Trust
Book: “Trust: Mastering the Four Essential Trusts” by Iyanla Vanzant
Book Review by Mary Mikawoz
This book of “Trust” by Iyanla Vanzant is very involved. She covers trust from the perspective of Trust in Self, Trust in God, Trust in Others and Trust in Life. “Cause and effect, correspondence, vibration, attraction, love and forgiveness are all concrete laws that govern the movement and unfolding of life.”
This book is a good read from the beginning stories of Iyanla’s life when she had to claim bankruptcy in her life. She had to live in a renting situation for years even after starting the “Iyanla: Fix My Life” TV series on the OWN network. After having risen from poverty to a high state of living, she was not used to this style of life. When her relationship with her husband broke down and other relationships broke down in her personal and professional life, her standard of life went downhill. She prayed to God for direction. She was happy to be living in a rental situation with limited opportunities when friends asked her when she would be moving on. She gave it some reflection over a couple of years. She had to overcome her bankruptcy situation. She had to be pre-approved for a mortgage. She found a place in need of much repair. To make a long story short, it was her friend, Oprah Winfrey, who came in with Nate Berkus and repaired it for her as a surprise. She was very grateful.
Next comes the part of trusting in God. Actually, this theme carries throughout the book. Without God’s prime direction, you are missing out. It is God who provides the lessons to be learned. It is with trusting in God that he/she has your back that good things happen to you. It is through God, that you are able to listen to your intuition or your inner guidance system. Plus, if you are able to say “No” to circumstances that do not serve your better interests or desires, you will be better off.
Dealing with trust in others is an interesting expression of situations that Iyanla has found herself in. She is able to tell interesting stories of people she has met on their path. Some of the stories seem so dramatic but it is only because I find the stories so heart-wrenching. Person after person, has been let down by their parents, by their spouses, by their employer or by their business. Lessons need to be learned and through the process of identifying issues affecting the small little girl or boy inside, it is necessary to deal with the past issues without getting stuck there. People make progress by believing in God and trusting their intuition. They lean into trust and make hard decisions. Iyanla even speaks of Jay, the man who fathered 34 children with 17 different women that was featured on “Iyanla, Fix My Life.” Somehow he was able to convince all these women to trust him and that he would change just for them.
Finally, Iyanla speaks of trust in life. She outlines many people who were cut off before they even started. She mentions people like George Lucas who spent four years trying to sell his script for Star Wars which is now a block-buster set of movies. Then there was Michael Jordan who was cut from his high school basketball team and came to be a legend in and of himself. It took Harland David Sanders 1010 attempts to sell his secret chicken recipe before he got a bite and became Kentucky Fried Chicken fame. Walt Disney was fired from his newspaper job for lacking ideas and went into personal bankruptcy before he was able to establish the world famous Walt Disney Theme Parks. Fred Astaire after his first screen test was given a less than passing mention and was said to be able to dance a little bit. Vince Lomardi was said to have minimal football knowledge and went on to be one of the best NFL coaches. Tyler Perry was so poor he lived out of his car for six years while trying to establish himself as an actor and movie mogul. Forbes put him as the second highest earning man in 2011 and then there is J.K. Rowling who was a depressed single mother trying to make her world of Harry Potter come alive. Now she is a billionaire author. Success came to these people because they continued to try and so can you.
Trust in the process of life. I would recommend this book to those willing to explore this process of life and trust.
Tags: trust, self, God, others, life, Villa Nova, bankruptcy, Iyanla’s life, Oprah, Nate Berkus, God, spirit, inner guidance system, intuition, personal stories, George Lucas, Michael Jordan, Harland David Sanders, Walt Disney, Fred Astaire, Tyler Perry, JK Rowling, process, life, Course in Miracles.
