A Different Version of You – by Mala Balani
I
always think the new year really begins in spring, as the days get longer and
milder. That makes this season an excellent time to start a new project or
task. The bigger and more worthwhile the task, the more it requires us to
transform ourselves in order to succeed at it. If you want to learn piano, you
have to put in the hours of practice, over a number of years. If you want to
transform your health and fitness, you have to put in the time shopping,
cooking, exercising, again over a period of time, or indefinitely if you then want
to maintain your gains. If that sounds daunting, then here's a book that makes
all that wonderfully clear, and is hugely inspiring in the process.
Teach
Us To Sit Still - A Sceptic's Search For Health And Healing is an account of a
couple of years in the life of the writer Tim Parks, after he developed chronic
pain. The medical establishment could offer no firm diagnosis and his search
for relief leads him, gradually, to become a somewhat different person, leading
a somewhat different life. Along the way, he begins to see the
inter-relatedness of his mind, his body, and his life as a writer. A really
thought-provoking book that illustrates that there is a solution, even if there
is no short-cut. And it's beautifully written.
"Watch
your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch
your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny."
-
Upanishads
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