Always feeling tired?

Cheesy headline huh? haha Anyways, when I spoke to LS the other day, she mentioned to me this book called 'The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari' by Robin S. Sharma, and that this author was coming to town. My dad had bought this book, my husband borrowed it, but nobody had read it yet. Truth to be told, I'm not a fan of such books. I thought they all beginning to sound the same. The last self-help book I read was eons ago.

So anyways, since this was a much talked-about book, and seemed like a simple read, I thought I'd give it a try. The start was quite a drag. It didn't "wow" me. But I didn't want to give up on it just yet, because I wanted to know what I could learn from it. And I wasn't disappointed.

This book is about this lawyer who had had a near-death experience, sold off all his possessions and headed off to India, where he found "enlightenment".

Let me start off with these passages:
"'...Have you had an afternoon at the office where you were reading your dry case reports and your mind started to wander and you started to feel sleepy?'

'From time to time,' I answered........'Sure, most of us feel drowsy at work on a regular basis.'

'Yet, if a friend calls on the phone to ask if you want to go out to the ball game that night, or asks you for advice on his golf game, I have no doubt that you would spring to life. Every trace of your fatigue would vanish. Is that a fair assessment?'

Now, if you agree to the above, read on...

'So your tiredness was nothing more than a mental creation, a bad habit your mind has cultivated to act as a crutch when you are performing a tedious task. Tonight you are obviously enchanted with my story and keen to learn the wisdom that has revealed to me. Your interest and mental focus give you energy. This evening, your mind has not been in the past nor has it been in the future. It has been squarely focused on the present, on our conversation. When you consistently direct your mind to live in the present you will always have boundless energy, no matter what time the clock reflects.'"

Ever noticed when we do something that we love or are passionate about, we could do it for hours and hours, without feeling tired? For example, a shopaholic could shop for hours without feeling an ounce of tiredness. I know people who could shop for the entire day without resting their legs, but when it comes to working at the desk from 9am - 5pm, they'd complain they're tired.

My ex-colleague once asked me, how I could spend time reading even after slogging for hours at work? I didn't have an answer, so I just told her I don't know. It never really occurred to me, though, that I could do it, because I loved doing it, and I focused all my energy on it.

Here's another thing I found interesting:
'The secret to happiness is simple: find out what you truly love to do and then direct all of your energy towards doing it. If you study the happiest, healthiest, most satisfied people of our world, you will see each and everyone of them has found their passion in life, and then spent their day pursuing it. Once you are concentrating your mind and energy on a pursuit that you love, abundance flows into your life, and all your desires are fulfilled with ease and grace." (Check out these movies: The Freeedom Writers and The Pursuit of Happyness. Or read this book: The Measure of A Man by Sidney Poitier)

And then you say, 'I so busy...where got time to sit down and reflect on my life? And think about all these nonsense passion crap?'

This author has the answer to that too :P
'"My friend, saying that you don't have time to improve your thoughts and your life is like saying you don't have time to stop for gas because you are too busy driving. Eventually it will catch up with you."'

This is quite an inspiring read especially if you haven't gotten in touch with your 'inner' self for a long time or if you're still in search of something :)

Pa, I'm almost done with the book. I'll return it to you once I'm done k hehe