“It’s not what you will get out of the books that is so enriching – it is what the books will get out of you that will ultimately change your life”. I read the book “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” by Robin S. Sharma many years ago and today out of the blue, there is an urge to read this book. Although I flipped through the same book, what the book got out of me this time is not the same as the last time.
Since I decided to further my studies, I worry constantly whether or not I can manage both my studies and the turtle project. This feeling has consumed me slowly, bit by bit. Every time when I am not working, I feel the need to study. If I do not do so, I feel guilty. Eventually the guilt builds up in me. I think what really tires me is that I do not have peace of mind because I worry all the time and do more than one thing at a time.
The mind focuses only one thing at any one time. I have experienced times when my mind is fully occupied on only what was in front of me and I do not have time to think of anything else except for what I am doing in that moment. The feeling of having total focus to do one thing in that very moment where everything else does not count is probably the moment I feel the most peaceful as well. I like to do snorkel survey as all I focus in is looking for sea turtles and my mind does not wander off thinking about the data I have to analyse, the report I need to write, the laundry I need do, the journal I have to read, etc. All that matters is continue snorkel and look for sea turtles. It sounds silly but I find joy in doing it, not entirely because it is fun but it is something I love doing and my mind is at peace.
This time reading the book, it taught me to feed positive thoughts into the mind and to learn to live in the NOW! I have probably never always lived in the moment. Sometimes I dwell in the past and most of the time I daydream, dreaming of being elsewhere or doing something else, rather than savour the moments now. However, the mind can be cultivated to learn to live in the present.
We lose ourselves in book, we find ourselves there too. When I open and read this book again in the future, I may find what I will be looking for then. As Garrison Keillor quotes “a book is a gift you can open again and again”.
Seh Ling 