Beautiful words of wisdom

Usually, I fly through books...mostly, because I become so entrenched in a story that I have trouble putting it down. Well that, and little self control when it comes to sticking my nose in a book for hours. Occasionally, though, I read a book that requires time...a book that is thoughtful and wise...a book that I can only absorb in small doses. The book I finished yesterday was one of those...it took me a week to work my way through it, which in sleepeybear-land is a while.

The book is Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, and I am totally digging the insightfulness and humor and warmth of this book! It made me laugh out loud, it made me smile, and it made me think. For example:

"I keep remembering one of my Guru's teachings about happiness. She says that people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you're fortunate enough. But that's not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings. And once you have achieved a state of happiness, you must never become lax about maintaining it, you must make a mighty effort to keep swimming upward into that happiness forever, to stay afloat on top of it. If you don't, you will leak away your inner contentment. It's easy enough to pray when you're in distress but continuing to pray even when your crisis has passed is like a sealing process, helping your soul hold tight to its good attainments."

Having just had a conversation with a friend about choosing to be happy, I came across this passage and was stunned by its truth. How often do we sit and wait for happiness to come to us, when instead we should be going out and seeking it for ourselves?!

This is a beautiful book...quirky, but beautiful, and honest, and real. The type of book I imagine I'll keep on my bookshelf forever, the way you do with a book you truly enjoyed.

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