Stretching the Mind
It has snowed 20 inches, here in the Northeast of America. The serenity offered by a landscape full of snow, has a way of removing the noise of the world, from one’s mind. It was in this noiseless world that I recently finished reading a great book that taught me wonderful ways to stretch the mind. But before I proceed with its review, here is a brief warm up. Many among us have very linear work lives. You may choose one profession, one career or work in the same field of knowledge and then eventually retire. Charles Jones has said, ” You will be the same person in five years that you are today, except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read”. This book is about the power of transformational reading i.e. how different people transformed their lives, by applying the wisdom gained from a book. Now for the review.
Review of: You’ve Got To Read This Book!
The publishing industry produces many books each year. But once in a while it produces a gem such as this book. It is created by Jack Canfield and coauthored by Gay Hendricks, two people who love books“that inspire, heal and transform lives”. In this book they have put together 55 short stories written by different people. Each person has written about a book that changed his/her life. These people come from many walks of life: politics, medicine, healing, psychology, business, entertainment, the arts, sports and more. What they have in common is a passion for reading and a personal experience of the life-changing power of books. Many among them have also written many books!
As you read through the book, the diversity in their professions makes for enjoyable reading. Also the fact that there are 55 writers, brings about a feast of 55 different writing styles. The stories are truly written from the heart as each writer has bared his/her soul in it. Each chapter has the writer’s name as the title. This is followed by a brief introduction to the writer’s background. Reading these the reader is convinced that all of them are over-achievers with very dynamic and fulfilling lives. In each story they have written at what stage of their life they read a book and what exactly they took from it to enhance, improve, grow, change and also give back to the world. I loved reading all the stories but a few of them were absolutely outstanding. So here is a gist of those ones:
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Wyland – writes about ‘The Silent World’ by Jacques Cousteau and how it reinforced in his mind to transform his passion for painting into becoming the world’s foremost ocean artist.
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Lisa Nichols – writes about ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen Covey. She expains how his words “begin with the end in mind” made her wonder (at age 23) about what kind of legacy she wanted to leave behind. This transformed her life from a software professional to becoming a motivational speaker.
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Mark Victor Hansen – writes about ‘Resurrection’ and how it helped him to resurrect his life by creating abundance – on all levels – with his own wonderful imagination.
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Christiane Northrup, M.D. – writes about ‘ Natives of Eternity’. She very eloquently explains how the wisdom gained from this book laid the spiritual foundation of her career as an Ob/Gyn. She says ” the biological way that the spirit comes into matter is through conception, gestation, labor and birth, but that is also a metaphor for the way that everything – whether ideas, novels, gardens or relationships – is conceived, gestates, goes through labor and is born.”
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Dave Barry – writes about ‘ Inside Benchley’ by Robert Benchley and how it inspired him to become a best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize winning humor columnist.
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Arielle Ford – writes about ‘ Key to Yourself’. She explains that what changed her life after reading it was the concept ” thoughts are things – the thoughts you think create the reality you live in.” She has worked in PR, marketing and authored six books. She is also a publicist for Deepak Chopra and many authors who have made it to the best seller lists by NYT.
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Stephen Covey – writes about ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ by Victor Frankl and ‘A Guide for the Perplexed’ by E.F.Schumacher. He explains how these two books introduced him to the concept of personal responsibility and choice and then inspired him to write many books that help his readers to lead more effective and fulfilled lives.
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Lois Capps – started her career as a nurse, then became a health advocate and eventually a congresswoman. She writes about the book titled ‘The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time’ by Jeffrey Sachs. She explains about the effective way this book describes how to end poverty and intends to use its wisdom to fulfill her humanitarian aspirations.
Each and every story is inspiring and helps the reader to stretch the boundaries of his/ her mind. Rudy Ruettiger has said, “What people want to see – even more than the greatness in others – is the greatness possible in themselves.” These wonderful stories will help any reader to see the greatness possible in them. By reading this book I learnt about some great books (some of which I had read) and many more that I want to read now.
Ratna
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Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes
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