“Stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be.”
Happy Monday! You’ve made it this far in the afternoon so you’re doing great! I apologize for the lack of Motivation Mondays post lately; my weekends have been super busy, leaving me little time to write. However, that isn’t an excuse. So that’s why I made sure this post got finished this weekend.
In the spirit of getting things done, today’s post is combined with a Truth Challenge prompt:
Day 17 → A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.
I’m sure someone will laugh at me when I say “Eat, Pray, Love” has changed my views on something. I read the book one summer during college and it really did change me. For those who don’t know, “Eat Pray Love” is a story about Elizabeth Gilbert (the author) who goes through a painful divorce and takes a trip around the world to find herself again. She voyages to Italy, India and Bali to find pleasure, devotion and balance. Along the way, she meets several people who teach her valuable lessons about herself and about the meaning of life. The book makes you contemplate how you define your life and will make you laugh at Gilbert’s antics while traveling.
Not everyone has the luxury of momentarily quitting life and traveling around the world in order to recover from a personal disaster. We all should be so lucky. But, the story does make you realize that is it perfectly normal to take a break when necessary. It taught me that often the only way to truly learn about yourself and life is through moments of utter chaos and maybe even pain. Everyone struggles and has moments of weakness; it is normal and occasionally even healthy for you. The personal insights you gain through these struggles are invaluable.
I would recommend reading “Eat Pray Love” when you have the opportunity. I found it especially helpful and still refer back to some of the quotes from the book. My favorite is below.
“Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it. You must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it.”
Tagged: 30 Days of Truth, Books, Eat Pray Love, Elizabeth Gilbert, Motivation Mondays, Personal Struggle, Travel, Writing Challenge
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