What are the self-help books you go back to again and again?
I am in one of those periods of time when there is a lot going on in every part of my life. Whether it is a long to-do list of responsibilities or emotional issues tapping their foot impatiently for me to address, my body and my brain are exhausted.
That’s not an easy thing to admit. I want to have it all together and I want to appear to have it all together. But the truth is, friends, sometimes I just do not. I’m not crazy, I’m not concerned, I’m not out of control. I’m just one woman trying to sort it all out.
I imagine most of you get that, especially if you are worried about keeping your jobs or how to pay for daycare. Or if you are in a relationship that is struggling to stay alive or taking care of someone who is ill. Maybe you get it if you are a mother or woman trying to navigate the tumultuous waters of college or divorce or recovery. Perhaps you get it because of no particular drama or life change or identity shift, but just because this is how we sometimes cycle through our lives.
When I am in times like these, I turn to my girlfriends for advice and my family for support. I write. I take baths. I take flower essences and recommit to practicing yoga. But I often forget another way to take care of myself that has served me very well in the past — I forget to read.
During upheaval and unrest, I sometimes overlook how soothing it is to read the books that have served me well during tough times of the past. Fortunately, when I told a girlfriend yesterday that I was feeling overwhelmed and worried about a few things in my life, she suggested that I read a book she keeps stashed in her purse and she reminded me of a few books I keep tucked in my nightstand.
I ordered the book she recommended, Comfortable with Uncertainty by Pema Chodron. And then I pulled out one of my favorite self-help guides, The Little Book of Letting Go by Hugh Prather. I will be reading it (and all the nerdy notes I jotted in the margins) while I wait for my friend’s favorite “stuff to calm the crazy girl times” to arrive on my doorstep.
Am I crazy? Not at all. Just in one of those cycles. And instead of working up even more stress trying to solve the issues or worry about where I am, I am going to take care one little paragraph at a time. Nothing revolutionary, just reading.
What self-help books do you go to when you’re stressed, overwhelmed, or feeling emotional?
Do you have a great recommendation for the rest of us?
Other sanity savers:
[photo credit: Getty Images]
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