JANUARY 2025 NEWSLETTER HIGHLIGHTS from Gigi Langer – LovingThought of the Week – Recovering from Addictive Habits: The 12 Steps Can Open Your Heart: Step 1 – Wonderful Children’s Book for New Parents: My Baby, I Rock You
WELCOME TO 2025! I wish you the very best of everything this year–but most of all I wish you peace of mind and freedom from negative thinking and habits. A few months ago, I started meditating every day, and it has brought me a lot of gifts–most significant, a clearer sense of what my heart nudges me to do (rather than trying to control things with my analytical thinking). It’s no surprise that my spirit guides me to loving thoughts and actions–toward myself and all those I encounter. The two FREE tools I use for 15-25 minute guided meditations are Insight Timer and Davidji. Give it a try; you might be pleasantly surprised with the ease you experience….with so little effort
JANUARY 2025 NEWSLETTER HIGHLIGHTS from Gigi Langer –Thought of the Week –Recovery from Addictive Habits Part 3: Step 1 –Wonderful Children’s Book for New Parents – – – – – CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE NEWSLETTER!
My newest book, Love More Now: Facing Life’s Challenges with an Open Heart is only $9.99 –available from Amazon HERE.
Get my award-winning book, 50 Ways to Worry Less Now, for only $6.00 at GigiLanger.com/buy (or get e-book at Amazon) ** Thank you for POSTING your REVIEWs on Amazon. **
Gigi Langer has been sober for over 35 years, and holds a PhD in Psychological Studies in Education from Stanford University. Her 50 Ways to Worry Less Now won an Indie Excellence Award in 2019. Gigi worked at Eastern Michigan University for 25 years, and now lives happily in Florida with her husband, Peter and her cat, Easter.
Today I was moved to read through my latest book, “Love More Now: Facing Life’s Challenges with an Open Heart.” I had published it last year and had not really done much n terms of marketing it. So, there it sat–neglected!
But this morning I got a nudge (from my True Self) to pick it up and read every page. It took me about 4 hours (without doing any of the reflection questions), and I was amazed to discover how good it is. In fact, I can’t believe I wrote it!
Well, I didn’t really write it–not alone. Although the inspiration and ideas came from my heart and my higher power, I hired two fabulous editors to help make the book logical and interesting. They were expensive, but, looking back, I am so glad I spent those many dollars!
So, I thought I would begin sharing excerpts with you in my blog posts. Here’s a bit that shares how my life launched me on a quest for happiness and joy, in spite of my troubled past.
Your True Self Has Your Back
What is this True Self I’m referring to? It’s the divine you, deep inside, that guides you through the world with love and wisdom. Although this True Self has never left you, it may have been hidden by heart-closing fears, resentments, and self-criticism. Fortunately, you can remove these barriers by opening your heart to Loving Energy, thus revealing the power of your True Self.
It’s not as hard as you might think. In fact, you’ve already experienced many heart-opening moments of your own. It’s just a matter of noticing and cultivating receptivity to them. Here’s a story about one such moment in my life.
Many years ago, my third husband and I took a trip out west. Having realized too late that I had married the wrong man, I was miserable the entire time. My stomach hurt constantly, but when I went to the ER, they found nothing wrong. There was something wrong, alright, but not with my stomach. I just hadn’t been able to face it.
One afternoon late in the trip, we pulled up to a gift shop bordering Jenny Lake in the Grand Tetons. As soon as I entered the shop, I heard a bell-like voice filling the space with song. I just had to know who the singer was! After the shopkeeper told me about Kate Wolf, I immediately bought her tape. From that day on, Kate’s music would accompany me as I journeyed out of a hellish life into one of beauty and peace.
With the sweet music still in my head, I exited the shop, made my way to the shore, and found a rock to perch on. Sitting quietly, I watched as the sunlight grazed the water, reflecting back the white-tipped mountain peaks. The image held my gaze. For one long, beautiful moment, I forgot the turmoil of my strangled dreams and baffling, troubled life.
As I stared, the white peaks beckoned to me, seeming to offer another way of thinking, of looking at the world. New, surprising feelings came to me in a warm, kind voice: Believe! Trust! Your dreams are still possible. The past is over. Begin anew now.
Tears welled up in my eyes as I grappled with this unex- pected invitation. Taking a leap of faith I didn’t know I had, I believed. I trusted. Suddenly, my old feelings of shame, guilt, and hopelessness began to disintegrate.
After that day, I started receiving amazing gifts. First, I found sobriety and a Loving Energy greater than my fears. Then, a therapist helped me overcome the barriers that had been closing my heart: codependency, perfectionism, and people pleasing, to name a few. As I continued to grow, I found A Course in Miracles (ACIM), a spiritual text that teaches how to choose Love over fear in every circumstance.
My newest book, Love More Now: Facing Life’s Challenges with an Open Heart is only $9.99 –available from Amazon HERE or Barnes and Noble HERE.
Get my award-winning book, 50 Ways to Worry Less Now, for only $8.95 at GigiLanger.com/buy (e-book at Amazon)
Thank you for POSTING your REVIEWs on Amazon.
Gigi Langer has been sober 38 years, and holds a PhD in Psychological Studies in Education from Stanford University. Her 50 Ways to Worry Less Now won an Indie Excellence Award in 2019. Gigi worked at Eastern Michigan University for 25 years, and now lives happily in Florida with her husband, Peter and her cat, Easter.
My friends say our worries & fears come from the not-so-helpful “committee in my head.” I call those negative voices “whispered lies.”
For instance, for too many years I believed “If I want to be liked, I must look good.” This whispered lie made me constantly worried about my appearance and behavior.
WHISPERED LIES: EXAMPLES
• “I’ll never have enough money.”
• “I always sabotage my success.”
• “Relationships just don’t work for me.”
• “We could all be happy if only Dad would stop drinking.”
Although many of our whispered lies concern ourselves, they often focus on our children, spouses, friends, or relatives—for instance, the last example about the father’s drinking. Other distressing beliefs involve institutions, as in “If the government would just change this policy, we’d all be better off.”
Even though it might be true that Dad ought to stop drinking or the government should make changes, these events have no control over your own happiness.
CHANGING WHISPERED LIES TO POSITIVE THINKING
You can find peace of mind under any circumstance because you’re in charge of what you think about.
Most of our worries are fueled by false stories installed into our minds long ago, just waiting for opportunities to be confirmed. Wayne Dyer wrote that everything our brain “knows” is based on past experiences. Therefore, when an event resembles—even in a small way—an old painful one, our mind interprets the new event according to the long-standing negative belief.
Since most whispered lies live largely in our unconscious, we’re often unaware of them.
To illustrate the power of my own “negative committee’s” lies, consider why I failed at romantic love so many times during my twenties and thirties. I wanted to believe that love was possible for me, but my past had taught me the lie “I’m not worthy of love.”
This belief lived so strongly in my mind that, even when a man loved me deeply, I couldn’t believe it was true. After several months, I would become convinced that he wasn’t fulfilling my needs. These worries made me so demanding that I soon snuffed out all the happiness and joy of new love. When it ended, I’d tell myself, “I just don’t deserve love!” Until I got honest and started healing my faulty thinking, I had no hope of enjoying a happy relationship.
READ MY BLOGS FOR TOOLS TO DISSOLVE YOUR WHISPERED LIES
(Actually, any of the blogs or videos aim to help usovercome our negative thinking!)
I’m so grateful for the therapy, recovery, psychological strategies, and spiritual tools that gave me freedom from my false beliefs. As a result I’m a pretty happy camper most days — AND I’ve been happily married for 33 years. So what if it’s my 4th husband??? He’s fabulous!
WHAT ABOUT YOUR OWN WHISPERED LIES? To learn how to win independence from your own committee’s whispered lies, check out my award-winning book 50 Ways to Worry Less Now. Available through Amazon (5 stars), and personal signed copy for only $8.95 HERE (Free shipping within USA).
Gigi Langer, PhD has 35 years of sobriety and has helped thousands of people improve their lives at home and at work. She’s written several books for educators, and is a sought-after speaker and workshop leader. Gigi holds a doctorate in Psychological Studies in Education and an MA in Psychology, both from Stanford.
DO YOU HAVE FEELINGS THAT JUST CARRY YOU AWAY AND COLOR YOUR WHOLE WORLD GRAY? Don’t worry! Such feelings are often created by fearful thoughts that aren’t even true.
SO, HERE’S THE TRUTH: We don’t have the means to make people and things exactly as we want them. We just aren’t that powerful.
For example, we live in the wreckage of our future (“Its going to be awful!”) or we create “unenforceable rules” (“This should (or should not happen”). Often, we try to change the past by thinking how it “could have” been better.
Such thoughts are driven by the fear-driven belief that, if we just think long and hard enough, we can protect ourselves (and our loved ones) from pain and harm.
HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS: We can find peace of mind and contentment in the midst of our fearful feelings and thoughts. Why? BECAUSE WE CAN CHOOSE WHAT FILLS OUR MIND.
HOW? Meditation, walks outside, stretching, yoga, prayer, reading or watching inspiring books/movies, 12-step work, spiritual practices, energy work, and thought-correction can all soothe our most difficult feelings. Good healthy friends or counselors really help too.
When we get still and listen to our inner wisdom (or that of another), we receive the comfort of ACCEPTANCE (non-attachment to specific outcomes). Further, we find ways to address those problems that still bother us—IF they are still bothering us (quite often, they’ve shrunken down to nothing!).
NEXT TIME YOUR FEELINGS are having a hissy fit, stand apart from them for a moment to recognize they’re mostly a result of inaccurate and disturbing thoughts. Then, ask yourself, “What healthy actions can I take to soothe my mind and body?” And then, do that!
PLEASE SHARE YOUR FAVORITE WAYS OF SOOTHING UPSET FEELINGS IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. THANKS!!
Gigi Langer has been sober 35 years, and holds a PhD in Psychological Studies in Education from Stanford University. Formerly crowned the “Queen of Worry,” Gigi resigned her post many years ago and now lives happily in Florida with her husband, Peter and her cat Murphy.
My award-winning book, 50 Ways to Worry Less Nowdescribes how to reject the faulty thinking leading to addiction, dysfunctional relationships, perfectionism, and worry about loved ones. Check out the practical directions, personal stories, and other helpful suggestions. Amazon: 4.8 stars (Buy Paperback, e-book, OR audiobook HERE)
REVIEW by Karen Casey, best-selling author of Each Day a New Beginning (Hazelden) “Even though I have been in recovery for more than 4 decades, and didn’t think another self-help book would make it to my treasured list, I was wrong. This book is a winner.”
