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    How to Live the Life you Deserve
    How to Live the Life you Deserve
    How to Live the Life you Deserve
    Ebook125 pages1 hour

    How to Live the Life you Deserve

    By James Koumis

    ()

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    About this ebook

    The inspiring true story of a family’s faith and courage through many of life's challenges, and how they discovered the secrets of happiness and success

    “After all the upsets, struggles, and negative experiences I have had, including at one point nearly ending it all, I have felt a deep desire to move on to a more positive and healthy life.

    Having done so, I now wish to share this wonderful transformation of mine with others and above all to inspire you. I mean this from my heart and soul. To know that I can help just one person from this book will make this journey of mine all worthwhile.

    So prepare yourself, if you are ready to change your life for a brighter future - as I promise you will be after reading this book. Once you have applied all the information in it and have become more aware of your own existence to take this first step in faith, you will be on the way to becoming the person you really desire to be.”

    James Koumis

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMereo Books
    Release dateApr 6, 2012
    ISBN9781909020030
    How to Live the Life you Deserve
    Author

    James Koumis

    James Koumis was born in August 1971, the youngest of six children of a working-class Cypriot family. They lived in East London until he was 13, when the whole family moved to North London. James’ childhood was harsh and strict, and he had to work for the family business from the age of seven, depriving him of his childhood. He and his siblings received no guidance in life outside the home from his peers or family and he was not able to focus or study effectively at school. At 18, finding life at home unbearable, James left. At the age of 35 he had a ‘wake-up call’ and went through some challenging times, personally and financially. His loving wife Leigh and their three children stood by him during five years of ups and downs and challenging emotions, which at one point were severe enough to drive James to thoughts of ending his life. Today, at 40, James has trained himself to leave behind the negative aspects of the past and is starting to move forward in a positive and focused way. He has gained courage, determination and above all faith, not only in himself but in life. He has written The family who are living their dreams, which is dedicated to his family, to inspire both children and adults who are going through some of the experiences he has survived. He is now working on his second book, which describes the new journey that we are all taking.

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      Book preview

      How to Live the Life you Deserve - James Koumis

      How to Live the Life You Deserve

      The inspiring true story of a family’s faith and courage through many of life's challenges, and how they discovered the secrets of happiness and success.

      James Koumis

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright © James Koumis, March 2012

      www.jkscreations.com

      Published by Memoirs Books

      25 Market Place, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 2NX

      info@memoirsbooks.co.uk

      www.memoirspublishing.com

      First published in England, February 2012

      Book jacket design Ray Lipscombe

      ISBN 978-1-909020-03-0

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of Memoirs.

      Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct when going to press, we do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. The views expressed in this book are purely the author‘s.

      Contents

      Why this book was written

      Introduction

      Chapter 1 The quest for happiness

      Chapter 2 Learning the hard way

      Chapter 3 The lessons of love

      Chapter 4 Creating your own reality

      Chapter 5 Challenging and conquering your fears

      Chapter 6 Seeking and achieving your goals

      Chapter 7 Learning from experience

      Chapter 8 The journey of life

      Dedicated to – you

      Why this book was written

      After all the upsets, struggles, and negative experiences I have had, including at one point nearly ending it all, I have felt a deep desire to move on to a more positive and healthy life.

      Having done so, I now wish to share this wonderful transformation of mine with others and above all to inspire you. I mean this from my heart and soul. To know that I can help just one person from this book will make this journey of mine all worthwhile.

      So prepare yourself, if you are ready to change your life for a brighter future – as I promise you will be after reading this book. Once you have applied all the information in it and have become more aware of your own existence to take this first step in faith, you will be on the way to becoming the person you really desire to be.

      I have written this story about actual events which occurred in my life, which led me to deep emotions of despair and desperation and a feeling that my life could not get any lower. I then started to realise that I might have found what my past experiences in life were trying to teach me. I began to understand my purpose in life and why we are all here – to experience the challenges that life keeps giving us. Deep in despair, I eventually found a glimmer of hope.

      Over the past few years various people, circumstances and moments have brought me to where I am today. All this happened because I followed the path I am about to share with you.

      I had to make certain choices and decisions to go forward, but I also made some wrong decisions, which cost me dearly financially and mentally. I have now put this down to going through learning curves, something I am only now starting to understand clearly.

      I hope you enjoy this book and that it inspires you in some way to overcome whatever challenges you are facing. I do not claim to be an academic or to have any higher education degrees or letters after my name, but I do have some experiences I believe many others can learn from.

      I believe that if you apply and motivate yourself to start changing where you are now, you will see more clearly with every step you take how truly amazing life can be.

      Introduction

      When I began to write my first book back in 2006/2007, it was aimed at younger children, to help their parents to instill positive thoughts in them. It took until 2011 to finally get it republished.

      Back in the summer of 2006 when I had my wake-up call, through all the upsets and difficult times, I had an idea for a book which could inspire children and adults to think more in a positive way. While glancing through a magazine I had seen an advertisement for a publishing company which helped new authors to publish their books. I called them and asked them a few questions, such as how they worked, how long it would take and how much it would cost. I then thought about it for a few weeks. Something about them was bugging me. I felt it seemed too easy to be true.

      I sent off the finished book, and they commented that it was a lovely book which would appeal to a certain age group and convey some powerful messages of inspiration and positive thinking values. This was a delight to read from a publishing company, so I signed up and went forward with them.

      In 2007, the publishers sent me correspondence about the editing and completion of the book and its content and cover. I felt great. Most new authors would understand the joy of seeing their book finally being published and on the bookshelves for the first time.

      Unfortunately, as work was getting busy, I got sidetracked from completing the final pages. It was only after my mother died in the summer of 2010 and I had been through some difficult times with work that I felt ready to finish the book. I suppose in some way it helped me to cope with what was going on at the time, which did help me release some of my negative aspects of life.

      By the end of the year 2010 I had finished my first book and it was about to be promoted through various stores and online internet services by a book sales freelancer who would recommend my book to these outlets. This started in January 2011. We had a great response from various stores which had been interested in stocking the book and having me do some signings, which would help sales. This was all new to me and I was getting very excited, to say the least.

      The only trouble was, I never received my copies, and the finished book was only in the form of computer files. I chased up the publishers to find out what was going on, but for months I was not told the truth about what had happened to the firm.

      It turned out that they had gone into liquidation and were waiting for someone to buy them out and take over existing authors, including myself. There were many disappointed authors who did not know why they had not been informed about this much earlier.

      I spoke to the liquidators, who were very helpful and advised me that there were a few people interested in buying the company out, but no confirmed offers had been made. I was advised that I could have my files back, but felt I was being left in limbo, as my final manuscript had been misplaced.

      I had the choice of waiting to see if the liquidator could find another company who would take over the publishers. They could not promise anything, or say when this might or might not happen. I had the option of asking for everything back and seeking another publisher.

      I was worrying about the extra expense and wondering where to go from there, as I was new to this and did not fully understand at the time the full implications. After weighing up all my options and assessing everything carefully, I decided to seek another publisher, and asked the first one to send all my information and files back to me. I spoke to my freelance book sales agent, and he recommended to me two other publishers who he was dealing with. I spoke to them both and decided to go with Memoirs Books.

      I forwarded the information to Memoirs and in no time at all during the months of December 2011 and January 2012, they had sorted out a new ISBN number, republished my book and done some new editing for me, all at no cost as it was more or less finished at the time, and it was then republished. So in essence my book was freshened up.

      That first book took me five years to get published and on sale. It’s a short biography of me and my family and an inspiring, positive- thinking book for young children. It means a great deal to me and my family to know it is now finally out there.

      I would like to take this opportunity to thank my sales agent Nigel Roberts and the guys at Memoirs Books, Tony Tingle and Chris Newton. Thanks for all your help.

      I felt so relieved and grateful that I had found some true gentlemen who sincerely helped me to go forward. From this came the book you are reading now, inspired by my daughter Lydia. It always brings a smile to my face when I think how this book turned out.

      Chapter One

      The quest for happiness

      The truth can hurt at times, but it can also be invigorating to become aware of ourselves and learn to let go and accept the harsh reality of who we are and to move forward in life, knowing the power within us has always been there from the start.

      In my view, our life experiences, once learned well, are our greatest form of knowledge. They enable us all to evolve and grow in life. We must use the knowledge we gain from our experiences, good or bad, wisely, and put it into action. If we fail to do this we allow ourselves to suffer, and if we dwell on the past for too long, it will fester inside and attract further misery and upset in the future. Why continue with negative or past outcomes, which do not serve us well and allow us to hold on to feelings of judgment or resentment, jealousy or greed?

      I intend to explain my experiences in a straightforward manner to make them understood. I will explain things as I have learned them. I will relay my experiences and feelings to you so that you will recognise them.

      I hope

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