YOUR DESTINY IS INSIDE YOU

An inspirational guide offers readers advice on taking control of their destinies.

According to Pat, humanity has an integral role to play in the balance of the universe’s energy. That energy sprang into being during the Big Bang, originally assuming the simple, primitive forms of hydrogen but eventually evolving into humankind. “Humanity is an inseparable element of this energy system and is subject to all the laws that govern it,” the author writes. “There is no way out of the Energy System of the Universe; let us call it the Spiritual Energy of the Universe.” In Pat’s conception, the cosmos is in a state of perfect harmony, “an infinite vastness of energy in a state of absolute and perfect balance.” The preservation of that harmony is the guiding principle of all living things, or should be. Humans, he maintains, are the only creatures in this system that possess free will and have the choice either to live in accordance with the laws of the Spiritual Energy of the Universe or to follow their own paths in opposition to these rules, thereby inviting sadness and disappointment. In outlining the various precepts that will help readers to align their lives according to this Spiritual Energy, the author touches on many aspects of life—and death. “Do not fear death,” he advises. “Fear of dying is the first and most important source of negative energy.”

Pat often dispenses sound advice in this ambitious manual, translated from the Polishby Pagett and Oszmianska-Pagett. The author reassures his readers that they don’t always have to be cheerful, for instance—it’s perfectly OK to just yield to a bad day rather than waste energy on fighting it. All people have the right to do what they think is right; the author also tells his readers that they aren’t obliged to react to everything. Such worry-reducing sentiments are comforting, but some of Pat’s assertions are either contradictory or questionable. “Nobody has responsibility for your life other than you,” he writes at one point. At another point, he asserts: “Your destiny depends on your own thoughts,” a statement that will be puzzling to anybody who has ever survived a natural disaster, a dire illness, or even the loss of a job. At other times, he resorts to the kinds of “deep thought” aphorisms that too often fill guides of this type, things like “Would mountains exist if it wasn’t for the valleys?” He attempts to short-circuit any criticism by warning his readers: “Don’t intellectualize or analyze the words in this book.” But authors don’t write books in order for readers to ignore them. Still, Pat delivers several straightforward, useful truisms about the value of blazing your own trail and following your heart when it comes to charting your future. He urges his readers to fill their lives with love and to act only out of love when possible—clear and worthwhile advice. But the audience will have to wade through quite a bit of soup to find those tantalizing croutons.

A heartfelt and holistic but diffuse and scattershot program for improving your life.