Dealing With Stuff
  • Dealing With Stuff
  • About
  • Contact

Review: "The Happiness of Pursuit"

4/10/2015

 
Picture
This book made fireworks go off in my head.  It’s the kind of book that absolutely has the power to change your life, if you’ve ever let any book change your life, which I certainly hope you have.  Bibliometanoia.  It’s a thing.* You can tell a book is trying to get to you when it turns up at the crossroads of a number of coincidences.  I had just heard about the World Domination Summit through Benny Lewis’s web page like THE DAY BEFORE, and it turns out that Chris Guillebeau, the author, originated it!  Then I read the book, and it mentioned Gabriel Wyner, whose book Fluent Forever I just reviewed a week ago.  The kicker for me was that I was drawn to The Happiness of Pursuit when I spotted it on the library shelf; usually I only read books I’ve seen reviewed or mentioned elsewhere.  I don’t read book jackets, so I didn’t know what I was in for.

The premise is that you can bring meaning into your life by going on a quest.  I’m definitely a quest person.  For instance, in 2009 I read 500 books.  (I also moved, planned a wedding, got married, and cooked for my first family Thanksgiving, so that was a busy year).  In 2012 we spent three weeks traveling the circumference of Iceland and sleeping in a 2-man backpacking tent.  Last year I ran a marathon, although that doesn’t really count as a quest.  A marathon on every continent – now, that would be a quest, and it’s already been done by a bunch of folks, so if you want, you know IT CAN BE DONE.  Marathon on the Moon – that would be epic.  I wonder if it will happen in my lifetime.

There is something in this book for everyone.  Sadly, many people get stuck in life, feeling bored or mildly depressed and maybe not even realizing it.  A quest can really shake things up.  How much easier would it be to get in shape or pay off debt or clear the house of clutter if you had a six-month deadline and a quest at the end?  What if you woke up every morning and the first thing you thought of was your new mission?

I really hope everyone reads this book.  I’ve tried hard not to give out any spoilers, so you can be just as inspired by all the examples of personal quests as I was.  Enjoy!

*Actually, it became a thing just now.  This may be the first time I’ve Googled something that didn’t come up.



Comments are closed.
    New podcast!
    Clutter of the Day

    Author

    I've been working with chronic disorganization, squalor, and hoarding for over 20 years.  I'm also a marathon runner who was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and thyroid disease 17 years ago.

    I have a BA in History.

    I live in Southern California with my husband and our pets, an African Gray parrot and a rat terrier.

    #Questioner
    #ENTP

    This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies.

    Opt Out of Cookies

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015

    Categories

    All
    ADHD
    Birdwatching
    Body Image
    Book Reviews
    Books
    Cleaning
    Clutter
    Fibromyalgia
    Filks
    Fitness
    Food
    Future Self
    Futurism
    Goals
    Habits
    Humor
    Languages
    Martial Arts
    Mindset
    Minimalism
    Money
    Motivation
    Moving
    Organization
    Past Self
    Pets
    Preparedness
    Procrastination
    Public Speaking
    Quests
    Relationships
    Resolutions
    Running
    Sleep
    Technology
    The-woowoo
    The-woo-woo
    Thyroid Disease
    Timemanagement
    Time Management
    Tiny Houses
    Travel
    Weight
    Work
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Dealing With Stuff
  • About
  • Contact