Sunday, January 29, 2017

Book Review: Grace, Not Perfection

Hello all! If you recall from last year, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to read one book per week ... that didn't last long, but it did help me adopt the belief that if I find a book I really like, to buck up and take my time to read it.

 

This fall and early winter all I wanted to read was Grace, Not Perfection by Emily Ley, and after the holidays, I bought it on e-book and finished it in a week. It is a pretty quick read, but it is just as transformational. It is all about moving past this idea of perfection, over-planning, and worrying and embracing a life of beautiful chaos and doing so with confidence and poise. Truly a great read for anyone out there, but I thought I would use Emily Ley's concepts and thoughts as inspiration for today's post.

Emily has so many great, quotable pieces in her book, but what I took from it is that we need to live in the moment and be appreciative for what season of life we are in. I think that now a lot of us in the younger generation (15-25ish) are constantly looking for that next thing or to get on to that ultimate goal at whatever cost. This means picking work over family, studying over laughing with friends, being on our phone over visiting our grandparents .. basically anything that we can do that will help elevate us in our career. (I am 100% guilty too).

But, while reading Emily's words and convictions it really reminds you that you are exactly where you need to be to get to where you are going! We don't know what the future holds or where work and family will actually take us, but because of that we need to be satisfied in knowing that this moment is what is right.

I'll be very honest with you all throughout college, I was constantly wishing I was somewhere else in life; married to my now-fiance, working full-time, living in a big city, "thirty, flirty and thriving" ... etc. and because of that I never stopped to make any true real memories with my friends, I was constantly working towards that next goal, that next A, or that next great compliment from a boss. I missed out on so much because I was so anxious about what was to come in the future, that I wanted to prepare in every way possible. Now, I do not regret anything about my college experience because it brought me to this point, however I wish I had been able to read Emily's words a little bit sooner and embrace my college years and those moments.

One of the last thoughts she shares in the book, which is highly appropriate, is:

"One day we'll add up all our seasons - the Joyous ones,
the heart-wrenching ones, the momentous, average, and
peaceful ones. When we do we'll have a rich life story."
- Emily Ley, Grace, Not Perfection

And I truly think that this is what sums up college in a nutshell. College can be the craziest, scariest, most fun, and most frustrating time in our lives, but when you put all of those moments together, they give you the best, most transformational years of your life. So love and enjoy this season of life you are in (or about to be in) both the breakdowns at 2am and the celebrations at 2am because you will look back on both in years to come with fondness and appreciation. 

enjoy the chase,
skylar



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