The Kindness Diaries: One Man's Quest to Ignite Goodwill and Transform Lives Around the World, written by Leon Logothetis
p. 52, Maybe it's the luxuries of life that make us forget the necessities. I know I forget them time and time again. I get so caught up in the things I want that I forget to honor the things I have.
p. 91, I loved the road less traveled, and yet so much of this world demanded permanence, demanded commitment, demanded valor in order to keep safe the places we call home and the people we call family.
p. 102, And it all comes back to the same flawed idea: that somehow one person is more important than another. < snip > I lived in the lonely belief that my feelings were somehow more important than those around me. And then one day I woke up in so much pain; I realized that the rewards of my selfishness would never outweigh the pain of isolation.
p. 157, In Bhutan, they determine the success of their country by the happiness of their people. It's not about wealth. Or power. Or their GDP. The concept of Gross National Happiness was built on the foundation of how love and kindness are traded between their people, and how that trade - not of money and goods, but of real human connection - bring the one thing you can't trade: joy.
p. 203, Perhaps loneliness is the most fatal disease.We all need to feel acknowledged by those around us. We need to be seen. And we also need to be able to see others.
Naomi and I read this book for school. It's the fictional story of a boy coming of age, learning to take responsibility for others and be a hard worker in the wake of a serious injury his dad gets. Good life lessons, even on my third time reading it.
I read this book several years ago, but thought I'd read it again. While the whole book has good information, the chapters dedicated to each love language (quality time, gifts, acts of service, words of affirmation, and physical touch) were my favorite because they give practical ideas on how to show love to your kids in those ways. I also like the chapter on discipline because it helps parents understand how the effectiveness of various forms of discipline will vary according to a child's love language.
A father moves from London to America to start a new life for his family, leaving his wife and children behind until he's ready for them. Eventually the kids make a decision to cross the ocean to find him. Naomi enjoyed reading this with me for school, as did Silas and Devon in years past.
Someone mentioned this book in a Facebook group I'm part of and it intrigued me. The narrator is a five year old boy who has spent his entire life in an 11 x 11-foot room that he and his mom are held prisoner in. It took me a little while to get used to how he talks, but then I got totally sucked into the story and finished it the same day I started it. While the premise of the story is disturbing, I think it's a great story of creativity, resourcefulness, adjustment, and resiliency. I didn't realize it when I started the book, but there's a movie based on the book coming out October 16th.
p.116, "Scared is what you're feeling," says Ma, "but brave is what you're doing".
This was another random selection from the library and another that I didn't realize had been made into a movie until after I'd started reading. I love true stories of people who beat the odds and that's exactly what this story is. The book make you excited for the success, both small and large, of those who know nothing but hardship and failure, discouraged that smart people who work hard can be trapped in a life they don't want, thankful for people who invest in others, and grateful to be born in a country with opportunities to earn enough money to cover your family's most basic needs.
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