Finished: The Geography of Bliss

I have finished this book. It was such an easy read. Perfect for vacation. Not quite chick lit, but not quite "Thus Spoke Zarathusa" either.

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One of the rare times when I finish a book and wish it would have been a little longer.

I am impatient. Very much so. And competitive as well. I approach everything as a challenge to be conquered; if not won, at least confronted and attempted tenaciously.
Even activities I enjoy, I look forward to reign victory over.
I know, I know: I need to chill.

Maybe finishing this book and feeling like I need to linger is a sign that I am mellowing.

This book is interesting in that it's like a self-help book in disguise. With all the stigma associated with the self-help genre, particularly outside the U.S, it's no wonder an author would chose to camouflage his work with sociological experiments and applied philosophy.
But the truth is that if you are truly happy, you would find no use for this book. You are already there.
The intended audience for this book is the chronically blue. Maybe not the depressed, per say. Just the "light" blue. Those for which there's still hope.
So, if you buy a book hoping that reading it would improve your state of mind, somehow; Are you not searching for a self-help book?
Granted this is not exactly a "Step by Step Guide to Bliss". But by reading this you hope to learn by observation. Hoping that the quiet contemplation of the happy (and the unhappy) would enrich your life somehow.

So what did I get out of this book?
1. I need to get back to doing yoga
2. mai pen lai: Thai for "never mind, just let it go"

OK. so I got a lot more than that out the book. Lots of food for thought. But like all major shifts, I can only digest them in small morsels.

1. Yoga brings me joy. Maybe not joy but a sense of balance that is inexplicable and essential.
I stopped doing yoga because working a 70 hour work week left me unable to think, to move. Doing a Sun Salutation no longer seemed like a welcomed challenged but a threat to sanity.
I'm working less now. Not that much less, but enough where I can squeeze yoga comfortably at least once or twice a week.

2. mai pen lai: Never mind. No, really. Never mind. Just let things go.
I think a lot of my internal turmoil is due to emotional constipation. The inability to process or discard that which is no longer needed or helpful.
I hold on to things like grudges or unpleasant memories as if, at the end, the one with the longest running score of negativity will win.
I lose my temper and throw tantrums all day long.
Will any of these matter 5 years from now? no.
five months? nope?
what about 5 days from now? probably not.
Then why have I spent so much energy, releasing all this cortisol into my body for something fleeting? yeah, I have no idea.

Now, while stupid cyclists will probably continue to annoy me, at least now I have come to the realization that they don't have to ruin my day. I can just mai pen lai.