Book #2

First off I must say it is a beautiful day and I am enjoying this snow immensely!

Veronika Decides To Die: Paulo Coelho

I loved this book, It was a quick easy read and just what I needed at this point in my life. Veronika seemed to be at a similar point in her life as me, and everyone likes feeling validated and that they are not alone with their thoughts. She felt as if the world was hopeless and beyond her reach to save, and also felt life only got worse from where she stood.

My absolute favorite part of this book was how it redefined Crazy! "They think they are normal because they all do the same thing." Crazy is daring to be different. It was amazing to me how in the beginning of the book, the people in the insane asylum seemed like the least crazy in the world. They liked it there because they could be free, they didn't have to monitor their behavior and desires, because they were not being judged and did not have so many rules to live by.

But in the end, it does not matter who is crazy or not, because we are all afraid! We are all afraid to do things differently, to leave the familar and the comfortable, to look different to those around us. And most importantly, no one appreciates life until they are faced with death, which lines up with my beliefs perfectly that no one can appreciate the bad, without the good, no one can appreciate being warm, unless they have truly been freezing.

Here are some lines that I related to, or that I just thought were silly/ironic.

"It was best to put an end to everything now, while she was still brave and healthy enough to die."

"She had always spent her life waiting for something."

"they took pleasure in the suffering of others, because that made them believe they were happy."

"What did it mean to be crazy? Perhaps she should ask one of the lunatics."

"This madwomen talks a lot of sense."

"I never used to suffer depression on cold, gray, cloudy days like this. I felt as if nature was in harmony with me, that it reflected my soul."

"In adolescence she thought it was too early to choose; now in young adulthood, she was convinced it was too late to change."

"People never learn anything by being told; they have to find out for themselves."

"insanity is the inability to communicate your ideas."

"She expended most of her energy in trying to behave in accordance with the image she had created of herself. Because of this she had never had enough energy to be herself."

"They've got a bigger market than we have, he thought. The happier people can be, the unhappier they are. "

"Everyone is indeed crazy, but the craziest are the ones who don't know they're crazy."

"You have two choices: to control your mind or let your mind control you."

"It's what you are, not what others make you."

"Empty your mind, stop thinking about anything, simple be."

"Difficulty was not due to chaos or disorganization or anarchy, but to an excess of order."

"An idea only exists when someone tries to put it into practice."

"People never stop and wonder why they should behave like that."

"Diplomacy is also the art of postponing decisions until the problems resolve themselves."

"The danger of an adventure is worth a thousand days of ease and comfort."

Ok there are soo many more, but the rest are long. lol.

~Care~