At this time of the year I find myself thinking a lot about the following year and what will happen.
So far, in terms of improving my life, random luck is outperforming considered decisions. Things I have deliberately chosen, I always seem to end up regretting. Out of the blue proposals have left me with a husband, house and job I like. So no wonder my recent attempts at future planning have come to nothing. It seems entirely reasonable to leave it to chance – I’m only half joking.
When I saw this book, Midlife Manifesto by Jane Mathews, at the bookstore I felt the universe was trying to tell me to try planning just one more time.
The following section caught my eye in the store and convinced me to give it a try:
THESE ARE THE KEY THINGS I LEARNED FROM WRITING THIS BOOK:
1. It is never, ever too late to change the course of your life. 2. Act the way you want to feel. 3. The importance of self- reliance and accepting total responsibility. Your life and happiness is in your hands, no one else’s. Blaming other people is giving it away. 4. You can decide to be happy or not. 5. Meditation works, but you’ve got to stick at it. 6. You teach people how to treat you. 7. It’s all about choices. Every choice leads you towards your vision, or away from it. 8. What you put out comes back. 9. Prioritise relationships, health and finances. 10. “It’s about creating a life based on how you want to feel every day.” (Nancy Sherr)
So far, I find the book enjoyable to read. Not amazing. Not life changing. More a reminder of what I know I need to do but I’m too much of a procrastinator. I need that kick up the butt combined with some researched justification to get me going.
There isn’t any of that self help book repetitiveness – where it feels like the author was given a word count and they are just filling pages. I hate it where they say the same thing over and over again. “But wait. There’s more”. Infomercial style. There’s been none of that so far.
I’d say this book is more a useful collection of ideas – research and references and quotes – more than a unique solution to all life’s problems. Which is fine by me.
