Personal Development Personal Ramblings

….creating habits

I love reading. I love filling my brain with information. One of my New Years Resolutions was to read more books, or to be more specific, I wanted to read a book a month. The right book can give me the same satisfaction as devouring a bowl of vegan brownies. Well. Almost.

I get freaked out by clutter and also by how much stuff Ian and I own, so last year when we realised just how many unwanted books we had, a local charity shop was our first port of call. Like many people these days, if I want to get rid of unused items I usually sell them on ebay. But I value books far too much to do that. Selling them as a ‘job lot’ appears to be the only option, and even then they don’t sell for much. Unfortunately, this means that they’ll probably get bought by someone who doesn’t care; they’ll try and flog them at a car boot sale and when they don’t sell, they’ll just throw them away. I hate it when people damage books. It’s sacrilege. At least at the charity shop they’ll get bought by someone who wants them, hopefully by someone who will love and care for them as much as we did. Perhaps picked up by someone in need of a bargain, or looking for something a little bit obscure. It’s recycling at it’s best.

I hate it when people damage books. It’s sacrilege

At the end of last year, to combat the problem of books gathering dust on shelves, my mother-in-law gave me a Kindle. At first I was unsure, as I love actual, physical books. In fact the first thing I do when I purchase a new book is smell the pages. Yep. I open it up and give it a sniff. Don’t judge me. There are far worse things I could be sniffing. Soon enough I began to wonder how I had ever lived without it. Medical appointments, meetings, anywhere I might end up having to wait…..it fits in my bag no problem – it’s so convenient. But along with the convenience also comes drawbacks. Yes, I’ve been doing more reading, but I’ve also spent twice as much as I normally would have on actual books. ‘Buy now with 1-Click’? …..hell yeah! It’s just too easy to see a book, buy it, and have instant access. I call it my Kindle addiction. Although It could be worse, I could be sniffing glue or shooting up.

002_Kindle

As for my reading list, I’m suitably impressed with myself that I’ve read 11 books this year so far. Just like exercise, I decided I had to factor it into my life, it had to become a new habit. Exercise has always been a massive part of my life, to the point that I spent 6 years working as an aerobics instructor. So now my days start with breakfast, green tea, reading for 30-45 minutes followed by exercise. If I get chance at the end of the day, I might squeeze in more reading.

In no particular order, here are the books I’ve devoured this year:

Mindfulness in Plain English, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Fire Starter Sessions, 49 Quick Ways to Market your Business for Free, The Gifts of Imperfection, Eat Pray Love, One Day, Anyone Can Do It: My Story (Duncan Bannatyne), Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It, The Power of Unpopular, The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success

Happy Thursday!

x

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