Elements For A Healthier Life Magazine Issue 08 | December 2016 | Page 47

By Peggy Nolan,

MA, RYT

I’m a voracious reader. Just ask my mom. When she’d ground me for the weekend due to my own bad behavior (I never knew when to shut up), mom would allow my dad to take me to the library. She figured I’d check out one book.

Oh no.

I’d check out as many as I could …13 was the limit on my library card.

I’d spend the entire weekend sitting in the gold plush velvet living room chair doing nothing but reading.

I remember reading 13 Nancy Drew books in one “grounded for the weekend” reading marathon.

It didn’t take long for my mom to realize that grounding me had very little effect on my ability to stop running my mouth long after her patience ran out. What it did affect was my insatiable need to read.

Even though I’m not 12 anymore and I’ve long since outgrown Nancy Drew, I will declare an adult time out where I do nothing but read for an entire weekend. Lazy? Far from it. I also carve out time during my day, every day, to read.

Whether you are a CEO or a stay at home mom or dad, Readers are Leaders. Whether you are leading a 50,000 person company or a family of five, these are my top five books that will inspire and grow your life … and quite possibly the lives around you.

#1: The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff

Tao-of-pooh This is the book that started it all for me. My quest. My spiritual journey. The way back to me. Whatever you want to call it. The

ironic thing is that I never would have bought the book or even read it had it not been for a world religions class I took as an elective for my Bachelor’s degree.

My original copy, yes … my original copy had been underlined, highlighted, asterisked, and dog-eared to the point of book abuse. Before it fell apart, I gave it to my brother, Chris.

Because at the time I gave it to him, he needed it more than I did.

The Tao of Pooh explains Taoism, or the Way, through the lens of a well known and cherished character, Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends from the 100 Acre Wood.

I learned that my cleverness is limited and that birds can fly but flies can’t bird. I learned to recognize personalities based on

Eeyore the Negative Schleprock,

Rabbit the Over-Glorifier of Busy,

Owl the Knower Without Wisdom,

Tigger the She Who Can Do Everything But Ends Up Stucker Than Stuck,

Piglet the He Who Hesitates, and

Winnie-the-Pooh the He Who Knows Nothing Knows Everything.

I learned that while “Eeyore frets and Piglet hesitates and Rabbit calculates and Owl

Five

Awesome

Books That Must

Be On Your

Christmas List

December 2016 | ElementsForAHealthierLife.com | 47