The book I could read over and over again is the one I HAVE read over and over again and that’s “Think Like a Monk” by Jay Shetty. This book was life altering for me, in so many ways. Unfortunately not for everyone whom I recommended it too.

You know how you are eating something you love or watching a show you love or recommend your favourite dish at your favourite restaurant and you share it with someone in your life and they go “meh”? And then you just can’t quite comprehend how that person did not experience the same mind blowing thing you did. How it’s everything to you and forgettable to them. It’s quite disappointing.

Anyway that was me with Think Like a Monk. I’ve read it cover to cover five times. The first time I consumed it in days. After that I kept it in reach of where I sit first thing in the morning and have my coffee. And I would read a few pages, sometimes a few paragraphs at a time. Little tidbits just to get my mind in the right place and make me feel good about starting my day.

I suggested it to several people and even gave away the original copy I bought and immediately replaced it with another copy so I wouldn’t be without. I expected that each person I shared this book with, would come away from it with same life changing experience I’d had. But, no. Shockingly, no. Then I had to practice radical acceptance and not fight with the idea that people don’t agree with everything I say or I love. Working on that….

For me there were so many take-aways from Think Like a Monk. I had/have great parents, had a great childhood. However, I made some huge realizations about my way of thinking (passed down from my Dad) during the course of this book. One being the “the three cancers of the mind”, as told by Jay Shetty. So to some people, who were maybe raised by very non-judgmental, open minded parents, it wouldn’t come as such a shock. But when I read it, I was flabberghasted. Okay wait, you mean you’re not supposed to compare, complain or criticize?? I did not know this. And I once I understood it and began to practice it in my daily life, it completely set me free. Made me feel lighter.

One of the other things he delves into, which I’ve mentioned in two previous blog posts, is “dharma”. And reading about it caused me to examine myself and point the compass of my life in a better and more fulfilling direction. It specifically involved writing, which I hadn’t done before reading about and trying to achieve my dharma. At least not in the capacity I wanted to. This was also huge to my life and brought so much satisfaction.

And lastly, one of the other lines of thinking I gained from this book was to do with “service”. He saves it for the end, it’s the big finale with the drumroll. Up until this point in my life, I considered myself a super busy person/mom. I had raised three kids, now on my fourth, while always working fulltime as a nurse which sometimes involved shiftwork. The kids were always involved in sports and activities that required before school/after school/weekend commitments. So if during that super stressful time when my three oldest kids were small, someone would’ve suggested to me I volunteer for something, I would’ve told them where to go. My time and my life was full to the brim. Or was it?

Jay Shetty says that service to others is the absolute key to a happy life. “Plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” And so I’ve added this to my life by volunteering with a couple of community groups and starting my own non-profit group.

There are so many other key points in Think Like a Monk and I could ramble on and on. And that’s why I suggested it to so many people to read. Expecting to get responses like “wow! yes! you are right! this book is mind blowing”. But never did.

If anyone reading this has also read it, please please comment and tell me you loved it as much as I did……