Successful Living from A to Z

By Jody Ellis

“Say to yourself, ‘I am alive! I am really alive!’ Go through each day as if you were a new arrival in the world. Use all of your senses all day. See everything clearly. Listen to all sounds. Feel the vibration of life in your body and your mind. Be alert every minute. You’ll experience a new day and a new life.” With that statement, the author introduces a primer designed to assist the “busy body” in today’s society. “Successful Living” can alter the direction of your life in more ways than you can imagine. Use it as a guide, take it at face value, share it with your children. From Alive to Zest, Knowledge to Quest, every letter of the alphabet is utilized to help the reader of any level fundamentally understand essential principles in the course of living a full life. Pick and choose which lessons are more relevant to your situation. Read the book in chronological order, skip through the chapters, or read it backwards. The teachings inside this little guide are universal. Good for life coaches, teachers of any discipline, business associates, philosophers, or anyone interested in seeking a new path of fulfillment, Jody Ellis’s book can alter your life for the better. This is not a text that holds all the answers, but a remarkable testament of one individual’s keen awareness that she would like to share with her readers. JODY ELLISs, born in Colorado in 1925, has enjoyed a successful and varied career in health care, business and the arts. She attended MacMurray College and served as a registered nurse in the U.S. Air Force in both the United States and Europe. Her business experiences include owning a candy company and a research firm specializing in work with authors and speakers. She was a founder of the Sunstone Press and its first President and a founder of the Santa Fe Community Orchestra. Fulfilling a lifelong interest in music, she became a cellist and music teacher. In recent years she has also become known as a composer of orchestral and piano music.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sunstone Press
• Release date: Jan 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781611390537

Book preview

SUCCESSFUL LIVING from A to Z

Jody Ellis

Photograph on cover by Carl D. Condit

© 2005 by Jody Ellis. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Sunstone books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. For information please write: Special Markets Department, Sunstone Press, P.O. Box 2321, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-2321.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Ellis, Jody.

   [ABCs of successful living]

   Successful living from A to Z / by Jody Ellis.

       p. cm.

   Originally published: The ABCs of successful living, Santa Fe, N.M.: Sunstone Press, 1974.

   ISBN: 0-86534-469-8 (alk.paper)

   1. Success I. Title.

BJ1611.3.E45 2005

158.1 –dc22

2005049938

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WWW.SUNSTONEPRESS.COM

SUNSTONE PRESS / POST OFFICE BOX 2321 / SANTA FE, NM 87504-2321 /USA

[phone] / ORDERS ONLY [phone] / FAX [phone]

For Marcia Muth

and the many others who inspired and helped me

CONTENTS

PREFACE

The importance of this book and what it can do for you. Each individual has the capacity for successful living, but help is often needed in discovering and using that capacity This book supplies that help.

A IS FOR ALIVE

Being truly alive is the first step in successful living. Don’t be satisfied with being half-alive the rest of your days. Be alive to yourself! Be alive to the world in which you live! Be alive to your opportunities!

B IS FOR BELIEVE

Believe in what you know you can be. Believe in what you decide you want to do. Believe in your ultimate and final success. Believe and it is yours!

C IS FOR CONFIDENCE

Confidence is one of the most necessary ingredients in your recipe for success. Have confidence in yourself. Have confidence in your life pattern. Have confidence in what you choose to do. Have confidence that you will be successful.

D IS FOR DAYDREAMS

Don’t overlook, negate or minimize your daydreams. There is hidden power in your daydreams. You can try out your ideas first in your mind and then act on them successfully in your life. Let your daydreams be a preview of your real life successes.

E IS FOR EAGERNESS

Keep your eagerness at a high level. Eagerness is a form of energy that can give you that extra needed push. Your success is in proportion to your eagerness.

F IS FOR FAITH

Have faith in yourself and your plans. Don’t waver in your faith at any time no matter what happens. Remember that faith is the light shining in darkness.

G IS FOR GIVING

The secret to getting–is giving. Don’t hold back on your time or your talents. Give of yourself, but wisely. Give freely! Give willingly!

H IS FOR HEALTH

Everybody wants good health. You want to enjoy good health. Your physical health often depends on your mental or emotional outlook. You can control your emotions, or change your mental attitude. You can have the best physical health that your body allows, in spite of present handicaps.

I IS FOR IMPROVISE

Don’t be held back by limitations, either self-imposed or those of others. Learn to improvise. If you can’t do something one way, the way you originally planned, do it another way. Adapt what you have for what you need. Many successful ideas and inventions are a result of improvising.

J IS FOR JOY

Joy should be a part of all your activities. Joy is made up of pride, awe, and pleasure. Through joy you experience intense moments of happiness and living. Times of joy heighten your sense of personal identity. Joy will always produce harmony.

K IS FOR KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge is essential for success. There are two areas of knowledge that you should have. One is to have a complete and honest knowledge of yourself and your personality. The other is to know all that you can about what you are trying to accomplish. Knowledge is preparation for success. It is that important step up the ladder toward your desired goal. Knowledge permits you to obtain an honest evaluation of your self—your shortcomings and how to correct them; your abilities and how to utilize them.

L IS FOR LOVE

A life without some form of love is an