The Books of Life

 I feel the more I read, the more I learn not just about the authors, the characters but about myself as well. I love to read books that strive to make me better. Books that have little lessons inside, waiting to be discovered, little moments I can thrive in and glorify. 

I feel that books are so personal. That I may walk away with a different lesson than you. That I may experience a different theory than you. My connection with a book will always be different than yours. Because I have different experiences in my past, different moments coming into my future and different emotions being felt in the present. 

But it isn't to say that the lessons we each individually learn can help another learn. Harry Potter showed us that with the right support, we can do what needs to be done. I learned this lesson from the moment I opened the first pages and got hooked into the story. Making friends, connecting with families since mine (Harry's) didn't understand me, finding a way to do what needed to be done despite what it meant for myself. I learned how to fight for a cause, to be passionate about others and to allow myself to be supported. 

Hatchet showed us that if needed we can rely on ourselves. When you are 10, you feel as out of control as you can. Your parents make your life, your teachers assign you what to do and you are left helpless. With Hatchet, I realized that I have the power to support myself, I can be myself, that no one can control my thoughts and no one can experience my life.

A Walk Two Moons showed us that the world can be a sad place but the adventure can last a lifetime. There are moments in your life that don't go the way they are expected. Friends leave, parents disappear and the world continues. Sometimes we lose our place. This book taught me that new connections help you remember old ones and that life is not always butterflies and rainbows.

 Tuck Everlasting taught me that even if you can last forever, a perfect life cannot. So many pre teens believe in happily ever after and love conquering all. Sometimes learning the opposite is a hard lesson. And this is a lesson I cried for days about but still should have learned more. My heart broke but I didn't understand how much this book saved me until a real man broke my heart for good. How raw those emotions are, how hazy the world feels and how different the world looks after you open your eyes again.

These lessons in our lives hit at different times, teach us in different ways but if you aren't reading for a lesson for your life, you are wasting your time reading at all. Walk away with a new sliver of knowledge and that author left you something to cherish for the rest of your life.