The Antidote for Civilization

Oh so very high on my list of all-time favorite things to do is read. Yes, I am a crazy-ass book freak and, well, I couldn't be happier.

Sit + Read + Repeat = Happy

I go to my local library practically every week (if I happen to miss, something is majorly wrong in my schedule). And I love. love. love checking out 5, 6, 7, books, piling them up on my nightstand and knowing that an amazing secret world is at my fingertips.

If you search the list of books I've checked out over the past few years, they would all fall into the same 6 categories: leadership, health, fitness, wealth, personal finance, management. I can barely stand to read a fiction book as if the time to read it robs me from actually learning something. Weird. I know.

Here's what's on my nightstand right now:

  • SuperBetter by Jane McGonigal (LOVE-ing!)

  • Tribes by Seth Godin (I'm late to this one)

  • Radical Collaboration by J. Tamm & R. Luyet (research for an Accountability Workshop)

  • The OZ Principle by R. Connors & T. Smith (more research on Accountability)

  • The School of Greatness by Lewis Howes (just nabbed this at his book launch party)

  • Think & Grow Rich by Napolean Hill (this never moves off my nightstand)

  • As a Man Thinketh by James Allen (also never moves off my nightstand)

  • Put Your Dreams to the Test by John Maxwell (prep for an upcoming Seminar)

Honestly there are a couple more, but I suddenly felt like this list was too long (like admitting to having 17 cats....).

Reading is a private vacation into the world of possibility. You can take it anytime on any subject for however long you choose to do so. In my view, it's an immediate transportation into your own future potential.

And it's not that I have 100% recall on all this good reads. I WISH I could remember this kind of content verbatim, that's just not going to happen. But what I do like to do when I find a particularly fantastic book is to summarize it in a hardbound journal, taking notes on the best parts. That journal is like my depository of grand ideas and quotes that I continually read and re-read for inspiration. I've actually had nightmares where I can't find my journal and it jerks me awake in a fearful sweat.

"Books are uniquely portable magic." Stephen King

I'll bet some of you are thinking, "I never have time to read. When in my day could I possibly fit reading in? I'm exhausted by the time my head hits the pillow." But if you truly desire to escape the madness of your life, I promise you a book will work wonders. Not TV, Not Facebook. A good, paper, book.

See, there's a stillness to our hearts when we read. Like all the chaos of the day, the week, the world is able to dissolve away for that short bit of time when our minds are transported into the pages. And that, my friends, is pure magic.

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Resources | Recommend, Your Best Self, Motivation & InspirationCecilia GormanPersonal Growth, CareerComment