5 Books That Changed My Outlook Towards Life
Reading is something that comforts me. A day when I can just lie down & read a book is a perfect kind of day for me.
Reading has grown me as a person. It has helped me sail thru times when I felt like giving up. It served as a friend when I didn't feel like meeting a real friend. It comforted me with words when I couldn't express my feelings. It helped me in finding the right questions for myself, and gradually became something that I can go back to even when I don't feel like doing anything in life (Yes, that happens). My love for reading has profoundly increased this year. My brother has started calling me a book sucker, and I am glad that he is starting the Jaipur Bookshelf Community to build up the culture of reading.
As I write this article, I think I am reading the 27th book for this year. Yay!!! This happened because I set a goal of reading at least 20 books, and that pushed me to ensure that I schedule myself for reading. You know you never have time for anything, but you always have time for a particular thing that you have scheduled yourself for. And that's how I became an active morning reader and a lazy night reader as that involves getting from the bed to switch off the lights ;).Let me tell you that when I read at night (mostly fiction) then I sleep better that night. Stories work as good as lullabies :)
Initially, when I started reading, I had no idea how to pick books. Slowly, I started identifying what kinds of books interest me. Now I normally pick books related to behavioural psychology, happiness, growth (personal and business), and romance. Lately, I started loving books on investing, simple living concepts (Zen), Buddhism, and mythological books that tell the story from a different point of view (like The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Girl Who Chose by Devdutt Patnaik, Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse).
I have read some interesting books, some tough books (at least for me), and left some books in between. From all the reading done until now, few books influenced me somewhere deep down and evolved me as a person. As I write this article, I want to write about many books, but I am holding myself to just write about five favourite books of mine.
Thrive by Arianna Huffington
I read this book when I was independently living in a tiny house located at the far end corner of Dehradun city. This was the time when I was also trying to understand what kind of life I want to live in the longer run. Thrive is a book that helped me in defining my definition of success - What is my enough?
Start with Why by Simon Sinek
You can do everything but why do you need to do anything in the first place. Start with Why is exactly that book that asks you to ask 'Why' before questioning 'How' and 'What'. It's written from a business perspective and talks about how some people and organizations are more successful than others, but I had a different takeaway from this book. Now there is a series of Whys that I need to answer myself before committing to anything. Why I want to do that and does that match with my vision, goals or dreams?
The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak
If you think it's a book on love then certainly it's much beyond that. It's a book that gave me a whole new perspective of companionship and faith and introduced me to the world of Sufism. I hope to read more books on Sufism, but I am still not sure of which one to pick next. Sharing a few lines from this book, "Every true love and friendship is a story of unexpected transformation. If we are the same person before and after we loved, that means we haven't loved enough..."
Ikigai by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles
This is the book that I picked literally because of its soothing colour and the subtitle - The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life. I loved reading it. Finding your Ikigai means finding your reason to jump out of bed each morning. A state of flow is when you are so content doing things that you feel as if you are doing nothing (the task comes so naturally to you). I don't think I have still found my Ikigai, but the book gave me a direction for finding my Ikigai. After reading this book, I have started trying new things. I love these lines from this book, "The happiest people are not the ones who achieve the most. They are the ones who spend more time than others in a state of flow."
Solve for Happy by Mo Gawdat
I love the simplicity with which the author has written this book. It tells how we humans are designed to be happy and how the whole concept has been distorted in the modern world. The author wrote the book after losing his beloved son and wrote various anecdotes from personal experiences which make it realistic. What I loved is that I could relate to every sentence of this book. We all feel happy when everything in our life seems to be going our way. But if we think deep down then eventually the event doesn't make us unhappy, but it's the way we think about it that does. As written in the book, "True joy is to be in harmony with life exactly as it is”.
Which is your favourite book? I have a list of books in my phone notes that I aspire to read and would love to add a few more to that list. Feel free to drop your book suggestions in comments or via a personal message. And if you wish to become a part of the Jaipur Bookshelf Community then fill out this form. Don't worry if you are just starting with reading or haven't read any books until now but wish to start reading. Joining a community always helps.
Enjoy reading :)