Literature has been a huge part of my life. I have been escaping to other worlds for longer than I can remember and the power of words to transport me to another land never ceases to amaze me. As I have gotten older I have more responsibilities and less time for relaxing and reading all hours of the day. I have given up, somewhat, on taking chances on new writers because there are still so many works from the writers that I appreciate that I've not read yet. In essence, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Recently one of my favorite authors died. Gabriel Garcia Marquez was a man of great magical wonder. The detail he placed in each novel made me fall in love with the characters as if they were my own family. The ends of his books, the deaths of his characters made me weep in a heart clenching way. I physically hurt when I am done reading one of his works. That, my friends, is great writing.
I once recommended Love in the Time of Cholera to someone who promptly told me that they had attempted to read the book, but that it was "too wordy" and "boring". I left it at that, but man, he missed out on something wonderful.
“To him she seemed so beautiful, so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else's heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter. He had not missed a single one of her gestures, not one of the indications of her character, but he did not dare approach her for fear of destroying the spell.”
― Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera
Michelle says:
A few months ago one of my oldest and dearest friends suggested with great earnest that I read You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought by Peter McWilliams. I purchased it immediately and am deeply grateful I did. At first I thought, "That's a hokey title, seriously?", but I read it with an open mind and learned a lot. It is written with such sincerity and raw truth that I couldn't put it down. This book is straight forward, honest, approachable, and comforting. It's sort of like a manual for negative thinkers, also known as Negaholics. Here are some quotes:
"Negative thinking is always expensive--dragging us down mentally, emotionally, and physically--hence I refer to any indulgence in it as a luxury."
"Fear is something to be moved through, not something to be turned from."
"Pain (any pain--emotional, physical, mental) has a message."
"Our thoughts create our reality--where we put our focus is the direction we tend to go."
"Stubbornness is also determination. It's simply a matter of shifting from a 'won't power' to a 'will power."
"This information it has about our life can be remarkably specific, but it usually falls into one of two categories: We would be more alive if we did more of this and life would be more lovely if we did less of that. Once we get the pain's message, and follow its advice, the pain goes away."
"When we put things off until some future--probably mythical-Laterland, we drag the past into the future. The burden of yesterday's incompletions is a heavy load to carry. Don't carry it."
This is a thick book! It is chock full of strategies to combat negative thinking and it is highly relateable. It always feels good to read a book and feel your eyes well up with tears and think, I am not alone. It took a lot of effort and balls to write this book and many of the reviews I've read say, "This book is my bible". This is my top 10 favorite reads. I hope more and more people see how valuable it is.
