Day 539: Cutting the grass

The garden of my life. Cutting the grass can be a life-changing experience. It's not clearly about the mowing itself, while much more about its metaphorical meaning. When you cut the grass, you make new life blooming in your garden: cutting the grass and weeding out nourish the soil and make the perfect foundation for new grass and plants. Life works exactly the same way: everybody faces struggles and challenges, but it's the way you face them that change it all. Weeds is what usually clutter up your life - usually in the form of stress, negativity and procrastination - and make you losing focus on what is really important. That's why is so relevant to weed out your garden and cutting the things that lost their meaning, from time to time. 

"Gardening is a metaphor for life, teaching you to nourish new life and weed out that which cannot succeed" (Nelson Mandela)

Take your time. What works best for me is taking my time to weed out my garden and seed it with positive thinking, wonderful music, inspiring readings and gratitude. Clearing out the clutter regularly makes my life easier, more accessible and focused on what really matters to me. Being open brings abundance, both in life and garden.

Day 538: New challenge - 52 books in 52 weeks

Life is mostly about challenges. So, at the beginning of this year I started this book challenge: reading 52 books in 52 weeks, it means a book a week for a year. Any kind of book is included, the average length is around 200 pages each. This morning, I finished reading "Curtain: Poirot's last case" and I've already started two more books.

Why this challenge? I love reading and I feel that every book I read makes me a better person. I feel much more positive and inspired, like getting a new life every time a new book starts. Sometimes I got lost within my busy schedule and at night I always wished I could have read more during that day. So, I decided to take on this challenge and hopefully inspire others to do the same. While my best score is around 30 books in a year (haven't counted them, just estimated the total books that "passed" in my Kindle and through my hands), since the beginning of this new year I decided to embrace the challenge and purposely read more books, counting them in a list to make things easier.

I don't have time for it. This is the answer I usually get from others while talking about my challenge. And it can be true: we all have very busy lives and other important things to do. Nobody has time, except the one who makes time for it. It's just a choice and even something more: for me it's a gift for myself. You can start small and at your own pace, but I think there is enough time for anybody. Commuting is one of my best time: that's why I always carry a book with me wherever I go, and you could do the same! Making this challenge is about perseverance and resolution: the side effects are improvements in these two attitudes in your everyday life.

Lots of reasons behind it. First of all, reading boosts my capacity to write, opens my mind, my heart and gives me new ideas and points of view. It increases my creativity and set my self-discipline. And it's a great source of inspiration, even though this works better with self-development books and biographies. Secondly, reading improves my relationship with other people. Not only when starting a conversation, but especially about making it deeper, talking more effectively and listening actively to others. In a nutshell, I believe reading is good not only for the time I spent by myself, but especially for the time I spend with others.   

On my way. I don't know if I'll get to accomplishing this challenge, but it's worth trying. To be honest, I'm a little behind my schedule, but the idea that makes me keep going is that there are still lots of wonderful books left to be read. I'm currently reading "Life lessons from the Monk who sold his Ferrari" and "Great speeches of our time". Probably, I'll give updates from time to time about it, but won't be posting much, as you know... I have books to read! :)

PS: Any book recommendation is welcome! 

Day 141: Health is Wealth

Health is wealth. "Health is one of those things we take for granted until we lose it". It's a quote from the book I'm reading. It made me think. It is strongly true. 

The same book suggests to just three things, very easy to accomplish.

1) Exercise regularly: those who don't make time for daily exercise, must eventually make time for daily illness. 

2) Avoid junk food: chemical treatments and meat contaminations are very dangerous for the health and they slow down our digestion and metabolism, making you sluggish and lazy.

3) Rest enough and get up early in the morning: sleeping at least six hours every night is fundamental to better work and enjoy the day. Waking up early in the morning (and going bed early in the night) gives you more energy and boosts your productivity, so you won't challenge every morning your watch and you'll be less stressed. 

Remember. If you lose your health, you lose everything because then your first aim will be reclaiming it again and you'll have less energy to focus on other important goals.

Young or old? "When we are young we sacrifice our health for wealth. But when we become old and wise, we become willing to sacrifice every bit of our wealth for just a day of good health" (R.S.).

Day 76: Book vs. e-Reader

I love books. Printed books. I really like the texture and the smell of different papers, the shape and the design of the covers. And the feeling of having them in my hands. After a friend’s suggestion, I started thinking about e-Reader, but I'm still not persuaded of buying it. So, let’s list pros & cons.

Books pros:

• Property. A paper book is something real. You own it, it’s yours. You can underline it, make notes in the margins and display in your bookshelf.
  
• All senses involved. Having a paper book is not just about reading. It involves more senses than just sight. Smell, touch and hearing are very involved in reading paper books.
  
• Libraries and used books. You can borrow books from libraries for free or just buy used ones. You can do book crossing. All that books can be read by dozens of people over their lifetime.

Books cons:

• Weight and space. Paper books are heavy and cumbersome. It can be awkward to transport them and sometimes it’s hard to keep them open at a certain page. Finally, you have to find the space to store them (and maybe buy a bookshelf).
  
• Perishability. It is just paper. So, real books are affected by dust, dampness, yellowing and silverfish. Then, you can easily damage or lose them.
  
• Cost and sustainability. Books have to be printed, packaged, and distributed. From paper to plastic and fuel: it is very expensive to create them. They have a real impact on the environment. However, at the end, they are easily recyclable.

e-Reader pros:

• Portability. A little larger than a paperback book cover, the e-reader can easily be transported everywhere: thousands of books in just 200gr.
  
• All-in-one. Dictionary, clock, internet browser: a great world is hidden inside this small and slight device. There are even many tools very useful for reading, like highlighting, notes and immediate translation of foreign words. 
  
• Privacy. People can't see what you are reading and you can protect your book (and device) with a password.

e-Readers cons:

• Cost and sustainability. e-Readers are very expensive (start from 89£)and then you have to buy the books (and you can’t buy used ones). As well as real books, e-Readers have to be manufactured, packed and shipped. What happens after? Are all parts recyclable or will they boost the e-waste mountain? No more trees and paper, but are we sure that will be better?
  
• Battery and lifetime. Reading depends on a battery. You can really be wishful to read a book, but if your battery is flat, you can’t. And you have to remember to charge the device. What if it suddenly stop working? What if it fall from your hand? And if it get stolen?

Great readers. A TerraPass study explains that "e-readers are the more environmentally responsible choice only if you are reading in excess of 23 books per year (almost two books every month)". But if the keyword is money, I don’t think I will buy an e-Reader.

Reading is culture and culture should be free. So, why pay for something that is already free? I’ve my answer, but…

What do you think?

7 Days to London: Goodbye Books

I donated all my books to the local library. I just saved my favourite ten and then I let them go on their way.

I think that the culture should be shared. Books don't belong to anybody: they just belong to the world. Leaving books on the shelf collecting dust it's a great waste: they can still be read by many people.

Reading is a pleasure. I think that everyone should have the possibility to read books for free. Even because the current price of the books in the bookshops is pretty expensive. 

So books, have a safe and funny journey. I hope you'll be treated well as I did and you could make dream many other readers.