The Top Ten Lies We Tell Ourselves: And How to Stop Living Them

141 Pages·2018·1.11 MB·English

by  Dana Marrocco

If laughter is the best medicine for physical illness, imagine what it might do for spiritual ailments.
Educational psychologist and self-help stand-up comedian Dana Marrocco explores this idea in
her first book, a work inspired by the spiritual thought system A Course in Miracles. Dr. Dana
explains that the ego—the fear-soaked part of our mind—is happiest when we try to do everything it
asks, even when it makes little sense. Following in the footsteps of Marianne Williamson, Gerald R.
Jampolsky, MD, and Gabrielle Bernstein, she uses both humor and a solid base of academic and
practical knowledge to expose these hidden and harmful messages that, far too often, we blindly
accept as true.
Recommending a gentle, lighthearted “roasting” of our self-deceptions, Dr. Dana tackles ten of the
typical ego lies. Each of the ten lies comes with a twenty-four-hour challenge: to refrain from acting
on or believing it for one day. With the rare, deft touch of someone who has actually tested her
spiritual studies against everyday challenges, Dr. Dana offers a trustworthy, down-to-earth guide to
recognizing the typical lies we all tell ourselves—and how to stop believing them.
“One of the keys to happiness is remembering to laugh, and Dr. Dana reminds us
frequently of how to do that in The Top Ten Lies We Tell Ourselves. She’s not
just joking around, though, because she knows her stuff. She connects the most
important principles of A Course in Miracles to her knowledge of psychology
and then makes it clear that she’s really used both in her own life. After this
book, lying to myself won’t be such a big deal anymore!”
—Maria Felipe, author of Live Your Happy
“Dr. Dana Marrocco’s beautifully written guide through the ego’s biggest lies is
a heavenly compass for spiritual progress. Grounded in psychology and
academic research, The Top Ten Lies We Tell Ourselves invites the reader to
walk through an internal process of compassionate self-awareness to turn our
fearful perceptions on their heads and return to a high-voltage perception of
love. Dr. Dana’s series of exercises take us beyond the limitations of our
conditioning and fear-based mental hooks to a brighter experience of life.”
—Lyna Rose, author of Enlighten Your Life
“The Top Ten Lies We Tell Ourselves is a humorous look at the upside-down,
fearful thought system of the ego part of our mind. By exposing our most
common but not-so-obvious beliefs, this book will help you shift your mind to a
right-side-up way of thinking, thereby freeing your mind from fear and setting
you on a path of peace. The exercises throughout facilitate this awakening, and
the twenty-four-hour challenges are brilliant!”
—Corinne Zupko, EdS, author of From Anxiety to Love
“Open this book, begin to read, and see if you can’t find the truth, which will
make you free. According to A Course in Miracles, we do not perceive our own
best interests and need clarity to better understand what those interests are. This
is an overall theme in Dr. Dana’s conscientiously written book, reinforcing the
practice of looking inward with total honesty to experience the happiness we
deserve.”
—Jon Mundy, PhD, author of Living A Course in Miracles
“Dr. Dana’s voice speaks to me exactly where it helps most. She points to the
hidden traps I have fallen into and how I can reverse my addictive beliefs that
led me down the rabbit hole. The reader can easily identify with the ‘ten lies’ we
grew up with, mistakes that weaken us and will persist until we change our
mind. I recommend this book to anyone who chooses to see things differently
and stop living the mistakes of the past.”
—H. David Fishman, author of Into Oneness
THE TOP TEN
LIES
WE TELL
OURSELVES

Copyright
Copyright © 2018 by Dr. Dana Marrocco All rights reserved.
Bibliographical Note
The Top Ten Lies We Tell Ourselves—And How to Stop Living Them is a new work, first published by
Ixia Press in 2018.
Acknowledgments
All quotes from A Course in Miracles are from the Third Edition, published in 2007. They are used with
written permission from the copyright holder and publisher, the Foundation for Inner Peace, PO Box 598,
Mill Valley, California 94942-0598, www.acim.org and [email protected].
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Marrocco, Dana, author.
Title: The top ten lies we tell ourselves : and how to stop living them / Dr. Dana Marrocco.
Description: Mineola, New York : Ixia Press, 2018. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018007301| ISBN 9780486821542 (alk. paper) | ISBN 0486821544 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Self-deception. | Self-perception Classification: LCC BF697.5.S426 M37 2018 | DDC
158.1—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018007301
Ixia Press
An imprint of Dover Publications, Inc.
Manufactured in the United States by LSC Communications 82154401 2018
www.doverpublications.com/ixiapress
I dedicate this book to my husband and children—the greatest symbols of love I
could have imagined.
CONTENTS
FOREWORD by Gary R. Renard
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
LIE #10 NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BEING RIGHT (AND,
OF COURSE, YOU ALWAYS ARE)
LIE #9 THERE IS NOT ENOUGH OF ANYTHING TO GO AROUND (SO
TAKE YOUR SHARE BY ANY MEANS POSSIBLE)
LIE #8 CHAOS IS BUSINESS AS USUAL (SO GET USED TO IT)
LIE #7 THERE IS SOMEONE OUT THERE WHO CAN FINALLY
COMPLETE YOU (SO NEVER STOP SEARCHING)
LIE #6 YOU MUST FIND A WAY TO BE TRULY UNIQUE OR BETTER
THAN OTHERS (BECAUSE YOU ARE!)
LIE #5 YOU MUST ATTACK FIRST AND OFTEN (OR RISK BEING
DEFEATED)
LIE #4 THE PERSON WHO CAN HOLD A GRUDGE THE LONGEST
WINS (SO HANG ON TIGHT!)
LIE #3 REACTING OUT OF FEAR COMES NATURALLY (SO STICK
WITH THE PROGRAM)
LIE #2 LOVE IS A SIGN OF WEAKNESS AND CAN REALLY MESS
WITH YOUR HEAD (AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS!)