What are you re-reading?
Have you ever gone back and re-read a book that you had read in the past? Sometimes when we do, we pick up different things on our second time through!
Over the weekend, while Carol was volunteering at our church, I took the girls out for dinner INSIDE our favorite Chinese restaurant. This was a special treat for our girls because we typically just bring the food home and eat at home. This time the girls and I sat at the table together, sipping on our tea and talking (and laughing) about our chaotic days while we waited for our food to arrive. After enjoying the meal, as we walked outside, my oldest asked if we could go to Goodwill. I paused for a moment, thought it over, knowing that it would not be a short trip... but we decided to give it a shot!
After spending 45 minutes looking through the entire girl's section AND the entire women's section, I finally got to go to my favorite section of our local Goodwill... The Book Section! Each of the girls picked out a book or two while I was going through the section filled with non-fiction books. I picked up 3 books while I was there, including 2 that I had already read. You may be wondering why I would pick up books that I had already read, but we will get to that. The three books that I brought home with me were -Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, Spark by John Ratey, and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari.
So which book do you think I started reading first?
Seeing Why We Sleep and Spark on those shelves made me realize the value of re-reading a book that you have read in the past, seeking out new information that you did not recall from the original reading. Remember that hobby that I returned to this year. I went back to the golf course, and in an effort to improve there I picked up my old copy of Golf Is Not A Game Of Perfect by Dr. Bob Rotella. The last time I read this book was in the late 1990's!
On my first read, my focus was on the impact that this book could have on my golf game. This read through the book, I was thinking about golf, but my focus was a little broader. Rather than simply focusing on the impact on the golf course, my intention was to ask myself how to apply these lessons to life.
In the second chapter, Rotella writes "People by and large become what they think about themselves."
Wait a minute! Isn't this a book about golf?
Think about that quote from above for a minute. Rotella talks about the impact that our thoughts have on our golf game, but that statement applies to just about every aspect of our lives.
The more time that we spend focusing on positive thoughts that we have about ourselves, the more positive outcomes that we will have in our lives!
What are you thinking about yourself?
