Book Review: My Year with Eleanor: A Memoir

I have been in a reading rut! I'll pick up a book and put it down - never to finish it. And i'll be honest with you, it took me for what seemed like forever to finish this book. My Year with Eleanor follows the story of a young woman with a high salaried, high stress position, jobless after getting laid off. As she sat in a coffee shop she read a quote from the chalkboard that read

"Do one thing every day that scares you."
—Eleanor Roosevelt

She began to do a lot of research on Eleanor Roosevelt and the woman she was. She fell head over heels with her accomplishments, goals, how she handled herself, carried herself and how she did so many interesting and daring things. It was then that the author Noelle decided to take the year off to conquer a fear everyday. Some of those fears were simple others were daring like going swimming with the sharks, do a stand up comedy routine, conquer your fear of heights and she even climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Despite the obvious things she wanted to conquer she realized how scared she really became in life. How her fears stopped her from going out and meeting new people, sticking up for herself or trying someplace new and exciting. A couple of my favorite quotes:

"Mindfulness will help you stay in the present, where fear does not exist. Fear exists in the past, like worrying about the dumb thing you said to your boss yesterday, or in the future, as in fretting over whether your plane will crash"

"Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people"

"Fear can paralyze our lives. Fear of making the wrong decision keeps us from making any decision at all"

"Do things that interest you and do them with all your heart. Don't be concerned about whether people are watching you or criticizing you. The chances are that they are paying any attention to you at all."

The most unhappy people in the world are those who face the days without knowing what to do with their time. But if you have more projects that you have time for, you are not going to be an unhappy person. This is as much a question of having imagination and curiosity as it is of actually making plans."

"Procrastination is the lazy cousin of fear. 'When we feel anxiety around an activity, we postpone it - whether its doing our taxes, working on a project we're not sure we can handle, or having a painful conversation' You'll never feel ready. You have to do things now - even if you dont feel ready."

I really enjoyed this book though it took some time to finish it because it's something I am going through currently. Lots of fear is clouding my head because I am afraid of the unknown, afraid of what someone will say, afraid of the failure, afraid of disappointment. This book taught me some valuable lessons. It was a great read for the beginning of the year for a fresh start and a fresh outlook. Loved.

*****