Re- Read What's Possible

The past year for me has been filled with messages of freedom, release, and finding one's true self, to then to honour that self. This message has been in experiences had, movies watched, but most significant of all... books read.

Side note: When was the last time a book was meaningful and inspired you? I suggest finding one that you think will speak to you, no matter how embarrassing the subject matter. Who cares if you're a macho Bay Street banker reading a biography of Margaret Thatcher on the streetcar. Read it in the privacy of your home if you need to. We all should find our inspiration somewhere, and sometimes we need to pick up a book and risk going outside of our ominous "comfort zone".

Some of the meaningful titles I recently enjoyed include 'The Alchemist', 'Rebel Buddha', 'The Ghost Brush', 'Moving Toward Stillness, 'Room', 'The Help', and 'A Separate Reality'. Every one of these books includes a message of being true to yourself and self-actualizing that self into reality (wow, that's a lot of "self"s).

The above titles were, however, missing one key element. Though the are fantastic books that contain moving messages, none of them spoke to the experiences of an urban dweller, the city slicker, to cosmopolitan.

Until recently, I came upon a few titles that drove the message home for me. These were 'The Happiness Project' (written by a New York lawyer, turned writer), and 'Normal Gets You Nowhere' (written by a New York Fashion Publicist, Kelly Cutrone).

Maybe it's the New York vibe that kicked my butt. These books had a deliberate city voice that spoke to me. From Gretchen Rubin's clear and organized lists of ways to instill greater happiness into one's life, to Kelly Cutrone's hold-no-punches approach to motivation, each of these New Yorkers were able to get their messages across to me.

Something most of us do all to often is go through the motions of our lives and routines, without giving much consideration to what else is possible, what else could we be doing, what other ideas or experiences are out there for us to explore. 

Seek out the other possibilities in your life. While you're at it, pick up a new thought-provoking book. Maybe you already have the book you need. You read it years ago and now it's collecting dust on your bookshelf. I encourage you to dust off your old copy of 'The Art of Happiness' and re-read what's possible!