Over the years, I have encountered so many people who scoff at the idea of Self-Help. I have never understood why. The Self-Help movement is simply yet profoundly about finding and using the tools that take us to the most powerful and most loving part of who we are.

I used to be an incredibly fearful person. Because of my intense fear, it is not surprising that I hung onto many things that clearly were not working for me. I longed to move forward with my life, but fear was holding me back. Part of my problem was the nonstop little voice inside my head that kept telling me very negative things such as, You'd better not change your situation. Don't take a chance. You might make a mistake. You're not good enough. And on and on and on.

Then one day as I was dressing for work, I reached the turning point. As I glanced in the mirror, I saw an all-too-familiar sight—eyes red and puffy from my tears of self-pity. Suddenly a good healthy rage welled up inside me, and I began shouting at my reflection in the mirror, ENOUGH...ENOUGH... ENOUGH! I shouted and shouted and shouted until there were no shouts left.

When I stopped, I felt a strange and wonderful sense of relief and calm that I had never felt before. Without realizing it at the time, I had gotten in touch with a very powerful part of myself that before that moment I hadn't even known existed. I took another long look in the mirror and smiled as I nodded my head YES. The old familiar voice of doom and gloom was drowned out, at least temporarily, and a new voice had come to the fore— one that felt healthy and strong. My rage had been transformed into a feeling of strength, love, joy, and all good things.

At that moment, I knew I was never again going to let fear get the better of me. I would find a way to push through the negativity that prevailed in my mind and therefore, in my life. Thus began my spiritual odyssey, which I define as the journey to the best of who I am—my Higher Self.

Over the years, with the help of a wide variety of Self-Help teachers, I gathered many tools and I learned many things: I learned that what I thought was the totality of my being was only a very small part of a much larger whole; I learned that there were dimensions of my being that I had never experienced or explored; I learned that as much as I got caught up in the melodrama of daily life, there was a more spiritual and transcendent way of seeing myself in this world; I learned that I had an immense amount of power and love living inside me.

It is this spiritual odyssey, this journey to the Higher Self, the best of who we are that I believe is at the heart of the Self-Help movement.

It is about finding the fantastic power and love we hold inside—and then radiating that power and love out into the world. And it is much more . . .

It is about focusing on our blessings—We are masters for taking things for granted, and taking things for granted is one of the greatest assaults on our lives. We must teach ourselves to notice the wonder of it all, the blessings all around us. We must practice gratitude. We have to learn how to make all the ordinary events in our lives extraordinary—because that is what they are.

It is about trusting that there is a reason—a purpose for all that happens in our lives and in the lives of those we love. And using all of our experiences to help us learn and to grow.

It is about letting go of the victim mentality—and, instead, take responsibility for our experience of life. Victims live in the Lower Self with a poor me state of mind. Powerless, indeed! Creators live in the Higher Self with a Whatever happens, I'll handle it! state of mind. Powerful, indeed!

It is about living in the now—Our goals are wonderful, but they are not our life. Now is our life. The joy of the process is more important than the actual reaching of our goals.

It is about making this a better world.

It is about being love and teaching love.

Little by little, as you practice trusting your gut, you will be led to many wonderful teachers and many wonderful places—within your mind and out in the world. As many of us have already discovered, the Self-Help journey to the best of who we are is an amazing journey, indeed!