Very inspirational. Sheds light on all that we never realize because of fear, doubt or simply quitting before we reach our destiny. ( )

First, let’s get the seven principles out of the way:

The buck stops here.
I will seek wisdom.
I am a person of action.
I have a decided heart.
Today I will choose to be happy.
I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit.
I will persist without exception.
These are certainly reasonable principles for living, and this book teaches you so. I don’t have a problem with any of that. What I DO have a problem with is how the book teaches it, and what else goes along with it.

The book is the story of David Ponder (uh, get, it, like he’s supposed to PONDER something important), a typical middle-aged guy who puts his priorities wrong, loses all his money, and decides to kill himself. So far, just a touch melodramatic. But then, instead of dying, he finds himself being whisked away to visit six historic figures, from Solomon to Abraham Lincoln to Anne Frank, who each pass on to him one of the seven life-transforming principles. They each not only co-operate with this bizarre process, but each pen a letter to him, each about the same length and sprinkled with the same type of late 20th century self-talk & affirmations that none of those people would have actually written.

So far, you just have a overly stretched sentimental & incredulous metaphor, but one that is fairly innocuous and sometimes even moving. But things start getting weird with the last of David’s trips: he meets the archangel Gabriel, who not only passes along the last principle but also says he is the last “traveler” that God has ordained to take this message and share it with others. He says that David is last in a line that has included Joan of Arc, George Washington, & Martin Luther King, Jr. Okay, that’s just too much for me. But it gets worse: Gabriel then starts talking about a pre-Adamic ancient race that fell apart, and implies that the principles that David now has will save the human race from a similar fate.

Okay, time out, boys & girls. Does the author really believe that there was a culture 30,000 years ago that was technologically superior to our own? Does the author really believe that these seven principles are the key to the whole human race? It almost sounds like he is putting these principles above Scripture itself, that he is claiming divine revelation in them. The final blow is that David is given a view of his future, where these principles have not only made him fabulously rich, but hailed by tens of thousands as their spiritual benefactor.

Bottom line: good principles, but WAY too much nuttiness in between for me. ( )

I couldn't stand too finish it. Shallow, shallow, shallow. ( )

Great read! Made me realize that lots of time the situation is not great in the beginning but with time and effort turns out ok ( )