Books with impact

Every now and again I read a book that has a profound effect on me. Today I am going to review two such books.

I was at a particularly restless time in my life a few years ago when I read  Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth

I was searching for my life's purpose and thought this could be fulfilled by getting the right job. I spent many hours researching new career paths and tried several options but nothing seemed to feel right and I became more disillusioned.
  
I had also begun to have a growing dissatisfaction with our society and its obsession with having everything and having it now regardless of the consequences both for ourselves and for our planet.

I was not innocent of this by a long way. In my 20's and early 30's,  I believed that to be happy I needed to have a nice car, a big house and expensive clothes. I constantly lived my life in the future " When we have more money we can..."  or "When the children are older we can....."
Then I discovered "A New Earth" and began to look at life in a very different way.

Since then, I have read it many times and my copy is looking a bit dog-eared now. It is covered in sticky tabs and pencil notes marking my favourite quotes such as this one from p 47

Unease, restlessness, boredom, anxiety, dissatisfaction, are the result of unfulfilled wanting. Wanting is structural, so no amount of content can provide lasting fulfillment as long as that mental structure remains in place.

 A New Earth isn't the easiest book to read but is well worth the effort. Give it a go- you've got nothing to lose!


The second book is Timeless Simplicity by John Lane.
 

 
I have just finished reading this and was hooked  from the first paragraph of the introduction.

This is a book about simplicity-not destitution, not parsimoniousness, not self-denial-but the restoration of wealth in the midst of an affluence in which we are starving of the spirit. It is a book about the advantages of living a less cluttered, stressful life than that which many of us now live, in the over-crowded and manic-paced consuming nations.

If any of you are feeling that you need to find a slower pace of life, I recommend that you read this as a good starting point. It is only just over 100 pages long and is a gentle but absorbing read. The book is organised into 6 chapters and covers subjects such as how to reduce expenditure, adopting a positive attitude and following your bliss.


It has taken me many  years of struggling and a recent severe bout of depression for me to finally start to make positive changes to my life. I have given up my job and begun to take pleasure in performing simple activities such as cooking and knitting. These combined with my love of reading and desire to write and I finally feel that I am living the life I should be.
What could you be doing?

If you have read any  books that have had a similar impact on your life I would be very interested to hear about them.

Have a lovely weekend everyone and happy reading