Wisdom from books

Why go find your own wisdom when you can borrow it from those who had to learn it the hard way.

I have spent the last few months enjoying some REALLY good books.

The first one I would recommend is The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F&%^. Wow. Talk about a game changer. This book is like truth in concentrate form. Mark Manson, the author, explains that it is not about finding ways not to care as that would make you a psychopath. It is about ways to care only about important things. We all have an inner radar that lets us know what those important things are. Here's a hint. Instagram didn't make the list and neither did Facebook. Manson explains that the "fucks" that we give, are given way too freely. We have a limited number of them and we want to spend them in the most economical way possible. People waste so much time spending their precious fucks on things that are not that big of a deal or of no concern to them. I don't think I do justice to just how great this book really conveys some valuable messages about life. Manson has another book out and it's just as valuable. It's called, "Everything is fucked. A Book About Hope." I will cover that one in another blog.

Another book I have found valuable lately is The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up A Generation For Failure. I am only 3/4 of the way through this book. So far, it is really fascinating if you are interested in finding out why the rise of depression and anxiety, including suicide has been increasing in today's children, millennials, and Gen X citizens. It describes how the human brain and immune system is built to adapt to environmental stimuli. It needs minute stressors to be able to adapt to figure out how to fight against them. This is basically how vaccines work. They weaken a strain of the illness and then subject the body to it so can learn how to defend against it.

They explain that we have adopted a culture based on "Safetyism." This is where we overprotect children while they are young and then when they get out to the real world, they are incapable of emotionally dealing with even the most minor offense to their psyche, because they have been protected against having to deal with it. Thus, the first time you deal with anything, it tends to be a more jarring experience as opposed to having experienced something numerous times and having a more complete way to compartmentalize the emotional damage incurred.

It's not like the book promotes letting your kids fight lions or throw hammers at each other but it does promote letting kids be kids, getting them off screens, making them socialize, making them play outside, and protecting them less against the world to let them understand it a little more. Once they understand it more, they will fear it less and be able to have healthier, happier, lives. Win win.

If you are a huge fan of any books I should read, please let me know what they are. I am REALLY in to books right now and want to be as educated as possible on all sides of any topic.

I hope you're having a great day! Chat soon.