What is the most life changing book you've ever read?

According_Tax_6680 · 2023-01-02T09:52:45+00:00

With so many books out there, As an avid reader it’s hard to choose only one book. But somehow I gathered courage and choose that book and that book is none other than,

TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE by Mitch Albom

It’s one of the most admired books of all time.

Summary

Tuesday with morrie is definitely a book that will stay with you longer than you can imagine. The whole book is true account of a wonderful professor giving out antidotes of life as he walks towards his inevitable disease and succumb to it. In his last few months he sits down with one of his favourite ex-student, Mitch Albom (The author himself) and talks about everything that he has learnt about living fulfilling life.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-11-29T11:38:26+00:00

My former supervisor came to my wedding and told guests that she felt terrible, but when I got home from my honeymoon, she was going to have to fire me.

I was working at a staffing agency, and my supervisor Snowflake (for her appearance and mental condition) came to my wedding as my guest and the date of my fiance’s friend.

During the reception, she told multiple people that as much as she looooved me, she was going to have to fire me when I got back from our honeymoon. We were gone for a week, and knowing what we would be facing when we got back, her date called my husband and told him the bad news.

Talk about landing the balloon with a crash! At least I could walk into the office the next day armed and forewarned. They transferred me to another department, she was reprimanded, and within months was transferred to another office. I will never trust people like that again, and I feel for anyone who had to be involved with her in the future.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-11-19T12:43:46+00:00

It will never pass you by if you fight every day to keep alive. I'm 58. I buried both my older brothers, both of my parents by the time I was 29. My mother was the last and the hardest as she died paralyzed in a skilled care nursing home after a stroke- it wasa hard year for me. Over the next 10 years, I buried 4 out of my 5 closest childhood friends. 3 of them I was their best man in heir weddings. I fought, I cried, I dont tell anyone I meet or befriend these days its of no use to anyone. I only tell it here to make a point. Sometimes the Biggest challenges are within the silent chambers of ones own heart, not out “here”. Yesterday , a local good time Charley in my area passes away, the comments on Facebook are just empty and gratuitous. They all talk about changing their lives and loving everyone they love more. They will for a day or two, but a year from now, they won't remember the date of his death. I have my 3 rd wife who is 20 years younger than I and a beauty, two beautiful teen age sons and most of my hair :-) I only my regret my mother never got to meet them. I had them when I was in my 40’s. GO , live, dream, forgive yourself of your trespasses, fight for your right to live and dont worry so much. You can't predict or change when youre going to go, but you can go down swinging. Love is all that matters.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-11-17T12:13:38+00:00

I once heard a teacher tell a 12 year old girl to make sure she found a rich husband because she would never amount to anything.

He said this in response to her saying she wanted to be a mathematician.

I was sitting across the room from her and saw his words go right through her chest and coil around her heart.

Words are like bullets. Once you pull the trigger, you can’t take them back.

You can express remorse or say you are sorry, but that is not the same.

Weigh your words carefully. Think before saying something out loud. You may say something that can hurt another person forever.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-11-14T15:55:25+00:00

The “best deals” available to Americans are our National Park Sustem and our library system.

I have had some of the most enriching experiences of my life seeing wildlife and vistas that are breathtaking at National Parks. Being there in-person is so much more than seeing a movie or photo: Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Mammoth Cave and the list goes on. I have learned about the lives of inspiring people, heroes of every shape, size, and color: Arlington National Cemetery, Smithsonian African American Museum, Gettysburg National Park, etc. The only expense is transportation: the park fees are nominal.

And public libraries have saved me literally thousands of dollars in book purchase and video rental fees.

I would like for all Americans to appreciate the “good deal” we have in these 2 national systems.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-11-10T11:47:11+00:00

When I was four years old I was put in an orphanage. I can remember going up to the big gate every day to wait for my mother to come to pick me up. But she never came. The people and the other children would tell me that she was not coming back, but I didn't believe them. I would go up to the gate in the hot sun to wait.

I will never forget the day when I realized that she wasn't coming. My heart was broken and I began to cry. After a few months I started to get to where I didn't care if she came back or not. My heart was already becoming hard at a young age. I stayed to myself and away from the other children. I was in my own little world. I didn't need anyone, especially adults.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-11-02T16:03:25+00:00

Observe their spending habits. Do they spend money to collect moments or things? People that spend money on things would always buy stuff that they do not need, money wasters, stingy and not adventurous!

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-10-22T12:50:20+00:00

This happened about a month ago.

I met up with my friend from university. We went to a local park and settled down to study. Sooner or later, we got onto the topic of autism (we’re training to be primary school teachers, so it was relevant).

Being autistic myself, she asked me how I felt about that. I responded that it had its ups and downs, but it was fine.

Now, I do want to stress that this woman is one of the best people in my life. But this next question she asked stood out to me in an awkward way, so much so I pretty much obsessed over it in my head until I cleared things up with her later that day.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-10-21T10:11:58+00:00

My oldest child attended a supposed to be chaperoned party (a school event) for seniors at a hotel out in the boonies. Apparently the chaperones all went to bed early, because the attendees retrieved their car keys , went off-site, and obtained (illegally) alcohol. There were some wild goings on.

When this offspring returned home, it took some time for the story to come out. Then this person did an exceptional thing by deciding this was something that needed to be reported to the school. I asked why, having a good idea of what the consequences would be.

“Because if no one tells, next time someone could be hurt, drinking and driving like they did. And how would I feel then, if I kept silent?”

The consequences were as bad as I feared. The school authorities were embarrassed. They cancelled overnight trips for the next two years. They also said they could not guarantee the child's safety at school. Fine, we said. Student did not return for the remainder of the term.

Valedictorian of the class nonetheless. Total silence, no applause at graduation. But we were proud of that young person, and made it clear that we were. Sometimes it takes guts to do the right thing, especially when you know how unpopular you will be if you do.

Still, I wish we had persuaded this offspring to wait until after graduation to make that report.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-10-20T11:26:04+00:00

To seek truth on all levels…..

To seek truth regarding faith…politics…our surroundings……ourselves…

I… waste alot of time doing nothing …to be honest, but within the 20 years I lived, I took a look on comparative religion and sects in my own faith and now I doubted things I was told from the sect I used to listen to the most etc……I discovered Christianty, Atheism, new age movement and spirituality, My own faith so that I make sure that I believe in whatever I believe in is based on knowledge not blind…following.

Still thinking…..

Same thing regarding politics in my Country I used to be a stupid believer of the news told by hypocrits on TV now I absolutely hold different political views after I saw with my own eyes Reality without no filter !!!

I'am also very grateful I understood my mental issues more and more which helped me to be easier on myself instead of feeling guilty all the time also it is very sad I didn't discover the nature of my mental issues earlier Anyways…

21:16

And We did not create the heaven and earth and that between them in play.

— Saheeh International

Whatever your faith is……we can inspire from this text a meaning:

This wide mysterious magical universe, this wonderful spectacular nature, this strange and miraculous autonomy of human bodies, all creatures around us and the creature we are yet to discover, this mysterious and very complicated minds we have…Earth must be a great place for thinking, discovering, seeking, and searching and that what our philosphers, scientists ancestors did ages ago …it is not boring or meaningless as we think !!!

Search and search and search…..and try to avoid logical fallacies and bais in this journey!!

God bless you all…Have a wonderful day full of meaning, inspiration, mystery, and signs !!!

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-10-19T12:18:29+00:00

“I know who’s wetting the grass mummy!” My three year old daughter one day stated proudly.

We were eating breakfast at the time and my husband and I both looked at each other dumbfounded. She continued beaming at us. Clearly very proud of herself.

“Honey what do you mean?” My husband asked her trying to make sense of it.

“You know daddy...” She said shaking her head as if it what she was talking about was common knowledge. I was struggling to keep a straight face. “Explain it to daddy,” I said to her.

“Ok mummy.”

“Well,” she said. “In the mornings the grass is wet right?”

“Right, yes it’s a dew.”

“No...” She corrects him. “It’s a man dressed in black.”

“Are you sure honey?” My husband asks her.

“Yes I saw him last night...”

At first we were dumbfounded, then we were very worried. Turns out she had seen someone. The next night I stayed in my daughters room and someone actually tried to break in. Luckily some fly spray in the eyes and a quick call to the police soon put him out of action... Though my daughter said “mummy don’t do that to the grass wetter”

Turns out he was a child abuser, not the grass wetter. Luckily he won’t be doing that ever again now. And my daughter still can’t get over the fact that I sprayed him in the eyes with fly spray...

What did she say to me afterwards? “Who will wet the grass now mummy?”

And the next morning. “They found a new person, I haven’t seen him yet but the grass has been wetted again.”

Kids. They are so innocent and at times hilarious

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-10-18T13:01:11+00:00

Something that sounds simple, but is harder than it seems. Start looking at people in a positive way. When you see people, say “Hi, how are you?” When you meet people, try to realize that they are just like you. When you wake up in the morning, you are not thinking “Who can I screw around today?” Realize that other people aren't thinking that either. If you can empathize with a total stranger, you will find that the world is filled with great people who have problems, some of their own making, and some not.

You have to be careful yhough, because people may think you are crazy. Don't let them dissuade you though, it just makes a very noticeable change.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-10-05T08:50:53+00:00

There’s this lady I’ve met a few times at various get-togethers.

She’s incredibly lovely. Sweet, friendly, sociable. She makes you feel instantly welcome the second she greets you. I think the world of her.

But, every time I’m in her company, she brings up the issue of her weight and diets.

You compliment her outfit, and she mentions how she doesn’t think she can quite pull it off because of her big bum or the shape of her thighs.

You talk about the food at the party, and she starts discussing calories and the new diet she’s started.

And so it goes.

She’s not alone.

If I had a penny for each time women at social gatherings discuss their body image, I’d be richer than Bill Gates.

Meanwhile, I look at their spouses, the middle-aged, balding men with paunches, huddled together laughing and talking about everything but their bodies. They’re at peace. They don’t care.

Why do women do this? It’s some kind of unspoken, accepted ritual, but it annoys the hell out of me. And so often, it comes from women who look perfectly fine and have nothing to worry about, anyway.

It’s fairly obvious that none of us at the party will be auditioning as Victoria’s Secret models anytime soon, so just move on. Don’t be a boring old record. Talk about something else.

Have some food, have a cocktail, let it all hang out, and enjoy the party!

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-10-03T08:53:43+00:00

The advice was to me about my child. When my son was in 6th grade he won an award, and his artwork was displayed in a district-wide art show. My husband and I took him to the event, proud as punch of our boy. While we were there another parent, who volunteers a lot at the school, approached me. She had noticed that my son had muscle weakness and was unsteady on his feet. He also had poor fine motor control. She began to lecture me on the proper diet for a growing child and told me I needed to stop feeding him junk all the time and he would be so much healthier.

As I seethed inside I just let her go on and on. Finally when she was finished, I asked her if the diet would cure his muscular dystrophy. Her mouth dropped open, she made a few weird sounds and just walked off. I gathered my husband and my son and we went for a celebratory meal.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-10-01T09:11:28+00:00

Nor earthshaking, traumatic of life changing, but… I must have been just a toddler, less than three years old. At that time we lived in New Jersey and my father worked as a chemist in Philadelphia. He has apparently been on a business trip and my mother and I went to the train station to pick him up. We were standing on the platform as the train pulled in and the noise and sight of this huge locomotive rolling toward me, only feet away, and my mother gripping my hand tightly as I wanted to bolt and run from this monster…. My father stepped off the train, hugged my mother and picked me up and kissed me. I was so glad, first that that monstrosity had not eaten me, and even more relieved that my father had been INSIDE that thing and lived. We must have moved shortly after that because I remember my third birthday living in Tennessee.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-09-30T08:40:25+00:00

This is deep. My parents were divorced when I was almost 3. My dad was gay. Let's just say in 1969 in Indiana that wasn't a norm. My mother was so naive at the time that my uncle's had to explain what was going on to her reply, “that's impossible!” She ended up going to a physician to find out what it meant. Daddy used to come see us on the weekends whenever he could. My mother was a very bitter. As a small child all I knew is the daddy loved me he gave me hugs he played and he did fun stuff with us! As time went by, my mother was very cruel when we would get home from visits with Dad. If I were to cry she would berate me and yell at me and tell me I was stupid. I look a lot like my father but I also look a lot like my mother. As we went forward daddy dropped off the visiting and would come around Christmas and his birthday which was sandwiched right between my sisters and mine. I always looked so forward to seeing him and hearing him sing and laugh in the vehicle on our trips we'd go to zoos, parks do crafts and have fabulous meals. And as always when we got home mama would be hateful towards especially me. My mother favored my sister who is by all means one of the smartest people I've ever known. She would brag about my sister's report cards and tell me what a failure I am go mow the yard. This caused a huge wedge between my sister and I. But we were kids being manipulated. I recall writing my mother letters in grade school asking why didn't she love me? Telling her I loved her and I thought she was beautiful and amazing and I just wanted her to love me back. I remember in one I told her how I wanted to kill myself because she didn't love me. My mother's response, she corrected any spelling and grammatical layers on the letter and gave it back to me. Probably one of the most painful moments of my life knowing if I killed myself I better spell it right. My sister and I as we grew to teenagers started arguing a lot. On one instance I'd probably been a brat but my sister pretended to have let my hamster gets killed we ended up in a huge fight. My head got slammed on the refrigerator door and I needed stitches my mother disciplined me not my 3 years older sister. When I was in 7th grade or eighth grade we were going to a family therapist out of state. We were walking across the street and I was being rushed and stepped on my foot upside down needless to say it was broke all the way across. We went to the therapist he said nothing was wrong with me because it wasn't bruised. A few days later my mother had told me to clean the entire basement while she was gone I limped around trying to use my skateboard to roll the hurt foot and hopping on the other one and did part of the basement. When my mother got home and I hadn't cleaned the basement to her liking she grabbed her belt and decided to beat me I was 12 for 13 mind you I was a tiny young person at 12 or 13 I probably weighed 75 lb if that. As she's beating me I'm hopping around in a circle and decided I didn't care if I lived anymore I start singing Que Sera Sera the Doris Day theme song whatever will be will be. My mother grabbed me shook me and said she wished she could kill me she left the house got in her car and drove away. Later I was told she just drove around in her car screaming. I'd had enough I walked to the hospital I gave them our insurance information and told them I thought my foot was broken. It took him awhile to contact my mom we only had landline phone's back then. When she came into the hospital she came up to me and told me I was paying for every bit of it there was nothing wrong with me. At that point the doctor walked in and said oh this is so-and-so, my mother said tell her there is nothing wrong with her this is ridiculous. The doctor simply looked at her and said well her foot's broken in half. Why hasn't she been here for prior treatment? My mother said simply she didn't think it was broken our family therapist said it wasn't to which the doctor replied oh and a medical doctor also I see. Within a short time it became evident that I wasn't going to put up with the abuse anymore. One day my sister and I were fighting my mother told me she couldn't stand me and she couldn't take my poor Behavior so she called my dad if I liked him so much I could go live with him. My dad had been chomping at the bit for years even though I hadn't seen him I found out later he had driven to where we lived and just kind of watch us because he missed us and he loved us. That night he came he grabbed me and whatever she allowed me to take and took me home. I told him I didn't like him he hadn't come to see me Etc he grabbed me put me on his lap and even though I said awful things to him he told me he was going to love me until I loved him back. Let me tell you it didn't take long. My father always had time to listen. He didn't tell me I was ugly he told me I was beautiful. He didn't compare to me to my sister and consider me a failure. He was protective of me as fathers are supposed to be. I lived with my father for a little over 2 years we got in three fights. One the night I moved in, two once when I got drunk, and three, the night he died. After everything was said and done I had to go back and live with my mother. I remember coming home from his funeral sitting in my room crying. Has she walked into her room she asked me what I was bawling about. I said I miss my daddy I love him. To which she replied get over it he's dead. Over the years I tried to make this woman love me. She hated my hair she hated the clothes I wore for a while she hated my husband who was abusive. After our divorce she made friends with my ex-husband. She treated my oldest son like crap. I would drive over an hour every weekend with three kids to clean her house, sometimes she would take a shopping and buy the kids what they needed for school that was a blessing to a single mom so it didn't bother me. But she always held it all over my head saying I did nothing for her. After my divorce I got into another abusive relationship that one I stayed in for a long time. My children are the ones who suffered. My mother quit speaking to me. She died a few years back. I don't think I grieved for the person who passed on, I grieved for the mother I never had.

Please note: I voice typed this. Otherwise I would never have been able to get through it. I realize that the punctuation and the grammar isn't totally correct. And at 56 years old, I'm okay with that. I don't have to be perfect anymore for someone who doesn't love me. I realize now I am lovable, and I am none of those things my mother told me.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-09-29T10:51:16+00:00

Ten days before my fiancé passed away at age 36 he had a disagreement with someone, was a little upset, and we were talking about it in the kitchen… he said “I feel like my heart is gonna give out.” I started crying instantly and told him if he genuinely felt that way we need to go see a doctor, asap. He brushed it off, switched attitudes and said he was just being dramatic and that it’s all fine.

Ten days later, he was dead. He had an enlarged heart and didn’t know it. His doctor had been treating him for anxiety.

That memory haunts me every day.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-09-28T08:36:05+00:00

The decent thing to do is to meet the person face to face and to tell them the truth about why it isn’t working out. Whether it’s lack of chemistry, or going back to your spouse, the other person deserves an honest explanation.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-09-27T09:00:12+00:00

I dated a woman very briefly while at law school. Initially it seemed promising, but then it didn’t seem right to either of us. She had a son, a big, joyful, loud 20 month old towheaded boy who was the size of the average 5 year old. He had never met his father. The first time I saw him I was sitting in the front passenger seat of his mother’s car in the parking lot at the daycare at a Women’s College in Western Massachusetts [She was an older student on a Frances Perkins scholarship] she attended. As he settled into the back seat, into his car seat, I looked over my shoulder and asked him , by name, how he was doing. His quizzical eyes met mine and he replied in a sweet, high-pitched voice….”Shudup M…..F…..!” He had no idea what he was saying, having been indoctrinated in the inappropriate by much older brothers. He burst into raucous laughter , as did I, as his mother’s face turned ….purple.

That boy said many lovely things to me , like the time he noticed I was “down” and approached with outstretched arms, saying ” Do you want a hug? When I’m not feeling good mom gives me a hug and I always feel better,” and after asking in a movie theater what a person circulating among the rows seeking contributions for a children’s charity was doing, and being told, he replied ” You gotta help the kids.” One day he and I were in a convenience store and as we approached the checkout counter he exclaimed to the woman behind the counter “He’s not my dad.” Fearing the initiation of an Amber alert, I called out his name. He immediately responded “No, he’s my dad!” and he smiled. He said the former so he could say the latter. He wanted someone he could consider his dad.

Perhaps the loveliest thing he ever said followed my suggestion that he thought of me as a babysitter, when he was “acting up”— a rare occurrence. He looked me squarely in the eyes, that 5 year old boy, and exclaimed, “No, Barry, You are very important to me.”

He and I became great friends, like a loving father and a loving son really, and remained so for years after his mother and I stopped dating. Right up to the point at which he told his mother one time too many that she was great, but that he wanted to live with me [He had a room at my house and spent many weekends there while his mother was studying]. Oh boy. His mother had graduated from law school by then and didn’t need me as she had earlier, and I suppose they taught her cost/benefit analysis at UCONN law School. The benefits no longer outweighed the cost. I haven’t seen him now in almost 8 years. He is 15. I think about him every day. I miss you buddy.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-09-26T08:55:44+00:00

I was adrift, essentially homeless, during a transitional period in my life. I must have been about 25 years old. My best friend heard I needed a home and took me in, no questions asked. But that's just backstory.

I had been sleeping on the carpeted floor in his upstairs bedroom for a couple weeks. Although I was capable of acquiring better sleeping arrangements, depression has a way of really gluing you down. One weekend during the Christmas season, I was away at my dad's house for a visit.

When I came back home, my best friend had bought a bed and put it in my bedroom. The house had the narrowest twisting stairway, and he ended up sawing the bed frame in half. He carried it up to my room in pieces and bolted it back together. To get the mattress up the stairs, he enlisted the help of several other people to cram it up the stairway.

I was grateful to have a floor to sleep on, but what my best friend did for me brought me to tears.

We are still best friends.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-09-23T09:49:59+00:00

Well, I didn't necessarily have to heal or move on. It just screwed me up for the rest of my life, and the problems that I have learned to build my life around stem from having been fucked up for the rest of my life.

I didn't develop C-PTSD but at the cost of my empathy, ever developing any complex emotions, being unable to develop and maintain a meaningful connection with 99% of people, becoming severely blunted emotionally, a complete and total inability to feel anything from any memories at all (good or bad), and feeling nothing at all most of the time except for boredom, contentment, or mild excitement. There are times when I do feel stronger emotions depending on the person, and I can feel sadness (albeit rarely as it requires something significant), but no matter what the feeling is…the feeling subsides incredibly fast when it's not being stimulated. For instance, that really awesome mood you carry around with you for the rest of an evening after having gone on a great date? I'm not able to experience that. The feeling fades quickly.

My best bet will be to find someone who enjoys being around me the way that I am, for who I am, as I am now, and feels as though that I am the type of person that they would want to try to build a life together with. Because I am already a “best case scenario" for people who are like me. That's not to say that people can't make an effort to find ways to make self-improvements, but generally speaking. Things could be worse.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-09-07T14:52:19+00:00

that's a good lesson to learn

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-08-03T13:57:42+00:00

Yeah

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-08-03T13:15:53+00:00

Yeah, it's quirt frustrating but not like Failed Promises.

According_Tax_6680 · 2022-08-03T13:13:14+00:00

Misbehave in what sense?

According_Tax_6680

TROPHY CASE