SHE SAVED ME:)

I don’t know what all the fuss over Masaku 7s is about. I really don’t. Were it to be two years ago or more, I’d have gone – maybe. My designer shoes would be ready and my cologne would be spot on. Nevertheless, that was then…

I thank God for sending me a ‘friend’. I believe every good thing comes from above and from the Father of lights. A buddy when introduced to, wish had come earlier in my life and it did not take long for the ball to start rolling. I beam each moment I spend with her. Carrying her on my lap or sitting next to her in a car or late night interactions with her in my room or whenever she’s cuddled up in my bag or whenever I’m deeply engraved in whatever she has to say, that everything else around me goes still; a crony she has always been.

Her name is books.

It was on the 27^th of June – just about the much hyped Masaku Sevens – that I checked into a local library and borrowed 5 bestsellers; actually it was six but maximum was five, to be returned a month later on the 28^th of July.

To share with you the books I got;

• The Big Picture by Dr. Ben Carson broadens ones perspective and vision on what’s really important in life by re-framing your priorities and energizing your efforts. It’s not one of those books of HOW to succeed; it’s about WHY to succeed.
• Gifted Hands is a brief, easy to read autobiography of Dr. Ben Carson that depicts sheer determination, self belief and trust in God is all you need to make it in life. From a black dumb kid in Detroit to one of the most celebrated neurosurgeons in the world – it is a must read.

 (I presume many have read these books but put up with me as my ‘friend’ was sent to me close to two years ago.)

• Who Moved my Cheese? – In a simple and clear manner, Dr. Spencer Johnson explains the importance of change in our lives with ‘cheese’ being an allegory of health, work, relationships, education or anything that we are after. Having read it twice, one query that stuck in my mind is, “What would I do if I wasn’t afraid?”
• A Gift of Hope is a touching, raw and poignant writing by Danielle Steel that exhorts readers into a campaign of service of helping the homeless. The book seconds what is said in James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” I’m halfway through but it has impacted my view on the homeless, making me feel so insignificant.
• Rich Dad Poor Dad – Many of you have read if not heard about this book by Robert T. Kiyosaki. I first got hold of it back in Form one though at that time I was not able to grasp its insights but I believe now I’m grown and mature to understand financial literacy – a lesson that’s never taught in schools. Just started it yesterday and the lesson that I’ve got so far is that a job is only a short-term solution to a long-term problem – bills. Ha-ha! Maybe I’ll say something once I’ve buried myself into it.

 

Why Books?

The Roman Philosopher Seneca noted, “So long as you live, keep learning how to live.”

I don’t think he meant ‘learnings’ that promote negativity, hatred or those that give wrong information. It is only by reading what great minds would do if they were in your position that you learn better ways of dealing with or doing something.

To be a better person; To be a good thinker; To improve your concentration; To learn the world around you; To improve your vocabulary and develop language skills; To expand your imagination or even To entertain yourself, get yourself a book and flip those pages.

But again, it’s not how much you read, but what you read which is important as some dig out the little knowledge you’ve heaped together. Knowing that who I’ll be five years from now comes down to two primary influences: the people I associate with and the books I read – then it has to be the right books and articles.

How do I feel?

I don’t think I can describe in words the joy of reading books for it’s something that you can understand only by actual experience.

Ask a psychologist how it feels and they’ll say reading a book leaves us with new neural pathways. Ask researchers and they’ll show that if we stop reading, we will be different people: less intricate, less emphatic, less interesting. Ask any avid reader and they too will agree that reading a book is the same like watching a movie. Ask a writer and they’ll give a shout out to ‘reading’.

Thank God technology throws up many solutions. The ability offered by devices like e-readers, smartphones and tablets, to carry an entire library in your hand is an amazing opportunity. Then why not learn anything and everything?

I will live by what the once American Congregational minister and educator Austin Phelps said, “Wear the old coat and buy the new book.”

What are you reading?