Books that inspire

“In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.”-Mortimer J. Adler

This quote sums up the essence of my affair with books this year. There were a few books that set my soul on fire and inspired me to take some leaps of faith. They inspired me to start writing again. They inspired me to believe in myself again. They inspire my authenticity. In this post, I will let you into what each of these books offered to me, in hopes that they will encourage you to read them in hopes that they will also remind you of how amazing you are, and all the capabilities that lie within you.

Big Magic. The universe sends us messages when we are ready to listen to them. One of my favorite quotes from this book includes “The universe buries strange jewels deep within us all, and then stands back to see if we can find them”. She goes on to discuss how we are creative beings, and we just need to regain our curiosity about our creativity without fear of what others think, AND to leave our own judgements of what is ‘acceptable’ behind.

Girl, Stop Apologizing. Rachel never lets me down. She is inspirational, motivational, and authentic. She encourages all people to do what makes their hearts happy, and is very outright about the amount of time and effort it takes to really get to the place you want to be in life. She lays out practical strategies to help you reach your dreams, and always encourages you to dream bigger. She lights up the world and inspires others to do the same. One of my favorite quotes from this book goes a little something like “By embracing your calling and refusing to hide your glow, you. wouldn’t just make your world brighter, you’d light the way for the women who come behind you.”…Damn.

The Year of Saying Yes. This was a lighthearted book that drew me in at every turn. “Dear readers, I am stuck in a rut” is how it started. I couldn’t ignore the fact that I had been feeling the same about my life. A few years back, I was on fire about going out amongst the world to teach, inspire and motivate others through retreat style continuing education. As I listened to this book (HUGE audible fan due to my commute), I began dreaming. I began dreaming big. What if I said yes to myself? What if I said yes to dares that I give to myself, and that the universe gives to me? There is a part in the book where the main character, Izzy, goes to a remote location to unplug for the weekend. This struck an idea within me. I began thinking about how it would be to run a retreat center…not just retreat style education for a day…a real retreat center. I began allowing myself to dream more and more, and then I read Girl, Stop Apologizing, what led me to the practical steps to my big dream, which has led me to reaching back into my love of writing, which led me to this blog.

You are a Badass. A book I have read a few years back, and decided it was time to re-read it. I remember that this book lit a fire under my ass before, and I needed that again. My life is filled with excuses. Excuses to sleep in instead of getting up early to walk, or write, or journal, or read. Excuses of why my life is too busy to exercise when I find myself sitting in front of the TV binging Netflix. Excuses of not engaging in my self care regimen because my work is too consuming—ya’ll, I am the boss at my office-of course I have bosses over me, but I can literally create my own schedule! One of my favorite, life changing quotes from this book “If you’re serious about changing your life, you’ll find a way. If you’re not, you’ll find an excuse”…LOVE, LOVE, LOVE because it is so TRUE!

So, in conclusion, this is my recap of books that inspired me in 2019. I hope you try out one of them, if not all. And even if you decide against these books, for whatever reason, I hope you find your own set of books that light your soul, heart, and life on fire!

Much love, LJ