Have you ever read a book that influenced your life?

[c=#800000]What was the title? What was it about? How did it impact you? [/c]

Many, but the one that made the biggest difference, is one I can't remember the title of, or who wrote it, or what the story was. What I remember, is the foreword.

The author said we are responsible for our mood of the day. If we are treated rudely and let it make us angry, the rude person not only wins, but doesn't even know or care.

He went on to tell the story of a taxi driver who was surly throughout the ride, and he decided that this man wasn't going to ruin his day. So, when they arrived at his destination, he gave the driver an extra $20.00 as a tip. When the driver told him he'd made a mistake, he said, "No mistake. Just try to have a happier day. Pass on the good feelings, instead of the bad!"

The driver promised to change his mood for the next passenger.

I have tried to be mindful of his lesson. If I allow others to anger me, I'm the only one who suffers. So, I try to shake it off as quickly as I can, and exchange a pleasantry with somebody ASAP.

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Serenitree · F

@Myzery No. it wasn't about a taxi driver. It was some kind of mystery or sci-fi novel. The story was probably pretty ordinary. As I said, it was the author's foreword that impressed me. Not the book. The book you showed doesn't seem familiar and after googling it I know it couldn't be. The one I'm talking about was one I read in the early 1980s.

Myzery · 41-45, F

@Serenitree Gotcha. I misunderstood. I am not even sure if this is the book I was talking about with the other person. But now I have a picture to show them next time I see them. 😂

Serenitree · F

@Myzery It seems like a book worth reading.

Lostpoet · M

Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance. Faulkner, Hemingway, Steinbeck, Doestoyosky, Tolstoy, kurt Vonnegut. Pretty much anything I read changes the way I experience things for a time.

Abstraction · 61-69, M

Pedagogy of the oppressed, Paulo Freire. It made me rethink approaches to social change, empowerment/disempowerment, approaches to working with the poor, education as a whole.

SW-User

Joni by Joni Eareckson and Gianna by Jessica Shaver Renshaw were very influential in my life as a teen. As an adult, I wouldn't even know where to start... there are so many. Every book that I read touches me and has some sort of impact on my life. The last book I read was Shantaram. It was a book unlike any I've ever read before and I really liked it.

metaldog

It was a new agey book based on Eastern philosophy but it changed my perspective immensely, it was called Living in the Light, by Shakti Gawain

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