YOML 156: This Book Did Change the Way I Think in One Important Way!
0Reflection Title: This Book Did Change the Way I Think in One Important Way!
Book – 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest
Book Description: In her second compilation of published writing, Brianna Wiest explores pursuing purpose over passion, embracing negative thinking, seeing the wisdom in daily routine, and becoming aware of the cognitive biases that are creating the way you see your life. This book contains never before seen pieces as well as some of Brianna's most popular essays, all of which just might leave you thinking: this idea changed my life.
Reflection:
This book lived up to its title and did change the way I thought in one big way, it was a reminder to be open to any voice out there willing to share their thoughts with the world.
If you’ve been following along with this journey and my reflections thus far, you will have probably encountered my deep love / hate relationship with “philosophers”. I won’t rehash here why I hate philosophers, but just know that I’m not a fan. Just so we’re on the same page, I do not hate the idea of philosophy, just the philosophers.
With that said, I didn’t realize I had accidentally picked up a philosophy book when I purchased 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think. I didn’t know what I thought I was getting, but the title was provocative and made me want to check it out. After all, I clearly love thinking and learning, and I figured that was what this was going to be about. However, I wasn’t prepared for what I heard through the first few essays of the book as I listened to the content and started to realize how this book was structured. I didn’t hate what I was hearing or the message, but I was confused as to what I had agreed to as I embarked on this journey with Brianna. When I finally realized that I was 25% through an unsuspecting philosophy book on life and the art of living, I felt like I had to learn more about the author before proceeding further.
I don’t know why this felt important to investigate. Maybe it was because I’m so used to my preconceived notions of thinking philosophy and immediately associating that to an old white man. I googled Brianna Wiest’s name and was surprised by what I found about her background, namely her age. I discovered that I was reading a philosophy book on the art of living written by a 27-year-old at the time that I was consuming it. I immediately thought to myself, “What the hell does a 27-year-old know about living life? She’s barely experienced anything at this point…why am I listening to any of this?”
I wanted to stop at this stage, but I remembered what this journey is all about and decided to lean on my values of “endure” and “challenge” to push through. As Emilia taught me, we keep pushing no matter what when what we are doing matters to us…this journey matters on so many levels so I kept on going with Brianna. After each passing essay, I just couldn’t shake the idea out of my head that I was listening to a 27-year-old give me life advice. I thought about it the whole damn time through the rest of the book and just couldn’t shake the thought. I remember even ranting to my wife about this at one point it was bugging me so much.
I want to be clear, I’m not saying that I wasn’t enjoying Brianna’s words, message, or ideas…I just couldn’t bring my mind to get past the source of the knowledge being so young for whatever reason. I actually felt like a lot of her thoughts on purpose, balance, and meaning aligned to my own.
After finishing the book and a lot of reflection, I think I did learn a huge lesson from taking this journey with Brianna to helping me to change the way I think as the title suggests. The lesson I learned is to always remember to be open to hearing any and all voices out there in the world that are brave enough to share their thoughts regardless of background, age, sex, race, ethnicity, etc. That doesn’t mean I have to agree, but that does mean that I should strive to check my biases and preconceived notions at the door and just listen to what they have to say.
I would expect nothing less from anybody reading my own words.
After all, some could argue that I’m writing a very similar book myself with 365 reflections on learning, purpose, values, and overcoming adversity. Any reader could say the same thing about me. I’m only 37…what do I know? One might even call me a philosopher, which makes me shutter to even think. All of that would be totally fair criticisms, but you’d be missing the whole point if that was your take. Brianna and I are both on a quest to explore, learn, and live our purpose. We’re happy to take you along for the ride if you want to join. What I really hope is our journeys and words inspire you to take your own journey to explore and learn in your own life.
Should one day you feel brave enough to share, I can’t wait to listen.
Question: How can you challenge yourself to let go of your biases and listen to what others have to say?