I have a very nice support system because I have a big family and even if we don't all live in the same city they send mail :). I've received and read some self help books/videos since becoming ill and sometimes I really like them and other times I don't read them for a long time because I feel too tired. If you get your sick person a book that's about illness then either give them the summary on a piece of paper or wait for them to read it at their leisure. Aunt R3 and Uncle G are really good about being patient, seeing as they know how important this information is - Uncle G has no evidence of cancer after having stage 4 melanoma.Here are my top 4:
- Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan. It's only 139 pages but about 70 pages of text and it was published in 2009. When I go back to teaching, I want to put every page of this book on the walls of my Foods classroom.
- The Happiness Project or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean my Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin. It's 289 pages, a little slow but happiness is important and I liked it because it reminded me of grandma Lavender.
- Eating for your Mitchochondria - a video by Dr. Terry Wahls. It's a bit dry, 17 minutes long and might not seem useful but I go back to it all the time because it's about a person who went to the edge and then tried to reverse her illness. She's been physically limited and she came back! I feel proud of her and she's a total stranger. I'm also reading a book called Dying to be Me which might make the list in the future.
- Anticancer: A New Way of Life by Dr. David Servan-Schreiber. 222 pages but chock full of graphs and research. I like it because it's about a doctor who is unusual and has lived with brain cancer for over a decade. He, like Dr Wahls, didn't give-up even though he has one of the scariest cancers that you can have. I like that too.
In a way, all good books are self-help books; you can read any book merely for the "cover" story or you can read it to better understand yourself; the more you read, the more you learn about who you are and who you want to become. No matter how full a life you've led you can never have every experience so we can be a big help to each other by sharing what we've learned. I think it's a generous and very humane gift. And yes; I think your blog is a self-help blog.
ReplyDeleteGracias
I like when you find the perfect book for your situation! Do you reread books? If so, how many rereads have you ever done?
ReplyDeleteI agree that you have to keep reading and keep discovering. I have been reading non-stop lately it seems. My favorite so far if anyone is looking for a new one to pick up Lisa Selow's A Rebel Chick Mystic's Guide is really great. lisaselow.com if anyone wants to take a look! Your post was very inspirational, I really appreciate it!
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