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Inspiration into Action | Happy Living“The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
(Dr. Seuss)

I love reading and it plays a major role in my ‘happiness’. I love books too. I’ve collected them for most of my adult life and having them with me in my office just makes me feel good. I also love marking a book up, highlighting my favorite passages, and sharing the author’s wisdom with friends, family and colleagues. However, this old school, physical method of reading and sharing knowledge has serious limitations and I want to tell you why. So the 231 books, with the highlighted, marked-up inspirational parts of them now just sit in my office, on their appointed shelves, doing nothing.

[Tweet “I love reading and it plays a major role in my ‘happiness’. “]

For the last few years, I’ve been reading books almost exclusively on a Kindle Reader. I admit to missing some of the physicality of holding a book in my hands, and ‘working it in’ as I read it. You know the process of making the book yours. But this new way of reading makes it so easy to recall, to share, and to ‘reuse’ the best parts, and as well, makes it easier for reading to be ours.

Not only can I now instantly share an inspiring message so it can be seen by anyone in the entire world when they search for #HappyLiving, but I am also creating an opportunity to build a relationship between the author and their readers. When I start reading a new book, I follow the author on Twitter and then tag him or her in my Kindle messages so you can follow them too. The highlighted, marked-up, inspirational best parts of my Kindle books don’t sit around gathering dust. No, they are out in the world, dropping extraordinary tidbits of knowledge, and looking to inspire someone new.

Since writing Favorite Quotes From My Favorite Books last August, I have read another fourteen books. Below are a few of my favorites passages. If you’d like to see my future Kindle messages as soon as I share them, follow me on Twitter. If you’d rather just take a sneak peak every now and then, you can go to my Twitter site whenever you’re feeling curious: https://twitter.com/mattgersper

So, here are my favorites! I hope you enjoy these small bursts of inspiration from some wonderful authors! I’ve added the author’s Twitter names in parentheses in case you’d like to follow them, as I do.

Wishman: Kindness, Close Calls and the Magic of Making Wishes Come True by Frank Shankwitz[1] (@wishmanmovie)

Because of Chris[2], I learned a valuable life lesson—when something or someone touches you that deeply, to the core of your being and the depths of your heart—there is always a reason.

Someday, when you have something to give to somebody, make sure you do.

Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer (@DrWayneWDyer)

Parents are not for leaning upon, but rather exist to make leaning unnecessary.

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change!

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder
by Richard Louv (@RichLouv)

It’s better to know one mountain than to climb many.

Know your neighbors: reinvest in the life of the block and the surrounding community.

Greater Balance, Greater Reward: Five Steps to Better Health, Productivity, and Work Life Balance
by Jeff Kooz (@Jeff_Kooz)

A vision is timeless, whereas a goal is time bound.

Intelligent systems, including financial, political, and, of course, physical laws. In truth, Cal explained, everything is governed by some system, whether we are aware of it or not.

The Grapes of Wrath
by John Steinbeck

For man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments.

Primal Endurance : Escape chronic cardio and carbohydrate dependency and become a fat burning beast! by Mark Sisson and Brad Kearns[3] (@Mark_Sisson, @bradleykearns)

Symptoms of fatigue are “utterly and completely illusory,” they are generated by your brain and “have nothing to do with the state of your body.”

Exercising in your aerobic zone of 180 minus age or below allows you to hone your fat-burning skills.

Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease
by Robert H. Lustig[4] (@RobertLustigMD)

Your fat is not your fate—provided you don’t surrender.

Sustainable behavior change means changing the environment.

The Tao of Philosophy
by Alan Watts (@AlanWattsDaily)

Angels fly because they take themselves lightly.

To be able to be true scholars we have to cultivate an attitude in life in which we are not trying to get anything out of it.

If you like these quotes, you’ll love the books too. Just click on any title is this post to buy your next book today. I heartily recommend them all.

#HappyReading is #HappyLiving :)

[1] Also check out my interview with Frank called Something Significant: The Wish Man

[2] Thirty-six years ago when I met Chris. When he said, “Officer Frank, I wish I could be a motorcycle officer,” the seed for Make-A-Wish was planted. Shortly after I met him he passed away. He was buried in uniform with a full police funeral.

[3] Also read my post How I Intend to Become a Fat-Burning Beast inspired by their book

[4] Also read my post Sweet and Deadly… Sugar is Making Us Fat and Sick inspired by his book

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