What’s the most recent nonfiction book you’ve read that has impacted you? How or why?
It’s been a while since I’ve read a nonfiction book (apart from the Bible, of course). It’s almost the end of May, and I don’t think I’ve read a single nonfiction book this year. Yes, there are a couple on my to-read pile, but I haven’t even cracked the cover.
So, back to 2022 we go …
Late last year, I read Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist.
This was one thing that influenced my 2023 words for the year: Less
Looking over my notes (yay for the Kindle’s ability to highlight!), I can see I’ve very quickly forgotten (or perhaps still haven’t learned some of the key points. Maybe I need to read it again (or at least read my notes and review).
Here are a few of the highlights I need to remind myself of:
Self-care was for the fragile, the special, the dainty. I was a linebacker, a utility player, a worker bee.
I certainly feel like this at times (and it’s also one of the issues my heroine, Tabby, faces in Always By My Side).
Maybe it’s about biting off more than I can chew professionally.
Oh, yes. I find it difficult to say “no”, yet every “yes” comes at a cost.
How many moments of connection I missed–to busy, too tired, too frantic, and strung out on the drug of efficiency.
That’s because I say “yes” when I should have said “no”. Because:
When you devote yourself to being known as the most responsible person anyone knows, more and more people call on you to be that highly responsible person.
I think I internalised this when writing about Tabby. It’s a shame I didn’t have time to write this blog post in my hurry to get Tabby’s story completed and off to the editor, then the formatter, and then uploaded on Amazon and Draft2Digital.
(And if you’ll forgive me for the self-promotion, Always By My Side releases today! It’s currently just 99 cents from Amazon or all your favourite online retailers this week only. Next week, the price will increase to $3.99, and it will be available exclusively on Amazon. It will also be enroled in Kindle Unlimited, so KU subscribers can read for free.)
Loving one’s work is a gift. And loving one’s work makes it really easy to neglect other parts of life.
True …
But you can’t say yes without no. Another way to say it: if you’re not careful with your yeses, you start to say no to some very important things.
Also true.
What you need along the way: a sense of God’s deep, unconditional love, and strong sense of your own purpose.
Tabby never doubts God’s love for her, but she doesn’t have a strong sense of her own purpose, of what God wants for her life. Instead, she has a tendency to let external factors guide her without stepping back to see if that’s what’s really right for her.
I’m sure no one else ever feels like that 😉
Of course we do.
You’ll give up on your larger purpose in order to fulfill smaller purposes or other people’s purposes.
Another one of Tabby’s issues …
I’ll leave you with one final thought:
God is asking me to be the thing he’s already created for me to be. And he’s asking you to be the thing he’s already created for you to be.
So I think I’ve explained why Present Over Perfect impacted me (and a lot of other people, as it’s apparently sold over 750,000 copies).
