Excuses Begone!

I've been reading, and really enjoying, the new Wayne Dyer book Excuses Begone for a while now. I am quite impressed with it. It strikes me as quite a spiritually mature book, with real depth and insight, in spite of its whimsical title. One of my friends, when he saw me reading it, burst out laughing and said it should have been called Get Thee Behind Me, Excuses!
The fact is that it is nicely written and well set-out and argued. This alone sets it apart from many of the self-help books that are released with great haste and little quality control. I understand that Dyer is a committed and methodical writer with a strict discipline that includes meditation, spiritual reading and prayer along with his daily writing.
The book is really a very old-fashioned example of New Thought, and Dyer's interests and expressions become increasingly spiritual as he gets older. While reading through it to garner quotes for a seminar I was presenting I was actually quite struck by its overtly theistic emphasis, and wondered at how an average reader might take such references.
As I've mentioned in this blog before, Dyer is an exceedingly likeable man, and his humility and self-deprecation are a part of his style. I am surprised when I search the net and find so much vitriol directed at him, mostly on the part of sceptical anti-self-help journalists who have obviously never carefully read what the man is actually saying. A huge part of his message is the fact that he is a deeply flawed human being whose life has been filled with exactly the sorts of problems and setbacks that plague us all. I was particularly appalled by the criticisms of the poor man based on his failed marriages. In recent years his wife has left him, and many seem to see this as some sort of judgement on his books and their message. Go figure. If anything, such tribulations stand testament to his overarching message, which is that problems beset us all constantly, and we can only lead a happy and fulfilled life if we keep carrying on regardless of external circumstances.
In Excuses Begone he spends a lot of time discussing Thomas Troward, who is one of the venerable ancestors of the New Thought movement. I'm glad that Dyer has resurrected him, and hope that a whole new generation of readers will re-discover this charming writer, who was one of the bestselling authors of his day.
And, of course, the book is filled with practical tips for avoiding the inertia of an excuse-filled life, urging us to keep our dreams alive, keep journals, and follow websites that excite and encourage us in working toward our goals.
I have found it an inspiring, readable and useful book, and would recommend Excuses Begone! to even the most hard-headed cynic.