Praise for Living Big
“To read Living Big is a delight, and to put its principles into practice is downright thrilling.”
—VICTORIA MORAN, author of Lit from Within and Creating a Charmed Life
“With this inspiring book, Pam Grout blows the lid off your limited thinking and invites you to become extraordinary. Turn off the TV, she advises, reclaim your personal power, and start spinning miracles.”
—GAIL MCMEEKIN, M.S.W., author of The Power of Positive Choices and The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women
“A brilliant, enticing guide to a life of adventure and purpose. Let Pam Grout escort, enthrall and, yes, nudge you, into creating a life you thought you could only dream of.”
—FATHER PAUL KEENAN, author of Stages of the Soul and Heartstorming
“If you long to live a life of passion and purpose but wonder where to begin, stop right now and read Pam Grout's wonderful and dynamic book Living Big. Pam writes from the bone and speaks from her heart. She knows what it means to find and then follow your joy. Take Pam on your journey and embrace what really matters.”
—LESLIE LEVINE, author of Ice Cream for Breakfast: If You Follow All the Rules, You Miss Half the Fun
This edition first published in 2015 by Conari Press, an imprint of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
With offices at:
665 Third Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, CA 94107
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Copyright © 2001 by Pam Grout
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages. Originally published in 2001 by Conari Press, ISBN: 978-1-57324-703-0.
Cover design by Jim Warner
Interior design and composition by Nancy Campana, Campana Design
Author photo by Ron Dewitt
ISBN: 978-1-57324-652-1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request
Printed in the United States of America
EBM
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This one's for Ronnie.
LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE LITTLE.
—Disraeli
This is a book of magic.
Sign your name here if you're ready for a life of enchantment, mystery, wonder, and passion:
_____________________________________________________________
You (yoo) 1: The person whose name is signed on this line 2: Immense 3: Vast 4: Endless 5: Colossal 6: Enormous 7: Boundless 8: Astronomical 9: Tremendous 10: Infinite 11: Mammoth 12: Mastodonic 13: Gigantic 14: Gargantuan 15: Herculean 16: Humongous 17: Prodigious 18: Stupendous 19: Cosmic 20: Whopping 21: Thunderous 22: Larger than life
LIVING BIG
You Were Created to Do Big Things
1 / Thinking Big: The Attitude of Boldness
2 / Giving Big: The Attitude of Service
3 / Blessing Big: The Attitude of Kindness
4 / Making a Big Difference: The Attitude of Commitment
5 / Imagining Big: The Attitude of Creativity
6 / Playing Big: The Attitude of Happiness
7 / Loving Big: The Attitude of Spirituality
WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?
EVERY DAY, YOU ARE SIGNALED AND SUMMONED TO EMBARK ON A JOURNEY BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF ALL YOU HAVE EVER KNOWN. YOU NEED ONLY RELINQUISH YOUR FEARS, OPEN YOUR HEART AND BEGIN.
—Bob Savino, As the Spirit Moves
The average human being squanders his imagination, hoards her love, and has no clue about the depths that exist within his own soul.
Or, as the great poet Ranier Maria Rilke put it, “Most people come to know only one corner of their room, one narrow strip on which they keep walking back and forth.”
Living Big is about discovering the rest of your room.
We all know the pitiful statistic about our brainpower: that we use a scant 10 percent of what's available. What's worse is we use even less of our love, acknowledge only a fraction of our feelings, and cower in the face of our highest dreams.
If you ask me, the reason five out of ten people in this country hate their jobs and 17 million are clinically depressed is that they're leading lives that are “way beneath them.” They're exhausting themselves on meaningless things.
Scientists estimate the average human being has 60,000 thoughts a day. A pretty impressive statistic until you hear this one: All but 2 percent of those 60,000 thoughts are the same ones you had yesterday.
Just think what we could do if we used that other 98 percent to think up new ideas, to dive into life's mysteries, to solve the problems that face our world? Mist of us waste our 60,000 thoughts on trivial, insignificant, thoroughly meaningless things. Look at the cover of a typical woman's magazine:
“Lose 5 Pounds by Christmas”
“101 Ways to Regain Your Energy”
“Drive Your Lover Wild in Bed”
Don't