Designed for Adventure or a Study in Self-Introspection

Usually I think of a beach read as something through which to escape – designed for adventure, intrigue, romance…but by stark contrast, I find myself immersed in Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. My thinking now is that “what better time to “sharpen the saw” and gather and organize priorities than the down time that a beach escape affords.

Funny that I love to see those snippets of “what they’re reading” and ponder if they really ARE reading that particular selection or are “they” just prepared with some fascinating tome in case the inevitable question is posed to their celebrity selves. In this case – albeit NOT the celebrity status and who cares what I’m reading anyway – for those of you who DO – on my list for quite a while and long overdue, this book was a recent gift by a friend who KNOWS me and my habits. It’s a pen in the teeth, jot notes and mark pages book. It’s a good read and loaded with opportunities for self introspection, reflection and maybe even slap your face silly as you recognize all too familiar patterns, and read the painfully obvious suggestions and recommendations that flow forth from each fascinating page. Easy for him to say!

The uninterrupted hours available – when I’m not writing about reading the book- are making progress swift. But as the author reminds the reader, this is not a book to read and leave – rather, it is a book to which one should constantly refer, use to keep on track, reinforce and guide for the rest of the reader’s life! Whoa! This certainly isn’t that frivolous beach read that I was so eagerly anticipating.

Yet on the shelves here – amidst all the Jimmy Buffet books – GREAT beach reads, the old tattered John D. McDonald mysteries, Erin Hilderbrands absorbingly enjoyable Nantucket novels, even Tim Dorsey’s goofy Floridian tales, I will find the perfect beach read upon which to veg in the after days of the self realization chapters that will no-doubt never be finished –not to mention his sequel of new-found observations – just set aside for a good vacation escape.