Saturday, June 9, 2018

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck - Mark Manson

In a existential, mid-life crisis I found myself questioning my career choices.  I signed up for therapy, and reached out to other veterinarians.  I was giving too many f*cks about too many trivial matters.  I was taking the f*cks of others too seriously.   Other vets recommended the book The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson.   I ask for your tolerance in advance for the language of this post, but the use of the F-bomb seems appropriate in the face of this book.  If you can't tolerate the use of that particular 4-letter word, this book is definitely not for you.   Just to keep my blog more consistent with my usual, I'm going to use the word flip instead.

So what is this book all about?  Basically if you asked Deadpool to rewrite a combination of Boundaries by Townsend and Cloud and other self help books, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck would be the result.  It's fun to read with numerous anecdotes...and the profanity is significantly reduced in the second half.

We all are human beings...finite creatures with limited energy, time, and resources.  We will all have problems, but Manson encourages the reader to choose your problems wisely.  Choose what problems are worth the struggle!  We have a limited amount of flips to give so give them out wisely! Instead of focusing our life on outward values, inward values will bring greater content.  For example, if your goal is to be more successful than Bob, you won't appreciate your personal success as long as Bob is more successful than you.   Values like integrity, doing your personal best, work/life balance etc...will define your personal contentment.   Another theme of this book that provoked great thought was the concept that suffering leads to self improvement.   Suffering is expected and a normal part of life.  It's what propels us into becoming better people, better workers, better spouses...and better-ness in general.

Overall this was a fun summer read, but you can find the information presented more eloquent (more PC way) in other books.   There will be certain people that I recommend this book for, but not all!

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Theft of Swords, Michael J. Sullivan

Theft of Swords is a fantasy adventure novel featuring 2 unlikely heroes.  Hadrian and Royce were 2 thieves hired to steal a sword from a king...except when they arrived to perform the deed, they found the king dead.  The 2 adventurers set out on a grand adventure while running for their lives.  This is first in a series called the Riyria Revelations.   I listened to this series on Audible, and it was the first time I really appreciated the narrators as voice actors.  My husband and I were fully engrossed in the story right from the beginning.   There were some fabulous twists and memorable characters.  I literally yelled out "YEAH! YOU GO, GIRL!" at numerous points.  I loved this series because not only are Hadrian and Royce interesting characters, but Thrace and Arista are strong female leads.   If you read through the entire series, you will embark on a journey down rivers, infiltrate dwarf strongholds, sail the high seas, and explore lost cities.  You will laugh and cry!  This a fabulous series and I strongly recommend it!  I don't want to spoil a single twist so I'll just keep this review short! 

Next up:
Self Therapy by Jay Earley


Sunday, March 25, 2018

Fool Proofing Your Life by Jan Silvious

This book is a tough one for me.  I really haven't decided yet on what I think about it.  The premise is that there are "fools" who make life difficult for everyone around them.  There have always been such people.  Silvious takes a look at the biblical description of a fool, categorizes types of fools, and then gives practical advice for dealing with the fool in your life. 

I struggled most with this book on  the fact that she refers to the difficult person in your life as "your fool."  It felt prideful to think of someone in my life and label them as a fool.  After all, perhaps I am the biggest fool.   Despite my hesitance to label people fools, Fool Proofing Your Life did have some biblical, practical insight into dealing with "your fool."  If you have someone in your life you just can't seem to make happy, who just seems angry all the time, who doesn't listen to reason, who stubbornly insists on their way, who consistently makes bad decisions...this book can help you take a step back and evaluate what you can do for your fool.... nothing.  You are incapable of changing another human being, so Silvious encourages you to look critically at the relationship and give it to God.  Accepting that is NOT my responsibility to change or improve the "fools" around me in a sense was liberating.  However, I didn't find the answers I was searching for with regards to how to relate to my difficult person, but the book still validate my feelings toward a particular person. 

The other thing this book did for me was inspired me to really read the Proverbs.  I highlighted every reference to what is foolish and what is wisdom.  I made a list of the characteristics of a fool, and I'm spending quite a bit of time in prayer to ask God to help me choose wisdom of foolishness.

If you have a person that is difficult to be around and you always leave feeling defeated, angry, or guilty, this book may be of help to you.  I have someone like that in my life...and I've really struggled with how do I relate to them in a God-honoring way and this book did have a few nuggets of wisdom for me...but I'm still searching, studying, and practicing.  I think my next book will be Boundaries by Cloud and Townsend.

A Loving Life - Paul E. Miller

A Praying Life by Paul Miller is one of those books that actually changed the way I thought about prayer.  I found it so touching that I was excited to see A Loving Life was also published.   A Loving Life is a short read examining the book of Ruth in the bible and more specifically her hesed (loving-kindness) toward Naomi.

What is love? A passionate, fleeting feeling?  What is our biblical, God-given calling when the person you love is difficult?  This book outlined Ruth's response to such a query.   When Naomi's husband and 2 sons passed away, 3 women were left unprotected in a patriarchal society.  Naomi decided to travel back from Moab to Bethlehem, her home town.  Orpah, upon Naomi's urging, quickly abandoned the journey to stay in Moab with her family.  Ruth cannot be persuaded to leave Naomi even though it means the loss of her family, culture, and home for an unknown and unstable future.  Her sacrificial love for Naomi exemplifies hesed and models Christ's love for his people.  I enjoyed reading insight into the culture of the day and learned many things I had never known about the familiar story of Ruth and Naomi. 

Miller's anecdotal style made this book easy to read with many applications to real life.   If you are struggling to love someone who is ...not very lovable, this book will be an encouragement to you!