New Book by Ronit Baras: Reflections

I am happy to announce that this week, on my birthday, I launched a new book (my fourth), Reflections. Over the weekend, I had a wonderful and emotional celebration with my family and friends and I am happy that Reflections is now available and taking its first steps into the hearts of many readers.

My quest for happiness started at the age of 14, when I was a very confused teenager, searching for direction and purpose, and asking the big questions of life. Who am I? What am I doing here? Where am I going?

Back then, all I wanted was a glimpse of the future, so I could draw hope to carry me through tough times. I played the “fortunetelling” game many times, imagining myself as a hero, strong beyond measure, successful, happy, content and with purpose.

During my teen years, reading and writing were my refuge. At the age of 15, I met David. He was 72 years old when I met him and for a teenager, that seemed a huge gap. David was a holocaust survivor with a very special view on life. He had lost everyone and everything that was dear to him and developed and inspiring attitude to life.

We both shared a love for poetry and often asked each other’s opinion about the poems we wrote. He was the one who taught me to ask and to question. I spent hours with him asking big questions about life. Most of the time, he would ask me questions and when I asked him about any topic, he would give me a wise perspective on it and asked me a question in return.

David was the person who taught me that “in life, you get what you focus on”, a concept I have carried with me and have used many times to change my life around and later on, the lives of millions of clients, workshop participants and readers.

He gave me many lessons in perspective. We had a very special relationship, filled with philosophical discussions that questioned my beliefs about love, happiness, life, death and more. Over the years, his words, questions and ideas went with me on my journeys around the world and were the inspiration for this new book. Whenever I experienced significant events in my life, I asked, “What would David say?” and this is how this new book started.

Bringing this book to life is very special for me, because when I was 15, David gave me a glimpse of the future I was searching for. He told me how to raise my head and go forward with pride and purpose. He told me that I had countless possible futures and that happiness was within my control.

Knowing him changed my life and made me want to be that person for others. At my birthday/book launch party, when I finished my speech, some people came to me and said, “You were that person for me”, which made me very proud.

Sometimes, when I meet my clients (who know each other) at social events, they tell me that whenever they face challenges, they ask themselves, “What would Ronit say?” (then, they continue to joke about my style and mimic my sayings and accent). Whenever they say that, I thank David for helping me learn those things and for planting in me the desire to spread them and make this world a better place.

I share my quest and inspiration with you now and hope it will help you with yours.

New Book Gratitude

The “pregnancy” of this book was very long. It has been 33 years in making and I would like to thank all those who helped me in this journey until its “birth”.

I would like to thank David Fisher, who taught me the lessons in this new book. Sometimes, I wonder what he would say if he knew how far his inspiration has spread. But then again, after reading the book, you would understand he probably did…

Thanks to my sister, Aura, my first reader and devoted fan who read my writing with excitement, gave me great ideas and encouraged me to keep writing when the words were still young and innocent.

Thanks to my family, my boyfriend and husband Gal, my daughter and happy thought Eden, and my son Tsoof, for allowing me to record our family journey in this book, for being part of this very long “pregnancy” and for being instrumental in editing and publishing it.

Thanks to my son-in-law Sandy Lokas for creating the book cover.

Many thanks to Dr. Tina Riveros for editing the first version of the book, keeping it true to my philosophy and life purpose.

Many thanks to Carol Grainger for being amazing and insightful with her editing excellence, for her ability to capture the true essence of this new book with all its layers, and for helping me question every sentence and message in this book and refine them even more.

Lastly, thank you, my reader, for being part of my journey as an author. I hope my new book Reflections will be for you what it was for me when I wrote it.

Lots of love! Remember: happiness is a choice,
Ronit