Manuscript Found in Accra favorite quote
Without solitude, no plant or animal can survive, no soil can remain productive, no child can learn about life, no artist can create, no work can grow and be transformed. – Page 29
Lessons learned from Manuscript Found in Accra
1. You have a purpose in life.
Live the life you always wanted to live. Avoid criticizing others and concentrate on fulfilling your dreams. – Page42
We have grown up in a manufacturing culture and we have been trained to believe that life is a competition of faster, stronger, bigger and life is a competition in which we are forced to compare. You are a unique individual with a unique purpose for your life. You don’t need to compare your life to anyone else because there is no other person like you.
Manufacturing has a motto if it isn’t useful it needs to go. We have been trained to think that if we aren’t living a life of practicality and usefulness. Unfortunately, there isn’t a universal measurement for what is useful. Just because someone may not think you are useful doesn’t mean you aren’t.
2. You have to have a grop of close friends.
Anyone who does not share his moments of joy and discouragement with others will never fully know his own qualities and his own defects. – Page 101
I am 42 and just moved to a new city this year and I have found it is very difficult to make friends. However, life without a group of close friends is really no life at all. If you cant share the joy and disappointments of life with a group of people you can’t really experience life.
Life is a series of valleys and mountaintops and when you can celebrate with others it makes the victories so much better. When life smacks you in the face having a few close friends that you can mourn with makes it so much easier to walk through the valleys. It is hard but it is a must to find a group of friends you can do life with.
3. You have to build solitude in your life.
Without solitude, no plant or animal can survive, no soil can remain productive, no child can learn about life, no artist can create, no work can grow and be transformed. – Page 29
In the American culture busyness has been lifted up as a sign of strength and status. If you are busy you are successful. I am so busy is a statement you will hear almost hourly from someone.
We have lost the art of solitude. We keep ourselves busy many times to avoid dealing with things but solitude is an absolute necessity in our lives, if we want to have any type of growth in our lives. Solitude gives our lives a chance to grow, allows our minds to clear, and allows our spirits to breathe.
One of the greatest things you can do for your health, creativity, and sanity is build solitude in your life. Most people would argue I can’t I am too busy, fight for solitude. You will find you are a much better person if you do.
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