“Float like a butterfly…sting like a bee… rumble, young man, rumble.”
Muhammad Ali is an absolute icon, the consummate showman, but to me most importantly, a paragon of integrity and bravery.
When it was extremely unpopular and would cost him his title, his career and potentially his freedom, Muhammad refused the Vietnam draft. Listening to him recount this period in his life was incredibly inspiring.
It takes a certain kind of character to stand firmly for what you believe, regardless of the cost. What a gift to be able to peek into the mind of a man who did. A long listen but so very good!
My October read list was another mix of fiction and nonfiction with something gained from each of the books:
1. Britt-Marie Was Here – Fredrik Backman
2. Beartown – Fredrik Backman
3. The Greatest My Own Story – Muhammad Ali
4. The Power of Moments – Chip and Dan Heath
5. Us Against You – Fredrik Backman
6. The Big Leap – Gay Hendricks
I have a tendency to find an author I like and read his/her entire collection in rapid succession. It’s happening right now with Fredrik Backman, whom I was introduced to via his book, My Friends. All five of his books that I’ve read so far have been really good. Perhaps at the end of the year, I’ll share a ranking of my favorites.
The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks offered a perspective on time that was novel – Einstein time, as opposed to Newton time. His argument: that we are the source of time and as such are able to create as much of it as we need. I agreed with his proposition that we mind the language we use when discussing time, and avoid painting ourselves as victims “I don’t have time for xyz” vs “I haven’t made time for xyz” / “I don’t actually want to do xyz”. But some of his other ideas seemed a little far out and somewhat New Age-y.
Overall, a productive month for reading and an equally productive month for work.
[I’ve found that time discipline to read correlates with time discipline to do other things, for “the way you do anything, is the way you do everything”].
Warmly,
Aniekeme
