Eat, Pray, Love

This book is Rated R, let's just start with that. I remember at least five "F bombs" and the sex talk is a bit much, even for me. Having said all that, I enjoyed most of it. It's divided into little mini-stories so you can really just skip the ones that you dont care about or the ones that are a bit over the top. I learned some stuff. I dont need to travel around the world alone for a year but it'd be nice to really ask myself, "What gives me pleasure?" Brad often offers me an afternoon alone and I wish that I could fill the time with my very favorite, pleasurable things. So I need to figure out what those things are. I used to love a good long sweaty run. I think now, it's more likely that I go sit in a warm, sunny spot to read/write. I feel like I've lost a little bit of myself to not even really know what it is that brings me joy.

Anyway- here's a favorite passage from the book.

I remember 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 dont, you will leak away your innate 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.

The search for contentment is not merely a self-preserving and self-benefiting act, but also a generous gift to the world. Clearing out all your misery gets you out of the way. You cease being an obstacle, not only to yourself but to anyone else. Only then are you free to serve and enjoy other people.