Happy 2020, Tartlets!
Yes, yes, I know that we’ve all been living in the new year for over a month now. Aaaaand that I did an impromptu post in January about my NYC food tour.
BUT! This is my first scheduled post of 2020, which means a new year of book and food blogging has officially begun! I can think of no better way to kick off than with my book review of Finding the Gift: Daily Meditations for Mindfulness.
It’s no secret that 2019 was a rough year for me. As a result, I started looking for ways to improve my day-to-day life and my mental health. Tartlets who follow me on social media will remember when I first posted on Instagram about Finding the Gift. I’d had a particularly rough week that left me in shambles. My therapist, as well as some friends, had suggested a daily meditation or mindfulness exercise to help me deal with my stress and unhappiness, and at that point, I figured it couldn’t possibly make anything worse.
After browsing numerous book choices on Amazon, I settled on Finding the Gift by Angela Howell. I wanted short, daily meditations that would help me focus on the positives in life. However, I wanted meditations without a religious spin. Howell’s book seemed to fit the bill.
Finding the Gift and I immediately hit it off. Each day’s entry takes only 1-3 minutes to read. These entries, sometimes with accompanying inspirational quotes, can be read before bed, but I like to read them in the morning as I’m making my tea, or even sometimes at the office while I’m waiting for my computer to boot up. Once I read a meditation, I take a few minutes to muse it over and figure out how, if at all, its message can be applied to my life. Even though I only spend 5-7 minutes “meditating” each morning, I’ve found that the benefits of reading last throughout the day.
A lot of the entries in Finding the Gift are about dealing with change, or about finding peace with the situation you’re in. They’re about encouraging the positive in your life and learning to trim out the negative. They’re about appreciating what you have and focusing on being “in the moment” instead of focusing on what you don’t have. They’re about summoning inner strength in the face of difficult moments and dealing with setbacks in healthy and manageable ways.
Quite honestly, the entries are often shockingly on point with how I’m feeling each day. It’s kinda creepy. More than once, I’ve put the book down and felt amazed by how that day’s passage was exactly what I needed to hear on that particular day. I can’t say it will work like that for everyone, of course, but that’s how it’s been working for me.
What I like the most about Finding the Gift is that it’s not a religious meditation guide. I know that many people look to God, in whatever form, for guidance and comfort; unfortunately, that’s just not for me. Howell is open about her strong religious background and beliefs, but she never forces them upon her reader. Some spirituality is mentioned, which I can manage, but most of the passages are quite secular. It’s hard to find inspirational reads that don’t employ religion to deliver their message, and I greatly appreciate that Howell makes mindfulness accessible to anyone.
Reading Finding the Gift – and, really, engaging in any kind of daily meditation or mindfulness exercise – is more of a lifestyle change than a reading habit. After awhile, reaching for the book becomes second nature, and daily meditations become a small ritual in your morning (or evening) routine.
Has reading Finding the Gift completely changed my life? No. I didn’t expect it to.
Did it improve my life? Absolutely.
On the days I read the entries, my mood is better and I feel calmer. In fact, I had fallen out of the habit of daily reading for a few months, and I noticed a change in myself; without the meditations to guide my thoughts toward positivity, I was feeling more depressed and anxious, more cynical and angry in my day-to-day life. When I started regularly reading the entries again, my mood changed once again – this time, for the better.
If you’re thinking about a daily meditation or mindfulness ritual, I urge you to give Finding the Gift a try. I think it’s a great jumping off point for beginners, and it will let you know pretty quickly if this is a change you can welcome into your lifestyle.
What do you do to help manage stress and anxiety, Tartlets? Does anyone else have a mindfulness ritual they use? I’d love to hear about it if you do!
And, be sure to check back in for my first book-inspired recipe of 2020: Vanilla Oatmeal Cookies!
This sounds like a nice read for religious OR non-religious peeps – a true rare find! I am more on the religious side but I really like the way this sounds…religion at its base but not too “preachy.”
I think you would love this book, Claire. It has great inspirational messages, definitely without being too “preachy.” I hope you’ll give it a try!