speaker and teacher and so loves to learn and share his learning with whomever is interested. His goal is that this book helps you learn whatever it is you need to learn right now. Most of the thoughts expressed in the book are his own but, of course, they are not original. His thoughts come from experience but also from other people and from books, songs, music, films, and just the general abundance of learning materials out there.

We often hear that we have the answers inside us. Yet we keep going to other people's answers to find our own. Perhaps if we write our thoughts on different ideas every 5 years or so we will see how our ideas and, therefore, our behavior changes as well.  If you allow other people to read your evolving wisdom, as well, then several people benefit from the learning. TIP: After you have written out some of your own thoughts, give the journal to a dear friend and ask them to do the same on the same page. This is a great way to deepen your friendship and understanding of each other.

NOTE: This book may make an excellent gift for a high-school graduate or college student since this is often one of the most reflective times of our lives. Even helping a young child begin their own journal of thoughts can be fun. Children can be so insightful and they may learn a great deal from themselves 10-20 years later when they read their youthful ideas. Adults might write out their thoughts every 5 to 10 years to see if their ideas are changing (probably some thoughts will and some will not). 

185 pages, 8-1/2 x 11 inches, ISBN 1-895178-37-1, $15 eBook, $20 paperback

Table of Contents

Preface by a Friend

Introduction

How to Use This Journal

Some Thoughts on: abilities, abortion, angels, anxiety, arguing, associations, assumptions, aunts and uncles, balance, beauty, behavior, boats, books, boyhood, bravery, brothers and sisters, burnout, camping, Canada, capital punishment, cars, change, charity, child-like feelings, choices, committees, communication, complaining, complexity, conflicts, courage, courtesy, creativity, death, discipline, duty, education, elders, ethics, euthanasia, evil, excellence, expectations, failure, family, father, fear , flying, friendship, fun, geography, gifts, Global Village, God, grandchildren, grandparents, gratitude, grieving, growing up, guilt, happiness, guys named Harry, hatred, health, health care, heart, helping, heaven, hiking, history, home, hope, hospice care, hugging, inferiority complex, jobs (career), judgement, justice, kindness, knowledge, learn, learning, life, listening, logic, love, managers (management), marriage, math, medication (drugs), meditation, memory, memories, miracles, moralizing, morals (the question), morals (the action) , mother, naivete, nature, nieces and nephews, Newfoundland, nurturing, old, optimism, organizations, parents, peace, peacefulness, perspective, philosophy, pleasure, political correctness, politicians and bureaucrats, politics, poverty, praying, preaching, promises, public speaking, guiding principle, quality of life, quiet, reading, resilience, reflections, relationships, religion, rights, rituals, saying, school, self-defence, senility, service, sickness, simplicity, social safety net, soul, spouse, starvation, strength, success, suffering, teaching, time, trains, truths, values, violence, vision, volunteering, vow, wants, wars, wealth, welfare (government programs), wisdom, wonder, words, the world, world view, writing, youth, The Declaration of a Global Ethic, whatever you like.

Summarizing Thoughts!

Some Thoughts for Harry van Bommel