One of my favorite things to do is read a good book. I love to just get lost in the story. The only time I really get a chance to focus on reading a good book is when I’m on vacation. Our family took a trip and we were gone for about 2 1/2 weeks. In that time I read two books by the author Liane Moriarty.
I always know a book is good when one I can’t stop reading it and secondly I can’t wait to lay in bed to read it. One of these two books did just that , it was “What Alice Forgot.”
Without giving away the whole story, this book was about a woman who loses her memory. She thinks it’s 1998 but it’s actually the year 2008, so essentially she has lost 10 years of her life. She is essentially trying to piece back her life.
Throughout the story I put myself in her shoes. I am imagined losing ten years of my memory, including not remembering my children. How would I feel? How with this change my perspective with life as I know it?
One of the themes was how busy this mom was. She was always going, going , going. I have a busy life with four kids. This book put a lot of things into perspective for me especially how I often I think about how slowing down. There’s something to be said for the saying “stop and smell the roses”. Also simple things like listening to your child tell you a story when you have fifty things that you need to do. That minute is priceless to your child and they will remember that you took the time to listen to them. This book got me to think about what my kids might say about me, “she’s always busy” or “she doesn’t take the time to just listen to me” or would they say “she always has time for me” or “she loves to listen to my stories.”
Another theme was relationships.
Taking time to nurture your relationships. Whether it be with your spouse, children,siblings, parents, or friendships. Prioritizing your relationships and really making an effort to make those people feel special and important.
As I was reading this book I noticed myself being more aware of my actions, my thoughts and my words. I feel like I’m being more patient with the kids and just wanting to relish in the moment with them. Plus wanting them to really feel and know how much I love them. I’m trying to be more in tuned with my husband and wanting him to know how much I appreciate him.
Now some of you might think wow this book is too deep for me. My answer to you is yes it’s deep if you want to improve things in your life this book may point out some of the things we all lack in. It makes you think about life, relationships and priorities. All of which are important to me and things that I am really trying to focus on. At the end of the day being a mom and wife are my most important roles and I want to make sure I give 110%. Even if there are days in my own mind that I may feel like a failure, there’s always tomorrow.
