-October 2023
“Grown-ups shouldn’t finish books they’re not enjoying.” – John Irving
I know what you're thinking… “Chelsey, you want me to quit?”
YES! Let me explain.
So I love to read. I am a fantasy// fiction girlie. Even before Twilight and Harry Potter, I was reading about vampires and witches and all the supernatural stuffs. (I still hang on to that ‘I was cool before it was cool’ feeling… maybe too hard lol) My first favorite author of my life was Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, and her books are, to this day, some of the very few books I've ever read fully more than once.
Within the last 5 or so years, I started reading actual books less and less and started getting my information from TikTok, listening to podcasts, and consuming more television and YouTube than the written word. I noticed that my processing ability had slowed down significantly because of this.
I took about a 6 month break from working as a bartender in 2022 and when I came back in February of this year, reading drink tickets was a nightmare for my brain!! I was SO SLOW! I had to read and reread the ticket several times to make sure I remembered it correctly, and I would still get it wrong... A lot.
So in June, of this year, I decided to recommit to my love for reading, and since then I've read 11 books!! (I'm proud to say many of those were over 700 pages)
Chelsey, wtf does this have to do with yoga? I’m getting there!
A delightful piece of advice that I picked up from TikTok (or it might have been a podcast) is that good readers stop reading books they don't like. Whoever was saying this explained that the reason “good readers” can get through so many books is because they don't try to struggle and push their way through a book that isn't for them. They shamelessly set it down and pick up something else.
This clicked something on in my brain.
In a yoga class, I am constantly trying to convince people to do what's right for them. So often I see people making their struggle face trying to perfect a pose or glide through a flow, when instead they could totally just skip it and try something new.
Now I'm not encouraging quitting everything that's ‘too hard’. Too hard is a limiting belief that likely isn't true. THE TRUTH is that it might not be for you. AND THAT IS OKAY!!
It's up to you to decide.
It's up to you to decide whether or not you’ve given it your best shot and whether or not continuing will serve you in some way.
It's up to you to release the shame and guilt of giving up and TRY SOMETHING NEW!!
Whether it's yoga, a new book, or a new skill– you get to choose! You have all the power!
Learning this transformed the game for me in so many areas of my life.
Being able to recognize non-resonance and miss alignment, and shift into something that feels better has allowed me to take better care of my body, get through MANY more books, and save me time and a lot of frustrating moments.
OH! And that book you set down. That pose or flow you skipped. You can always come back to it!
That’s the other super dope thing about choosing what's for you in every moment– You can always try again later.
What is out of alignment now, may come into perfect alignment some other time. That book, those words, that pose– they are all here to serve YOU, and you get to choose when, where, and for how long!
Don’t forget to share your reading lists ;)
Xoxo
C. Debbs