PLPT Reading List - January

Read

In the Meantime: Finding Yourself and the Love You Want

I don't remember who gave me this book years ago, but I can tell you that it sat on my bookshelf for months if not years before I ever picked it up.  Terms like "finding yourself" sounded so cheesy to me when I got this book and I just wasn't in a place yet where I wanted to explore it.  I wish now that I could thank that person, because this book was one of the biggest eye openers of my young adult life. 

Iyanla Vanzant speaks candidly about her experiences with life and loving relationships - including the one with self.  I remember reading this book and wondering how she could possibly know my initimate feelings so well.  I was so lost at the time: self-destructive, co-dependent, unhappy and unaware.

Many of us are brought up focusing on pleasing everyone around us and thinking that our worth is based on what others think of us. This book is about clearing out all of the negative emotions and perceptions that we develop growing up, so that we can see ourselves clearly and develop our own sense of self.  It's not easy to take the blinders off and sort through the behavioral patterns that are holding us back, but this book helped me to break down mental barriers that I didn't even know were there.

My copy is now worn out with yellowed pages and highlights and scribble throughout.  You can purchase your copy here.

To Read

This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women

I first saw this book on the desk of one of my coworkers and was immediately intrigued.  I'm fascinated with life and spirituality and how people make sense of this crazy world that we live in.  Here's a quick description of the book:

Based on the NPR series of the same name, This I Believe features eighty Americans--from the famous to the unknown--completing the thought that the book's title begins. Each piece compels readers to rethink not only how they have arrived at their own personal beliefs but also the extent to which they share them with others.

The result is a stirring and provocative trip inside the minds and hearts of a diverse group of people whose beliefs--and the incredibly varied ways in which they choose to express them--reveal the American spirit at its best.

This book is sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read.  As I become more and more comfortable with my own unique beliefs and my approach to life, it only increases my interest in other people's stories.  Have you read this book?  You can read more about this book and other This I Believe books by Dan Gediman by clicking here.