Bøger af Mary Beth Smith

If you have never read a book about Theodore Roosevelt, read this one first. If you have read other books about him, read this one to discover more about his philosophy and spirituality based on his own works. It covers his entire life from birth to death. The Joy of Life distills the personality of Theodore Roosevelt into one medium-sized book. Quotes appear in this book which show him to be funny, hyperactive, energetic, exciting, enthusiastic, entertaining and lovable. His contemporaries say such things as: the more I see him the more and more I love him; work was an entertainment with him there; it was love at first sight; never have we laughed so much as when T.R. was our host. The book shows what motivated him at each stage of his life. During his Police Commissioner days he said to Jacob Riis, author of How the Other Half Lives, "I have read your book and I have come to help." Charging up San Juan hill he realized that he was destined to become a great leader of people like his Rough Riders: a mixed group who included cowboys, Indians, Ivy Leaguers, hispanics, marshals, negroes and Texas Rangers. His greatest effort was in conservation. He preserved millions of acres of land including wildlife refuges, national parks, national monuments and irrigation projects. He accomplished many things in his life and would have obtained a place in history for that alone.

Lincoln became great from reading, writing, studying, thinking, making speeches, working steadily as a lawyer and working continuously on self improvement. We are fortunate that Lincoln was rebellious as a child and learned to read. There was another rebellious class of people at the time-slaves. Slaves were forbidden to learn to read and write. Many of them made a decision to do the opposite of what their masters ordered. They secretly learned to read and write. Lincoln as president had a great respect for former slaves who wrote and lectured. To him, they were heroic. Many were self taught and seemed more intelligent than Lincoln himself in spite of being badly mistreated before escaping slavery. Sojourer Truth noticed that President Lincoln seemed to admire black people. She said, "he showed as much kindness and consideration to the colored persons as to the white-if there was any difference, more." At his second inaugural reception he said to Frederick Douglass, "Douglass, I saw you in the crowd today listening to my inaugural address. There is no man's opinion that I value more than yours: what did you think of it?" "It was a sacred effort," said Douglass. Lincoln became an early martyr for African American Civil Rights. During his last speech he said, "It is unsatisfactory to some that the elective franchise is not given to the colored man. I would myself that it were now conferred on the very intelligent and on those who served our cause as soldiers." That was too much for John Wilkes Booth. He decided to kill him.

Eisenhower was probably the only Republican who could have won the election of 1952. He had been the greatest general in the greatest war there ever was. He was kind, humble and a man of integrity. More than that he was ready to re-organize the executive branch of government. And although it didn't always show, he was a very smart and clever leader.But he didn't want to be president. In 1945 he was asked if he wanted to be the next president. He said no.In mid-1947 he was told it was his duty to run.When Dewey was defeated in 1948 he was pressured once again and said no. But the Republicans kept calling on him. He was the head of NATO in 1952 when a grass roots movement rose to make him president. When he discovered the likely Republican candidate, Senator Taft, was a nationalist and an isolationist, he decided to run. Because of his heroic stature he easily won the election.People loved him. He had a 65 percent approval rating during his eight years as president.This fatherly man was a simple, natural, and highly ethical person. And in addition to that he was self actualized. Self actualization is, according to Abraham Maslow, "the full use and exploitation of talents."He did not want people to know how dangerous this "peaceful era" of the 1950s was. So he confused and misspoke during press conferences. His writing however, like his great wartime memoir Crusade in Europe, was clear and logical.During the campaign he promised to end the Korean war. Forty-five thousand men had been killed or were missing. After the election he flew over the 38th parallel. He saw that the war couldn't be ended without a huge increase in fire power. As president he used pressure on the South Korean president, Rhee, to accept a divided Korea. The Korean war was brought to a halt.Even though a conservative, he kept in place the New Deal policies, expanded social security and raised the minimum wage. He asked for a national health care system. He pushed forth a civil rights act to protect voting rights and sent Federal troops to desegregate Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas. He balanced the budget and built thousands of miles of highway.He added many cabinet positions and put in a chief of staff. He enlarged the National Security Council and had frequent cabinet and NSC meetings. Unless there was some kind of crisis brewing the Federal government ran like a finely tuned machine. All his adult life Eisenhower had been in the Army. He brought the "staff system" to Washington. Each cabinet member was an expert in their field. They would make their recommendations and send them to the president who would make the final decision. This system made it possible for the government to function when the president had a heart attack.After his heart attack "the team" was able to carry on. Eisenhower quickly regained his health. The question was: would he be healthy enough to serve 4 more years? If so, what changes would he have to make to his lifestyle in order to prevent another heart attack.Knowing he was the one who could lead the U.S. best for the next four years, he ran again in 1956.The 1960 race between Kennedy and Nixon was extremely close. It may have been "stolen" from the vice president. Nixon explained why he didn't fight the election results and why a concession speech is important. A section on the smooth transfer of power explains the difficulty of teaching all the topics that the next president needs to know. Eisenhower did his best to hit the important points. Eisenhower offered to be available at any time to answer any further questions. He would be asked to meet Kennedy at Camp David soon enough.His farewell address foresaw the military-industrial complex. He left the presidency for a hard-won retirement in Gettysburg and California.

Before Abraham Lincoln became the calm, wise and compassionate president whom all presidents try to emulate, he looked and acted much differently. He had no beard to hide his gaunt, wrinkled and pock marked face, no well-tailored suit to disguise his sloping, thin shoulders and wrinkled neck. Abraham Lincoln: Ascent to Power 1840-1860 contains many eye witness accounts of his appearance and personality during those years. His baggy trousers were always too short. His coat sleeves were short as well. His hair was seldom combed, his boots never polished, his hands were large and his feet huge. His humor, his well-prepared summations and speeches and his strange marriage-all are described in detail by his friends and neighbors. While the excellent descriptions of Lincoln by his friends adds color, the book's main strength is its organization and simplicity. It describes the events that took place during the twenty years before the Civil War. It also analyzes the reasons the Civil War began. It is a good introduction to Lincoln and is helpful to those who are overwhelmed by the subject. It shows how with hard work and with deliberate attempts to get speaking engagements he became famous in the State of Illinois. By careful and slow preparation and by his reading of poetry, Shakespeare and the classics he was able to make his great poetic speeches. But he also relied on logic as shown by his great Cooper Union Speech. Once he had made that speech in New York, he was invited to speak all over New England. This speech led the Republican party to nominate him for President. Parts of his speeches are included and explained, including the Peoria Speech, the "Lost Speech," and the "House Divided Speech." The chapter on the crisis of 1850 contains portions of speeches by Clay, Webster and Calhoun with explanations.

Eisenhower was the greatest general during the greatest war in history. It was a war between good and evil. According to Stephen Ambrose he said, "This war was a holy war. More than any other in history this war has been an array of the forces of evil against those of righteousness." This war was the pinnacle of his life.The book covers the battles of North Africa, Sicily, Italy, D-Day, the breakout into France, the Liberation of Paris, the Battle of the Bulge, the breach of the Rhine, the destruction of German industry in the Ruhr and the Russians' capture of Berlin.Nothing would compare with some of his triumphs in this war, not even the presidency. For years afterwards people were struck with awe in presence of this kind and humble man.

Lincoln was one of those rare children who are able to hang onto their true identity in spite of abuse by their parents. Even a controlling, but not physically abusive parent, slows down their children's maturation. Those children lose their identity and sense of self worth for a time. Later, if they are lucky, they will be able to remove themselves from their parents' influence and strike out on their own. Abraham Lincoln held onto his uniqueness, as best he could, as a child. In spite of his father's bullying, and some say bullying by his birth mother, he worked on his talents--for reading, writing, story telling, lecturing, and teaching, all while still a child. The Formative Years describes his childhood and his successful attempts to be himself. His years as a young adult in New Salem were very happy because he was freer than ever before to read, study, entertain and get to know the people of the county. His clinical depression is described for the lucky majority of people who have never experienced it. It includes a fine piece of writing by Hugh Gregory Gallagher who says the pain of acute polio is nothing compared to the pain of clinical depression. (The pain of acute polio is one of the worst kinds of pain there is.) The book shows how the study of law under John T. Stuart and Stephen T. Logan helped hone his speaking and logic skills. The Formative Years ends with his meeting Mary Todd. Observations by friends and neighbors, corrected for grammar and spelling mistakes, are frequent to give the reader a picture of how Lincoln looked and acted during these years. The next book in this series will cover the years 1840 to 1860. It will include information on the Lincoln marriage, Lincoln's lawsuits, his time in Congress, his retirement from politics and his reentry into politics.

The author's father came down with polio during the epidemic of 1944. This book describes his story of pain, rehabilitation and return to normality as well as inspirational stories of other polio survivors, some more severely paralyzed than he was. Most of these people adjusted well to life after polio. But 30 to 40 years later they started getting what is known as post-polio syndrome which the author's father had also. Also included is a concise but comprehensive history of polio in 20th century America. In 1916, the crippling disease began in New York City and spread to other parts of the United States. Theodore Roosevelt's county was especially hard hit with a 25% mortality rate. He formed a group of prominent citizens from his town of Oyster Bay and tried to prevent the disease from spreading. Nothing worked. In 1921 his distant cousin Franklin got polio and lost the use of both of his legs. He also was weak in his pelvic area and unable to walk more than a few steps on crutches. He founded a rehabilitation center in Warm Springs, Georgia. By 1926 he realized that he was never going to walk again but felt he could still run for office. In 1928 he ran for Governor of New York and served two terms. In 1933 he became President of the United States. While President he asked his law partner, Basil O'Connor, to head up a charity which provided for patient care and research into the disease. All patients needing money for hospital expenses were cared for. It was the most successful charity ever. It eliminated the need for government involvement. After World War II, people began to clamor for a vaccine to prevent polio in the new generation of baby boomers. Enter Jonas Salk. By using his intelligence, great leadership skills and hard tedious work he was able to test his vaccine in 1952. In 1954 the vaccine was tested on millions of first, second and third grade children and was found to be safe and effective. In 1962 Salk's vaccine was replaced with Sabin's oral vaccine but that was found to cause polio in a few people. In 2000 the United States went back to the Salk vaccine. The Sabin vaccine is used for the developing world because of inability to afford expensive needles and because immunity can be spread by vaccinated people to the unvaccinated.

Dwight D. Eisenhower said in 1965, "It is my belief that if the spirit of charitable giving ever dies out in this country we will have lost the human spirit of giving that is the human strength which the American people have." "If one side of the human coin is hate the other is love. If one side is greed the other is generosity. If one side is hurt the other is healing." This is important to keep in mind for recovering from mental illness. Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered from more than one depression. So did Lincoln and he handled it by getting rid of his flaws. A bipolar person can chose to become a better person. Eventually a person may have a conversion experience like Bill Wilson, a founder of A.A. had. That experience stopped his drinking. Others have become better people as a result. They stop their bad behavior. The book explains in an understandable way the difference between good and evil. Then it goes on to explain what manic depression is, based on an important textbook: Manic-Depressive Illness, Bipolar II Disorders and Recurrent Depression. A.A. published stories of conversion experiences and the author tells her's also which made her a much calmer person unable to commit even the tiniest sin. The author also stopped having depression or anxiety. I believe Theodore Roosevelt had a conversion experience. He had an epiphany when he realized he was to be a great leader of mixed races and immigrants. Next I describe my childhood of panic attacks, reading, going to an excellent school, a bad school where I learned nothing, the death of my baby niece when I was 10-years-old, my resilient father who coped with having polio, learning to fly, my mother who was mean and sarcastic when I was a teenager, bullying in high school, my programming skills and how they helped me, my breakdown and depression, and Lincoln's example of how to live a good life. The book closes by saying you don't have to be like Lincoln who learned so much, but a mentally ill person needs to work on any calling they feel compelled to perform.

After unbearable pressure at home and at work, the author became manic and crashed her car into a tree thinking she would become reincarnated. After going to an incompetent psychiatrist, she had the enormous good luck to switch to the best psychiatrist in the county. Here she tells her own story along with chapters on what bipolar disorder is, how cognitive therapy helps and how 12 step programs with their emphasis on a spiritual experience help. She describes what mental health is and what self-actualization is, based on examples from Lincoln's life and Abraham Maslow's writings. The author describes how a person's neuroses and narcissism can be healed. But once healed, the bipolar person still needs medication in the same way a person with diabetes needs insulin.

The Lie That I AmBy: Mary Beth SmithWhat if ... what we were told as children about ourselves was a lie? What if ... we then looked around for proof to support these lies? What if ... we took those lies on as our belief of who we are still today?No matter what lies you may have believed because of the family dynamics you were born into, all those lies that have so deeply impacted your life can be unraveled until you can move beyond them to live instead from a place of peace.The Lie That I Am takes you on the journey of Mary Beth Smith's life. A life filled with doubt, pain, depression, suicide, sexual abuse, obesity, illness, and almost dying. As she learned to connect to Spirit more and more, Spirit connected with her. Together they transcended the lies she believed into the truths of who she has become. It's time to stop believing our lies, and start living our truths.