I AM: The Power of Discovering Who You Really Are [Paperback]

Just when I was losing faith in the veracity of the principles of spiritual enlightenment, I opened this brilliant book, "I AM," and all faith was restored. I opened the book randomly, anticipating a quick read of yet another Cliff's Notes variation on the you-can-create-your-reality theme, and instead was instantly transported into a world of matter, energy, evolution, and intention. Moving from my desk to the balcony with a fresh cup of tea, I settled in and read the entire book in one sitting, only returning to the pages that I had originally skipped over after I had reached the end of the book.

More than just affirming, "I AM" engendered within me a peaceful state of all-rightness with the world, a state of being the author defines as: "a balanced state of mind, due to the fact that who you believe yourself to be (I AM) has been met through your sensory perception with its exact experience in reality." Yippee! If I were a cat, I'd be purring.

The usual words I might choose to describe a book of this nature, such as inspirational, powerful, empowering, or transformational seem too flat and cliché, although indeed each would be an accurate representation of the insights offered. Although one can certainly categorize the contents as self-help (more like self-realization), I think a more accurate description is personal metaphysics. Author Howard Falco is like a wise metaphysical psychologist who delivers a profound discourse about the nature of reality, creation, and meaning--and guides us along the journey of discovery toward our individual wholehearted existence within this evolutionary playground.

Falco turns the eternal question, "who am I?" upside down, and mirrors the possibilities for reflection that are waiting at our doorstep...leading us to the core truth of self-realization so that we can say: "This is who I AM!" "This is what I AM!" "This is why I AM!" And, "This is who I CAN BE!"

My name is Michael Fine. 2010 has been the most challenging year of my life for me and my wife and two boys, ages 14 and 11! I lost my Father in 2/10, lost my left arm at the shoulder in a terrible car accident in 4/10, and found out my Mother has Stage IV lung cancer in 8/10. Howard's book, I AM, has been like a GPS Navigation system guiding me to understand and empower me to not only start to get through this catostrophic time, but to thrive in life and be filled with gratitude for each and every moment that I AM alive! With Howard's book as my guide, I have begun on my path to changing the world by lecturing to children about overcoming life's obstacles, dealing with change in a positive way, and living in the Here and Now (the present moment)!

I am so grateful to Howard for empowering me to embark on my journey through my new life and provide me with the necessary tools to do so.

This book is a must read for anybody in any circumstance who is open to receiving this self empowering, life changing information!

With much love and gratitude,

Michael A. Fine

Is this book worth getting? Knowing what I know now, "yes" -- but only if you skim your way through to the Appendix. Then...focus on the Appendix.

First the negative. As hard as I tried to like to like this book because of the positive reviews, I found the first 3/4 of the book to be comprised of repetitive statements of either the obvious or of what are the most basic tenets of conventional positive thinking such as:

1) We create our own reality.
2) Fear tends to bring about the very thing that is feared.
3) Faith tends to bring about positive outcomes.
4) People tend to be products of their environments.
5) You cannot go back in the past and change anything you did.
6) Failure does not define who you are

It was increasingly painful the more I read, because at the beginning the book, the author talks about a profound moment in life when he received a major shift in his awareness. As I read successive chapters, I found that the wisdom that had been revealed to him was material that is covered by thousands of other books. I suppose this affirms the truth that we all know. But perhaps this could have been condensed to 2 or 3 chapters.

Even when I tried randomly jump around the book, every time I'd land on something that made me want to say..."well, duh."

Next the positive. About 3/4 of the way through the book, we get to what I'd say is the point of the book. Then, in the Appendix he concisely outlines a method that is designed to help people take control of their destinies. While I didn't find it to be earth-shatteringly different from other methods I've run across (the core of it seems to be affirmations), I'm guessing that some people will find this information valuable.