I often came across “The Why Café” on the shelves of bookstores. Having the bad habit of judging a book by its cover (literally), I always promised myself to never buy this brownish/yellowish tainted colored book.
It’s the energetic Tessa Paradis, the Quebecer creator of the card game called “Totem” who kindly gave me this book during a meet up in a coffee shop. She told me that this was her favorite book and that it had tremendously changed her perspective on life.
Such enthusiasm forced me to open the book on my metro ride back to my house and in the end, never put it down.
Behind a simple story and a main character who isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, actual questioning about life resonates for quite a while even after closing down the book.
I cooked up for you an illustrated infographic that recaps the book’s highlights.
Summary of the book « The Why Café » by John P. Strelecky
What this book brought me?
The author questions why should I wait for retirement to finally spend my days doing what I love since I could do it now?
I could choose to define what is my “ideal life”, then find my purpose and what makes me happy instead of living a daily routine that can be sometimes frustrating but yet, offers financial security and guarantee my savings for retirement.
After reading this book, I was torn between the feeling of childish joy (“afterall, live your ideal life is just a choice!!”) and the feeling of urgency of not being where I belong, a fear of missing out. Almost as if I was letting my life fly by without “honoring” my purpose and moving away from my ideal life.
Should one really leave everything behind to get away from this unhealthy consumerism world and live in a Laponian cave to give in to one’s passion for ice sculpture, experiment fulfillness and honor one’s purpose?
To start with, what is my definition of an ideal life? What is my passion ? What’s my purpose? What do I want to do with myself?
My head is spinning 🧠
Taking a deep breath
I gave some thoughts to my own little recipe for happiness to have a fulfilled life without disrupting our retirement plan and causing a heart attack to my parents:
Find a job that has a mission aligned with your personal values. Identify the activity that makes us happy and give our life a purpose: our own “life goal”. Allow some me time to live our passion, set up a ritual or a method to keep this me time constant. Potentially, work half time to keep a salary while working on your life project.
At the end of his book, John P. Strelecky suggests about 10 questions to foster the discussion and guide us in the understanding of his words (just like Casey the waitress was doing when guiding John). He helps us to apply the tips from the Why Cafe in our everyday life and set us on the right track to find our purpose.
Did you find your recipe for happiness? Did you find your life project ? feel free to leave a comment below!
Take care of yourself!
xoxo
🔮 Goodie🌟
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