The Traveler's Gift

The Traveler's Gift

by Andy Andrews

Hard cover: 206 pages

Help! I've fallen in the self improvement genre and I can't get up!!

I keep stumbling across these quick read/deep message books while working. Is someone trying to send me a message? I feel unable to resist them, even though I don't want to resist.

The "Traveler's Gift" is a story of a man who loses his job and sees his life sliding quickly into the pits. Like George in "It's a Wonderful Life" he begins to think his family would be better off with his life insurance if he were dead. At which point his car hits black ice, spins out of control and into a tree.

Unlike George, David doesn't have an angel trying to earn his wings to assist him. Instead, he becomes a time traveler (think "Quantum Leap" here) and visits several notable people throughout time. Each person he visits is experiencing something horrific in his or her life at that time. Each one gives David a 'decision,' which all together become the "seven decisions that determine personal success." (I got that off the cover-).

This book is an entertaining read, though may bog down just a bit in a couple of places. I enjoyed the history lessons that accompanied each visit and especially the visit to the archangel which produces the last decision. This visit took place in the hall of missed opportunities. I liked the concept and the way it was presented.

The following, copied without permission, is a list of the seven decisions:

1. The buck stops here. I am responsible for my past and my future.

2. I will seek wisdom. I will be a servant to others.

3. I am a person of action. I seize this moment. I choose now.

4. I have a decided heart. My destiny is assured.

5. Today I will choose to be happy. I am the possessor of a grateful spirit.

6. I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit. I will forgive myself.

7. I will persist without exception. I am a person of great faith.

Each of these is simplified from a longer description provided to David by each person he visited. I won't give any more away just in case you would like to read this one for yourself. I do plan on using the decisions the way David was instructed. You tell me if you see any change.