I LOVE to read! :) Normally I just read for fun and I can devour a book in a couple of hours. I love cheesy romance novels and biographies of people I don't know. I read The Regan Diaries, The Hearst Family and several others. I was also obsessed with reading everything about 9/11 - I was even one of the 10 people that read the 9/11 Commission Report - I recommend 102 Minutes. Still....mostly just romance novels.
I recently bought a book called Why is God Laughing by Deepak Chopra. I have never read one of his books nor do I know much about him or his beliefs. It is only about 200 pages so I finished it quickly. I did not expect anything profound from this book but for some reason I can't stop thinking about the message. I wonder if it will change anything about my life? Basically the book explains what drives most of our issues in life - FEAR and EGO. I have never thought of myself as some one that is fearful or egotistical. I now realize that I was wrong...I am actually both of those things.
Fear is instilled in us from birth. Are you afraid to talk to someone you don't know? Afraid of a challenge or change? Rejection? I realized that some of these things do cause me fear - I do them in spite of it but it doesn't mean I didn't fear it.
Ego - do you care what other people think? Do you want others to like you? Think your smart or funny or nice? WHY? According to the book these things are Ego. I'd love to say that I don't care what people think of me. I find that it generally doesn't prevent me from doing something I want but I do still care. Even people I don't necessarily like...I still care what they think of me...WTF? Now I don't care enough to do anything about it or try to convince them of something/anything but I still would rather everyone "like" me.
So..if you quit being afraid of new experiences and stopped caring if people that don't care about you like you or not would your life be easier? I'm not sure. I am trying to think of certain situations in a different light going forward. It may not change a thing and in a week I might not even remember the book. I guess we will just have to see.
OH...and the book said God is laughing because he gets the joke.
I absolutely believe a book can change your life, or at least seriously affect it. Nothing affected me more than The Devil Wears Prada...seriously! If you haven't read it, do it - I had a horrible boss at the time I read it, so something just struck a chord with me and I've loved it ever since. I'll have to read this book now - I know I'm fearful of a lot of things!
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