Although I have my own library of books to read through (I blame Amazon), I've started to visit my town's main library more and more.
And check this out - the books are free!
And you get them for two weeks!
I've spent so much money on books in the past . . . and the books in my town's library are free!
(As they are in all libraries, in case you didn't know . . . )
But it's common knowledge that the number of people who visit libraries is decreasing quite rapidly.
After doing a bit of simple research, I came across an article written in 2010: In 2005, 16.4% of adults people attended their local library once a month. New research indicates that the figure had dropped to 12.8% last year.
Why?
It boils down to this: reading books is perceived by many as uncool.
The vast majority of young people spend so much of their time glued to their ipads and iphones, playing games and downloading the latest app called, 'Please Put Me Down And Stop Ignoring The Person Who Is In Front Of You.'
I wish there was such an app . . .
Reading a book takes time and effort and therefore requires patience. It's just not stimulating enough for so many of us, which is why they now have interactive ebooks for children, for instance.
Patience isn't exactly one of modern society's strong characteristics. We want fast results. We want overnight success. We look at people who have 'made it' and we say, 'Lucky so and so. I'd love to be like them, to be doing what they're doing'. Then we flick over to the next channel and repeat the procedure. We don't see the ingredients which have gone into the end result.
Ingredients such as: effort, hope, sweat, self belief, conquering self doubt, conquering self limiting beliefs, setting goals and working to attain them, picking oneself up when one is down, making wish lists for a more desirous future and believing one deserves to meet the fulfilment of those wishes, seeing the bigger picture, not taking one self too seriously, trusting the inner voice and decreasing the volume of the inner critic, practising self discipline, practising self talk, motivating one self to keep on going when it seems like one is treading through mud, confidence in oneself - I could keep going but you get the gist.
And check this out; all these pointers are self-related! There's a whole other list for how one deals with others. Because there will always be those who don't want to see us progress, to succeed and to better ourselves. It's the nature of the game.
I have more patience to listen to someone who is complaining about the state of their life when they're making the effort to change it. Even if they're 'just' doing some constructive thinking. But when it comes to those who moan and moan from their sofas, 'I want this. I want that. I want this to happen. I want that to happen. Life isn't fair. I've been dealt a crap hand. Poor me'. I find myself wanting to shake them from their shoulders and say, 'GET A GRIP!
I understand that life can be difficult sometimes, but I also understand that what happens happens to us all. It's how we deal with what happens that separates us from those who use the undesirable circumstance and add it to their drama (satisfying a false sense of self) from those who use the difficult situation as a learning tool, to expand and to grow, to gain strength and determination.
We always have that choice.
Those who are living their dreams (those who breed envy in the couch sitters) and those who suffer from a nasty case of inertia, have so much in common. But of all those common factors, there is one specific point which stands out for me, and it is this:
They all have 24 hours in a day.
Fact.
How you manage your time is up to you.
And it all starts with baby steps.
Will Smith said, 'If you want to build the best wall you've ever built, don't concentrate on the wall. Concentrate, instead, on the brick you are laying. Make it the best brick you've ever laid - then you will have created your wall.'
Well said, Mr Smith.
I'm constantly trying to better myself. I'm a postman. It's a good job. I get to meet and work with some great people. I get plenty of exercise and fresh air in my lungs every day. And it gives me loads of spare time, of which I'm massively grateful for. (This is why I chose the job!)
BUT . . .
Although I'm grateful for the job, there will come a day when it no longer meets my requirements. It will become unsuitable. Think of it as if your grandma had knitted you a jumper but it was way to small. You would be grateful for the gift and would take into consideration the amount of time, thought and effort, she would've put into it, but it would be unsuitable for you.
What am I working towards? I'm not entirely sure yet. It's hard to pin down. But baby steps are being made and I'm confident I'm the right track.
One of those baby steps took me to the library. I looked around. The people who were lost in the books, studying and making notes were middle-aged. Those who were sat at the computers were youths (some were my age - late twenties) and what were they looking at? . . . Bookface or Youpube.
We're not here for long. A blink of an eye, really. As I heard Jim Rohn once say, 'We're only here once, at least what we know of. Let us play at discovering how much we can achieve.'
What books did I get from the library?
Get the Life You Really Want by James Caan (A Quick Read)
Confidence in a Minute by Tony Wrighton
Follow Your Heart by Andrew Matthews
So many books out there to help us!! And they're free!
www.gavinwhyte.co.uk
Instead of posting a piece of music I thought I would post a meditation instead. So take 30mins out of your day to relax your body and mind . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In090SUj_xc
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