or how I’ve come to appreciate No Fiction February.

For those of you who really don’t know me you’d be surprised if I told you that I am a fiction-alcoholic. I read more fiction books in a year than most people in five years (or in the case of my husband his entire life). It’s really not something to be proud of at all. It’s akin to someone who spends 3 hours a day watching television. That is three hours out of your life that you could be doing something just a bit more productive.

Most people would say that I’m exercising my brain. Sure. I am doing that, but I’m also using it as an escape from the things I SHOULD be doing. What I have found in the past that if I cut myself off from my addiction I get a chance to really do the things I always say I’m going to do. Like write everyday. Yea for YOU, the reader!

Taking a break from fiction allows me to also explore other fields of learning to help me focus on the goals and ideas of what I want to do in the next few months (or even years). It allows me to really key in on my meditation (I do it about 10 min a day now), and maybe I even get a chance to clean out my freezer or under my bed.

This doesn’t mean I have quit reading. Au Contraire! I have shifted my attention to books that I need to read for my business, for my personal growth, and just about anything else that I have found an interest in that I’ve put off because that latest book from the “Out of the Box” series by Robert Crane has just come out.

Probably number one on this list so far is a book on meditation written by a guy from Google who started the whole mindfulness trend in that company. The book is called “Joy on Demand” by Chade-Meng Tan. It’s probably the best book on this topic I’ve ever read because it’s easy. He has been teaching me how to learn how to appreciate more of the little things in life, and more importantly finding JOY in the things in my life.

I’ve also consumed a few other books that were equally valuable, but for different reasons. This book has helped me to clarify my method of meditation. I’ve learned that I find listening to someone else tell me what to do while meditating just annoys me. As good as Sam Harris is I’d rather just take one breathe, the next breath I relax my body, and then the third breath I find my joy (that feeling you get you’ve had the right amount of alcohol, are sitting on a toilet, and you’re like WHOA…..insert big smile on face….or that point where you know it’s time to go to bed or home before you pass the point of no return).

(Sam Harris has an APP called Waking UP that I highly recommended for any beginner)

Ok…maybe it’s nicer than that without the alcohol, but you get my point. I can sit on the couch and in the third breath I feel it. Which has helped me to really appreciate my life, and all the little things that make me smile.

I can appreciate that time where I have no pain. I can appreciate when I come home and someone has started the dishwasher for me. I can appreciate it when I go out to feed the chickens and I don’t step in either chicken shit or dog shit.

So go and find your JOY! Oh…and read something new that you’ve been meaning to check out……even if it’s the Girl in the Box (or Out of the Box) series (seriously – action adventure/super powers/entertaining galore.