I am focusing on Good Things from a dark past. If you have any Good Things to share, please do. It reminds us that we will be okay.
My newest read from Thomas Nelson (Disclaimer: I am part of the Thomas Nelson book blogger team.) is Marcus Buckingham’s Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently. Great premise, right?
The book inspired me, and made me really think about how I live my life (and I think I live a really strong life) and to let go of some of the world’s “ideas” about how I should be living it. The book is clear: live the strong life that works for YOU, not someone else. It follows two woman as examples of this.
One woman used her gut to make decisions and ended up happy and strong; the other woman kept going because everyone relied on her and she had to keep going even when her gut told her she hated it. Not that the advice in the book is that you can’t live a strong life without obligations, but that you focus on those obligations that make you strong.
For example, I have a friend in another state who started a photography business before her marriage. She loved taking pictures (mostly of kids) and when she got married, she kept on with her photography. Her husband helped her build the business after his day job and a few years ago her husband was able to quit his job to come and work full-time in the business. This freed up my friend from the business end of the day (she also has two children) and lets her just take the pretty pictures. Her husband runs the business (they do really well) and she gets to still do what she loves and care for her children at the same time. The family gets to be together during the day, not apart. That makes my friend strong. It makes her family strong.
My own boss resigned (effective in a few weeks) to go home and help his wife with her business. Her dream has inspired him to change it up and see where it goes. What makes his wife strong is growing the business as much as she can. What makes their family strong is for them all to work together to accomplish this, not my boss catching a train to a London office Monday through Friday.
To me, that is a strong life! This isn’t the 1950s/1960s anymore. No more does it just have to be a husband working a full-time job while the wife stays home (it still can be if that is a strong life for YOU), but the 1990s brought about the dual-career parents and while some women are thriving, it’s still not working for many women (me included; I couldn’t commute everyday; I need to work from home; it helps me stay strong). I think that’s the strength of the book.
Buckingham is opening a door for women (and men) to quit pursuing someone else’s dream at the expense of their own dreams. Of course, there’s a quiz to take (free online) and it’s a pretty cool test.
I think the premise of this book is amazing (Buckingham first appeared on Oprah in 2008) and I think it’s a worthy exercise for every woman to take part in. Why not? You’ll get to live your strongest life.
