I have had the fortune to travel fairly extensively for work. I decided in my mid twenties that I wanted to travel and get paid to do so. Out of this came many opportunities that I never imagined would be possible, and many life lessons learnt. I had both good and bad experiences and learnt much about human nature.
One of the things I have discovered is that you can find the most amazing things that will affect your life in many positive ways, in the smallest, most remote places that you would never think of exploring.
I was in a small town that I had visited previously, which had a really bad reputation as being violent towards women. I was nervous about going visiting, but had a half hour break from work and needed to get outside and away from what I was doing, and I had not had a break in a week or two. I was feeling quite down at the time and had been away from home for many months. I was looking for a little something to cheer me up. I visited a pharmacy to get "life's necessities" and then saw a little bookshop on the way back.
This bookshop was the smallest I have ever seen. I had 6 bookshelves, crammed full of books and a counter where the clerk was. As this was a foreign country I wasn't even too sure that there would be any books in English but was pleasantly surprised, and they had a nice range of small gifts as well.
I spent 5 minutes browsing but had to leave. On the way out I noticed a small little desk calendar. It was one of those that had daily quotes in it and I noticed the words "Abundance, Comfort and Joy" I grabbed it, and the clerk asked me whether I had read the book. I replied no and she recommended that I buy it as well. Looking at my purse I had the exact change for both items, not any more or any less. I purchased both, almost sight unseen and ran back to work.
A day or two later I opened the parcel. The book was by Sarah Ban Breathnach and was titled "Simple Abundance, A Day book of Comfort and Joy" . The book had a daily essay, themed by month of how to make the most of your life and appreciate what you have as opposed to constantly craving for what you don't have. There are many other things that you can get outof the book as well, and i constantly go back and open it up at random places and read when i need inspiration.
Sarah reinvented the Gratitude Journal and started a whole series of books and courses. Through some very dark times, the inspiration of this book, has helped me and if you get a chance to read it, I highly recommend it.
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