latest read - "being a monk means no Ferrari?"

If you have a Ferrari, would you give it up to be a monk?
You may be an owner of one of these. Or maybe more than one?

Gorgeous!

But strictly speaking and throwing in wishful thinking, if I can afford a Ferrari, I'd rather splurge on an Aston Martin Vanquish!

Sweet!

Oops...

Digressed from the issue in hand.

Anyway, yeah, would you? Give up your Ferrari or Ferraris or in my case, my Vanquish, to be a monk - to teach others the way to a fulfilling life, a meaningful life?

Let's think about that for a bit...

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I think NOT! Hahahaha...

To each his own, they say.

Anyway, back to the book.

It took me forever (read: a long, long time) to finish this 198 pages book - The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.

I am a person who takes good care of my books meaning I wrap each book I own, I don't open any book too wide to crease the spine , don't even attempt to dog-mark the pages or I'll scream.

Typically, when reading, I would have pen and paper with me to jot down any phrases or paragraphs that I find interesting, amusing or inspirational.

But I don't know what came over me. With this book, I highlighted those phrases with a highlighter!!

Shock!! Horror!!

There were just too many of them and I got tired of writing them down. So that was my best solution. Maybe that's why it took me so long to finish reading this book - I was stopping now and again to highlight and reread the phrases.

Now, if you could afford a Ferrari, it would mean you have been working yourself to the bone. Or you have fortunately inherited massive wealth. The latter much preferred.

In this story, Julian had no such luck with inheriting wealth. He worked himself to a heart attack which was also his wake-up call since he did wake up from it. Upon recovery, he up and left everything he possessed and went in search of Sivana in India where he learnt to live a more meaningful life.

One of the conditions of learning how to lead a more meaningful life is to pass the knowledge to someone else. So Julian came back and pass it to his friend, John, and that is what the whole book is about.

It is a "Live in the now" and "Slow down and smell the roses" type of book.

My picks from the book:

1. "Every event has a purpose and every setback its lesson. I have realized that failure, whether of the personal, professional or even spiritual kind, is essential to personal expansion. It brings inner growth and a whole host of psychic rewards. Never regret your past. Rather, embrace it as the teacher that it is."

2. Your I can is more important than your I.Q.

3. No matter what happens to you in your life, you alone have the capacity to choose your response to it. When you form the habit of searching for the positive in every circumstance, your life will move into its highest dimensions.

4. There are no mistakes in life, only lessons. There is no such thing as a negative experience, only opportunities to grow, learn and advance along the road of self-mastery. From struggle comes strength. Even pain can be a wonderful teacher.

5. Stop judging events as either positive or negative. Rather, simply experience them, celebrate them and learn from them. Every event offers you lessons. These little lessons fuel your inner and outer growth. Without them, you would be stuck on a plateau. Most people have grown the most from their most challenging experiences. And if you meet with an outcome you did not expect and feel a little disappointed, remember that the laws of nature always ensure that when one door closes another opens.

6. When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all of your thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world.

7. Winston Churchill said that 'the price of greatness is responsibility over each of your thoughts.'

8. Remember, the mind truly is like any other muscle in your body. Use it or lose it.

9. Quick-fixes do not work. All lasting inner change requires time and effort. Persistence is the mother of personal change.



10. The very fact that you have a desire or a dream means that you have the corresponding capacity to realize it.

11. The secret of happiness is simple: find out what you truly love to do and then direct all your energy towards doing it. If you study the happiest, healthiest, most satisfied people of our world, you will see that each and every one of them has found their passion in life, and then spent their lives pursuing it.

12. Success, like happiness, cannot be pursued. It must ensue. And it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.

13. Self-knowledge is the stepping stone to self-mastery.

14. ... the quality of your thinking determines the quality of your life.

15. Einstein said that 'imagination is more important than knowledge.'



16. There is nothing noble about being superior to some other person. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.

17. It does not matter what other people say about you. What is more important is what you say about yourself. Do not be concerned with the judgment of others as long as you know what you are doing is right. You can do whatever you want to do as long as it is correct according to your conscience and your heart.

18. People who study others are wise but those who study themselves are enlightened.

19. Remember that what lies behind you and what lies in front of you is nothing when compared to what lies within you.

20. The only limits on your life are those you set yourself.



21. Happiness comes through good judgment, good judgment comes through experience, and experience comes through bad judgment. But there is something wrong with making the same mistakes over and over again, day in and day out. This shows a complete lack of self-awareness, the very quality that separates humans from animals.

22. Words affect the mind in a pronounced way. Whether they are spoken or written, they are powerful influences. While what you say to others is important, even more important is what you say to yourself.

23. You are what you think about all day long. You are also what you say to yourself all day long.

24. Failure is not having the courage to try, nothing more and nothing less. The only thing standing between most people and their dreams is the fear of failure. Yet failure is essential to success in any endeavour.

25. ... every arrow that hits the bull's eye is the result of one hundred misses.

26. Willpower allows you to do what you said you would do, when you said you would do it. ... It is willpower that pushes your dream forward when the odds appear to be insurmountable. It is willpower that offers you the inner power to keep your commitment to others, and, perhaps even more importantly, to yourself.



27. The most meaningful things in your life should never be sacrificed to those that are the least meaningful.

28. Never be a prisoner of your past. Be the architect of your future.

29. Happiness is a journey, not the destination.

30. Never put off happiness for the sake of achievement.

31. Life doesn't always give you what you ask for; but it always gives you what you need.

32. Everyone on this planet is a wonder of this world.

33. Starting today, learn more, laugh more and do what you truly love to do.

Definitely a book worth reading and learning from.