Dear Reader!

Coming Sunday, May 20, we meet from 15-17 at the ABC Treehouse (Voetboogstraat 11) to discuss Byron Katie’s I Need Your Love, Is That True? (available in ABC’s White Room):

I Need Your Love – Is That True?: How to Stop Seeking Love, Approval, and Appreciation and Start Finding Them Instead

Byron Katies book

Katie, Byron|Katz, Michael | € 16.99
subject: Self Help, Personal Growth – General
ISBN: 9780307345301 | ISBN-10: 0307345300
Three Rivers Press (CA) | publication date: 28/11/2006
US Edition | Trade Paperback | 254 pages| | |

“Everyone agrees that love is wonderful, except when it’s terrible. People spend their whole lives tantalized by love­seeking it, trying to hold on to it, or trying to get over it. Not far behind love, as major preoccupations, come approval and appreciation. From childhood on, most people spend much of their energy in a relentless pursuit of these things, trying out different methods to be noticed, to please, to impress, and to win other people’s love, thinking that’s just the way life is. This effort can become so constant and unquestioned that we barely notice it anymore.

This book takes a close look at what works and what doesn’t in the quest for love and approval. It will help you find a way to be happier in love and more effective in all your relationships. What you learn here will bring fulfillment to all kinds of relationships, including romantic love, dating, marriage, work, and friendship.” ­Byron Katie

Then on Sunday June 3, Sagar Simon and Richard Kwakernaak will give their 2-hour Relationship Workshop (if you want to attend, please reserve your seat by sending me an email!):

Free Relationship Workshop in Amsterdam!
I Need Your Love, Approval and Appreciation­Is It True?

You’re invited to a free ABC Spiritual Book Club-session on Relationships by SBC-members Richard Kwakernaak and Sagar Simon!

In the words of John Milton (Paradise Lost):

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..”

Many people look for a relationship, hoping it will be heaven, only to find out it can be hell! In the words of Byron Katie: “Everyone agrees that love is wonderful, except when it’s terrible…” What role does our mind play in creating a loving and lasting bond with someone and how can we leave our self-sabotaging thoughts and behaviours behind?

In this workshop Richard Kwakernaak and Sagar Simon look at how our beliefs, desires and attitudes about relationships, and the way we communicate, influence the quality of our relationships with other people and with ourselves.

They will approach the subject of relationships from various viewpoints, elaborating specifically on the fields of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Mindfulness and The Work of Byron Katie.

The workshop will be fun, revealing and leave you with tools you can instantly use when noticing stress!

*** This is an introductionary workshop for Richard’s and Sagar’s workshop series in the ABC Treehouse on June 29th, June 30rd and July 1st! ***

About Richard Kwakernaak:
Richard Kwakernaak works as a communication trainer and coach. He studied and practiced amongst other things a lot of NLP and Mindfulness. Richard has been an internationally certified trainer of NLP since almost 10 years.

About Sagar Simon:
Sagar Simon has a Masters Degree in counseling, has been trained both as a Gestalt Therapist and Hypnotherapist, and is a certified facilitator of The Work.

Date: Sunday June 3
Time: 15:00-17:00
Location: ABC Treehouse, Voetboogstraat 11
Costs: free! But to reserve your spot, email Femke at femke@abc.nl

And saving the best for last , Byron Katie herself will come to the American Book Center Amsterdam on Saturday June 23 to do a booksigning from 15-16:30!!
More information on this event will follow!

I hope to see you this Sunday,
Warm regards,

Femke Wijdekop
American Book Center Amsterdam

I have heard Byron Katie say “no story no world”. So what is your story creating your world?

When you say or do anything to please, get, keep, influence, or control anyone or anything, fear is the cause and pain is the result. Manipulation is separation, and separation is painful. Another person can love you totally in that moment, and you’d have no way of realizing it. If you act from fear, there’s no way you can receive love, because you’re trapped in a thought about what you have to do for love. Every stressful thought separates you from people.

But once you question your thoughts, you discover that you don’t have to do anything for love. It was all an innocent misunder¬standing. When you want to impress people and win their approval, you’re like a child who says, “Look at me, Look at me” It all comes down to a needy child. When you can love that child and embrace it yourself, the seeking is over.

Quote from: Byron Katie: How to stop seeking love approval, and appreciation and Start Finding them Instead.