We Should Be True To Ourselves...

Paulo Coelho

 We deny our own beauty because others can't or won't recognize it. Instead of accepting ourselves as we are, we try to imitate what we see around us.
 We try to be what other people think of as 'pretty' and, little by little, our soul fades, our will weakens, and all the potential we had to make the world a more beautiful place withers away.
We forget that the world is what we imagine it to be.
We stop being the moonlight and become, instead, the pool of water reflecting it. Tomorrow, the water will evaporate in the sun. And all because, one day, someone said: 'You are ugly.' Or: 'She is pretty.' With those three simple words, they stole away all our self-confidence.
And we become ugly and embittered.

Manuscript found in Accra.

Paulo Coehlo posted that on his facebook page and as I read through it, I could not agree more. I kept thinking, 'Sometimes we get so caught up in the world's definition of WHAT instead of WHO we are that we forget ourselves. And when we're old enough to realize and try to change, it is already late. It is therefore important to stay TRUE to ourselves and try not to be what the world says we should be.'

Emotional Strife!

Before my burial in some of Johanna Lindsey’s work, I took a plunge and read The Best Of Me by Nicholas Sparks to my utter regret. There are traits we readers exhibit; some are selective that is only read particular authors, some read the ending before starting the book and others read particular genres. I fall in the first and later categories.
I am a selective reader when it comes to both authors and genres. For example the only mystery I read is from Jeffrey Archer, John Grisham and Sidney Sheldon. I hate detective, medical, thriller genres. I like to know what I am getting myself into before I start a book. Mental and emotional preparedness, baby.
We all know Nicholas Sparks is a master where romance is concerned. The man has 3 of his works in the top five most romantic movies in the world after all.
I had in my life, never read a Nicholas Sparks though I have watched some of the movie adaptations. Armed with the knowledge of how good he is from what I saw in the movies-I took the plunge and read my first and last novel from him.
Why first and last? Because it was sad and I don’t read sad endings as a rule. The essence of me reading is to enjoy the story, escape and sigh over it. Unknowingly reading a book with a sad ending is not my style and I regretted it!
Funny thing though; after reading the book and chatting about it with my friends, I realised that all his works have sad endings. One half of the couple in all his movies die if not both. They are all sad! A fact you realise once the book is done.
The only person out there that I read with sad stories and endings is Danielle Steele. I know people who don’t read her as a rule but I do with a lot of pleasure because I know what I am getting myself into both emotionally and mentally. And I am willing to let her get to the hardest part of me and bring forth the feelings hidden there.
Since I have had too much romance and sadness from Johanna Lindsey and Nicholas Sparks respectively. I feel the need to get out of this emotional strife so the the time is probably right for my attack on the realistic Paulo Coehlo. I have heard good reviews from my friends and the little bit of The Alchemist audio I listened to last year makes me think I shall enjoy some of his work. As long as he doesn’t play on my emotions…