567-When Everything Changes, Change Everything-Neil Donald Walsh-Psychology-2009
Barack
April 25, 2025
When Everything Changes, Changes Everything, first published in 2009, will touch the lives of people around the world with the same uplifting hope as Conversations with God. When Everything Changes, Changes Everything touches the heart of everyone who has lost their way after a major life change—and the hearts of those who want to help them. It is a clear, immediately effective, and practical text that provides God-inspired insights, shows us the way forward, and provides a breathtaking reason. It takes a new perspective, practices a new spirituality, provides amazing tools for healing and living, and defines God so completely new that all the mysteries of life suddenly become clear.
Neale Donald Walsch was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1943. He is an author, actor, screenwriter and speaker. Before creating the "Conversations with God" series, Walsh worked as a radio program director, newspaper editor-in-chief, and in marketing and public relations. In the early 1990s, he suffered a series of devastating blows - a fire that burned all his property, the breakup of his marriage, and a car accident that caused him to break his neck. After recovering, he was alone, unemployed and forced to live in a tent in Jackson Hot Springs, a suburb of Ashland, Oregon, collecting and recycling aluminum cans to fill his stomach. At that time, he felt that his life had come to an end. After escaping homelessness and working as a radio talk show host for a while, he felt depressed and began to write.
His first book, Conversations with God, was published in 1995 and became an international bestseller. It stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for 135 weeks. Since then, his other six books have also been on the New York Times bestseller list. He has published 28 books and his works have been translated into 37 languages.
Conversations with God (CWG) is a series of books written by Neale Donald Walsh. This series of books is written in the form of dialogues, in which Walsh asks questions and God answers them. The first book in the Conversations with God series, Conversations with God, Book 1: An Extraordinary Conversation, was published in 1995 and became an instant hit, staying on the New York Times bestseller list for 137 weeks.
In an interview with Larry King, Walsh described the creative process of this series of books: During a low point in his life, Walsh wrote an angry letter to God, questioning why his life was not going as he wanted. After writing down all the questions, he heard a voice above his right shoulder: "Do you really want the answers to all these questions? Or are you just venting?" When Walsh turned around, he found that there was no one there, but Walsh felt that the answers to the questions filled his mind, so he decided to write them down. The subsequent unconscious writing has achieved the "Conversations with God" series of books. In a recent interview, when asked how he opened his heart to God, Neil said: "I reached out and touched others with these messages. When I reached out and touched others with these messages, I immediately reconnected with the presence of God."
Walsh writes that God brings up four core concepts that run throughout the conversation:
1. We are all one.
2. That's enough.
3. We don't have to do anything.
4. Our way is not better, our way is just another way.
Existence is essentially non-dual. At the highest level, there is no separation between all things, we are one; there is only God, and all is God. The second statement flows from the first, meaning that in this seeming state of existence, we lack nothing, and we have within us everything we deem necessary (or the means to create it) if we choose to realize it. The third statement combines the first two to conclude that God is everything, and therefore always sufficient in Himself, He requires nothing, and therefore requires nothing of humanity. This last concept puts an end to the idea that we always need to be right. Given that we have everything, and we are everything in ourselves, and we do not need to do anything, there are countless ways to experience it all, not just the one we have chosen so far.
According to the books, God recommends many economic and social changes if people want to create a more functional, adaptable and sustainable world. The books suggest that people should pay more attention to the environment. The conversations also talk about reincarnation and the existence of life on other planets.
In Walsh's first dialogue, God points out that "knowing" and "experiencing" oneself are two different things. Before creation, there was only "That-Which-Is," and it could not fully know or experience itself without something it was not. It could not see itself as love, because nothing existed except love. It could not see itself as giving, because there was nothing else to give. It could not experience itself in an infinite number of ways, because everything is one.
In Walsh's view, the current creation was established by and in God so that perception can exist, and perception does not directly remember its true nature as God. All life is split into infinite forms that can live, experience, and re-create its nature as God, rather than "knowing" itself as the Creator in theory. It is essentially a game, reached by agreement, remembering who and what we are, and enjoying and creating, while knowing that there is no finish line that some cannot reach, no understanding is worthless, and no action does not add meaning to the future or others. Walsh claims that God said we have a common interest and let the game continue. There is no other way but to experience our existence, and keep experiencing more, to discover deeper truths and understanding. There are no external rules, because all experience is subjective and optional. But in the midst of it, people can gradually understand that their thoughts, words, and actions are either valid or invalid. A thing is either valid or invalid, not right or wrong. These memories will happen with "time", which may take hundreds or thousands of reincarnations.
Table of Contents
Part One
1. The Just-in-Time Book
2. The First Change
3. Once Upon a Time . . .
4. The Normal Response to Change
Part Two
16. The Answer to Everything
17. The Fifth Change
18. The Sixth Change
The reason why I read this book "When Everything Changes, Change Everything" was because of a friend's recommendation. This friend is particularly interested in numerology. When I curiously asked him what books he read when he first started to read books related to numerology, he recommended this book to me. Neil Donald Walsh's most famous work before this was "Conversations with God". In fact, I have been familiar with this book for a long time, but I have never read it. The author's life was once in a very difficult situation. Life is like a play. It is difficult for us to foresee the future trough when we are in the high moment. When we are in the trough, it is also difficult to imagine the glory that may be in the future. The ups and downs of life are unpredictable. Whether it is the climax or the trough, we can never predict whether they will come, let alone when they will happen, and whether they will change again after they happen. Many people say that suffering is the wealth of life. But I think that only when you go through and endure the suffering yourself, it can really become wealth. The reason why people want to read an author's book is often because the author finally walked out of those difficulties and sufferings and achieved extraordinary achievements. It is precisely because he wrote works like "Conversations with God" that can prove his own value that readers are curious and attracted to know how he got out of the trough. If the author had not gotten out of the predicament and failed to turn pain into strength and achievement, then his experience might only be drowned in the stories of thousands of wanderers, no one would pay attention to it, let alone listen to it. When we are experiencing pain and difficulties, perhaps we can imagine that maybe one day in the future, everything we have experienced will become a precious medal in our lives.
Today I watched an anime "Sword Art Online" recommended by my classmates. The reason why I decided to watch this work was because of the recommendation of my friends. And I have heard this name by chance on different occasions before, and a seed of curiosity has been planted in my heart. In this work, there are many heartbreaking plots: tragedy, separation, struggle and pain between life and death. If these separations of life and death happen to us, it will undoubtedly be a loss, a strong and negative change. When watching, we will eagerly hope that the characters who are trapped in sadness and despair can cheer up as soon as possible and rekindle their confidence and hope in life. However, when we experience these negative changes in real life, can we motivate ourselves to stand up from the pain as soon as possible like we expect the anime characters? Think about it carefully, isn't the world we live in just like a grand anime, an immersive game, and a novel with ups and downs? Sometimes, when something unsatisfactory happens in life, we often can't help but question: Why does such a thing happen to me? Why is fate always unfair? But when we read novels, watch cartoons or play games, we can calmly hope that the characters in them will cheer up soon. The reason why a story is touching is precisely because it contains imperfections, suffering and struggle. Life is not complete only with happiness and joy. Sadness and suffering are also indispensable parts of life. Perhaps, we should also learn to look at our own lives with the eyes of appreciating stories, and calmly accept the changes that happen to us - whether they are good or bad, they will together build the thickness and depth of our lives.
The author proposes nine "changes". The first change to be made is not to isolate yourself. When life encounters a huge change, people often have an instinctive, defensive reaction. For example, they want to be alone, isolate themselves, or even lose confidence in the world and feel that they can no longer love. These reactions are actually very easy to understand. When life is proud, such as career success and success , the inner energy will naturally radiate outward, and most people can be positive and open. But when you are in a trough, when everything seems to be out of control, can you still emerge from the bottom of your heart? This is something that very few people can do. It is not uncommon to be able to bloom in good times; it is a truly remarkable quality to be able to shine in adversity. The author's writing style is very colloquial, as if he is having a heart-to-heart talk with the reader, rather than a serious written expression in the traditional sense. In addition, it has the characteristics of a very typical American bestseller: summarizing his own views into a few clear points in a concise and direct way. This book is based on these "nine changes" one by one, with clear logic and organization, and a pragmatic color. In contrast, when Chinese people write books on similar topics, they tend to pay more attention to the exposition of artistic conception and the progression of philosophical thinking, and the sense of instrumentality and list-based summary is weaker. What really makes us suffer may not be the "change" itself, but our attitude towards change. Let's take a simple example: suppose I plan to take a nap at 2 pm and sleep until 3 pm. But suddenly I was told that I had a meeting at 3 pm and could only end my rest half an hour earlier. So, my lunch break had to be adjusted to 1:30 to 2:30, and the original schedule was disrupted, which naturally made me unhappy. Similarly, if someone suddenly interrupts me and wants to take up ten minutes or half an hour, I will also be easily unhappy. But think about it carefully, the real problem is not the event itself, but my inner reaction. This world has its objective laws of existence, physical, mathematical, biological, and heaven and earth themselves are not good or bad, just as the "Tao Te Ching" said: "Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and regard all things as straw dogs." The world will not change because of our joys, anger, sorrows, and joys. What really needs to be adjusted is our own heart. Therefore, the focus of cultivation is not to change the external world, but to cultivate one's own state of mind. To learn how to face inevitable changes, and how to maintain a soft but tough inner self in the moment when plans and expectations are disrupted.
The author thinks that the second thing that needs to be changed is emotion. Generally, biologists generally believe that people's reactions are "emotion first, then feelings", that is, external stimuli first trigger emotions, and then we experience various physiological feelings, such as pain, irritability, etc. But the author puts forward a different view: he believes that the real order is that there are thoughts first, and then there are emotions. The reason why he understands this is from a perspective that is closer to "spiritual", emphasizing that we have the ability to use our consciousness and soul to choose how to feel. This view actually makes sense. Imagine that the same thing happens to different people, and the emotional reactions they produce are often completely different. Even for the same person, encountering the same event at different time points may have completely different feelings. What is the reason? Has the thing itself changed? No. What has changed is our current thoughts. Just like sometimes, we will find that we liked someone very much yesterday, but suddenly feel bored today, and may like him again tomorrow. Is this the person who has changed? Obviously not. What has changed is our inner thoughts and interpretations of him. Therefore, when the external environment changes, what really needs to be adjusted is actually our thoughts, which in turn guide our emotions. If we allow our emotions to be directly controlled by the environment, such as feeling irritated and complaining immediately when we are stuck in traffic, we will actually become a simple emotional response machine - just sighing. What is true intelligence? Intelligence lies in the unpredictability. If every reaction of a person can be accurately predicted, then he is just a mechanical product under the program setting, and there is no real sense of "living". Therefore, I have always had an experience: the material appearance of this world may be objective, but each of us actually lives in a world constructed by ourselves subjectively. To be more precise, we live in our own constantly generated emotions. Therefore, when the environment changes, plans are disrupted, and accidents occur, what we really need to train is not just emotional management, but a deeper ability - awareness of thought. When something happens, can we be aware of the first thought that emerges in our hearts in time? Many times, emotions surge too quickly, like a wave, leaving no room for rational thinking. So we get angry or overly excited, and our emotions take us all the way. Then, our emotions affect our thoughts, and our thoughts in turn strengthen our emotions, forming an out-of-control cycle. But if we can pause and ask ourselves before our emotions explode, "What is my first thought?" If we can look at everything that happens with a calm and detached eye - like watching someone else's story or reading a piece of history - then we may see different aspects. Especially for those things that seem bad and painful, if we can calm down our thinking, we may be able to see the opportunities and gains hidden in them like clearing away the fog. When we turn our attention to those small but real benefits, the emotions that follow will naturally turn into positive and warm forces. So, in the final analysis, in the face of change, our most important practice is not to control the world, but to learn - in the change, adjust our thoughts, choose our emotions, and thus reshape our world.
The third change mentioned by the author is to change Thoughts. There is a saying: "One thought can make you a Buddha, and one thought can make you a demon." In fact, many key decisions in our lives are often made in one thought. For example, at 2 or 3 o'clock in the evening, it was originally time to go to bed, and one thought told me: "Turn off the computer, read a book, and then go to bed." Another voice tempted me: "Open YouTube and watch some relaxing videos for entertainment." The final choice determines whether I will go to bed on time or watch entertaining videos all night. When discussing "reality", the author distinguishes three different levels of reality. Sometimes, we say to ourselves in our hearts, "Just watch a short video, about ten minutes," but what really happens is that three hours or six hours pass by in a flash. On the surface, it seems to be "facts", but if you look closely, it is actually mixed with a lot of subjective imagination and emotional induction. The author believes that these three realities are not mutually exclusive, but exist at the same time, intertwined into a "superimposed reality state" (Overlapping Reality). The ultimate reality is "what happened"; the observed reality is "what I noticed"; the distorted reality is "how I imagine it and give it meaning." Ultimately, which of these three becomes the "truth" in my heart depends on my mind and my willpower. It is me who decides which reality I will identify with and constructs my worldview based on it. Therefore, the most important step to truly change your life is to learn to be aware of your thoughts and intentions. Especially when multiple conflicting thoughts emerge in your mind, you need to have an inner clarity and discernment to observe and choose, rather than being pushed by emotions and desires. Awareness is to open the door to different life paths for yourself in every small choice.