1902nd BLOG POST
2nd Book of 2021
As
a reader, reading a non-fiction book is another charm in itself. This year in
my target of 36 books, I have just completed my 1st non-fiction book
named “Whole” written by the first-time author, Pamela Puja Kirpalani. The book
also comes with a tagline which says “11 Universal Truths for An Inspired Life”
and spreads across 180 pages. It took me around 2 weeks to finish this book as
it is very insightful and inspiring. The thing with non-fiction and self-help books
is that once you are done reading few of them, every book starts sounding the
same hence I am always sceptic picking up one in fear of getting disappointed.
Hence, I would like to mention here that Pamela has not disappointed here as
she touches upon the topics that generally the self-help authors haven’t
discussed in the same light as her.
The
book is written in very simple language which I believe is the key behind
ensuring that the readers grasp as much information as possible rather than
getting confused in the terminologies and vocabulary. I liked the way author
begun her book by describing about how the concept of Happiness came into her
mind thinking on which she further talks about 11 such factors which can lead
us towards it. The book then starts discussing each of these 11 universal
truths for an inspired life where every chapter describes one of these truths.
I liked the structure how author started every chapter with a quote said by
some eminent personality which gave a brief about what we are going to learn
further. And just after that, in italic font, author elaborates on the subject
and what she is going to discuss with us. And I must tell you, these italic paragraphs
in italic font are in itself so inspiring and thought-provoking that you would
want to stick each one of them in your room.
The
11 truths discussed are Willpower, Creativity, Integrity, Humility, Alignment,
Self-care, Awareness, Acceptance, Altruism, Courage and Forgiveness. In the
chapter of Willpower itself, author talks about positive side of self-control and
to my surprise, also about how it can drain us which leads us towards stress
and upsetting attitude. Then author takes us further into other chapters and
discusses important technical concepts such as procrastination, alpha waves and
beta mode and their impact on our brain, how neurons work in our brain, the
chemical creation due to the same which can lift our mood or depress us to the
core, amygdala, rational thinking, fight or flight mode etc. Another
applause-worthy research that author has done is to bring several statements
from neuroscientists and psychologists which helps us learn a lot about how our
brain functions and how we can control it with our attitude towards external
factors which are impacting us.
“Integrity”
is a very beautiful chapter the concept in which I believe since a very long
time. Author helps us understand how to maintain it and what exactly it means.
Similarly, the chapter on “Humility” is given a different touch altogether as
author discusses about profound self-growth, personal freedom and diverted
energies. In “Self-Care”, Pamela explains how just exercising, meditation and
prayer/spiritual reading can bring multi-dimensional change in our lives. How
waking up early morning and following certain practices can build our whole
persona is elaborated reading which can influence many readers.
The
book serves its purpose candidly as it is able to deliver some very beautiful
quotes – some by eminent personalities, famous authors and many of them by the
authoress herself. If a self-help book doesn’t provide any new ideas then there’s
no point in writing something which is already up there in published works or
online articles- and here, as per my reading experience till date, authoress
have really introduced many detailed explanations which I haven’t read before. So,
there are definitely topics where I believe Pamela has delivered what other
authors couldn’t. This has been a very fresh read overall. She even goes a step
further and doesn’t shy at all in sharing her personal experiences and her
vulnerable states in life.
Now
talking about some drawbacks, I think few chapters doesn’t do the kind of
justice which I was expecting from the authoress considering the way she has
managed other chapters. I was also looking forward to some meditation
techniques and more details on how one can write journals, manage social
connections, family life and other such factors which comes in between us and
our goals. Lastly, I felt that the concepts and detailing that the author
provided in few chapters were completely different from the title of the
chapter which confused me a bit.
Overall,
this is a very nice read and I recommend it to everyone who love reading
self-help books and want to read something different now. This book really
provides insights which aren’t discussed much yet. I give this book 4.5* out of
5.
Thanks.
WRITING BUDDHA
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