Simply an Inspired Life
Self-help books generally aren’t my thing. But, when I read the book jacket of Simply an Inspired Life, I felt, well, inspired to see what the authors Mary Anne Radmacher and Jonathan Huie had to say.
The premise of the book is that there are events, and then there are the stories we tell ourselves about events, or essentially the emotions we add to skew events one way or another. These emotions or stories we tell ourselves the authors argue, are what can lead us to suffering. And honestly, I can see their point. How many times does something small happen, for example, my husband putting his dirty socks on the living room floor, turn into a stewing fest for me? Was it really the socks on the floor that made me so angry, or the fact that I feel like by throwing the socks on the floor he’s not acknowledging all of the work it takes to clean the house? Probably the latter. When I let go of my story, then it just becomes a pair of socks. Huie and Radmacher make great points throughout the book about how to recognize our inner storyteller, and not necessarily let go of our stories for that’s what makes us human, but instead how to take a moment and see if there is an alternative tale we can tell, ultimately one that enables us to find happiness. Diry socks included.
—M.B.W.
