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Title: 'The monk who sold his Ferrari'

Author: Robin Sharma

Genre: cultivation and alternative knowledge

I rarely reach for these types of books. I wouldn't say I don't understand them, just that my interests are radically different. But like most people, I sometimes decide to expand my worldview, give something new a chance and step out of my comfort zone, even with books. "Robin Sharma's The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is just such a book. It is said to be "A spiritual parable on how to realize your dreams and achieve your destiny." I somewhat agree. I believe in destiny, I believe that things that happen to us happen for a reason. They bring us their lessons and make us different and grow in our existence.

The main character in this story is Julian Mantle, a really successful lawyer. A twist changes his life. He has a heart attack in the courtroom, quits his job, sells all his belongings and flies to India. He begins to search for Nirvana, or rather the true meaning of his life. I don't intend to narrate the book, but rather try to portray to you the feeling that made me experience every page of it.

At the core of the book are the "Seven Virtues of Enlightened Learning," which Mantle reveals one by one. Now, although the book presents these as actual virtues learned from the Himalayan group, it's important to remember as you read that they were invented by the author - he actually pulled them from other sources and put them together:

1. Master your mind

2. Follow your goal

3. Practice kaizen

4. Live disciplined

5. Respect your time

6. Selflessly serve others

7. Embrace the present

Each of these virtues is discussed in separate chapters, each with a number of concepts and habits to develop. Most are very inspiring and potentially very useful. After reading the book, I have incorporated several of them into my life, including those involving positive thinking, visualizing goals. Of course these are things that perhaps subconsciously we all know. It's not something that's ever been mentioned in another book, but I can certainly say that it's written in an understandable, interesting and inspiring way. The key here is balance. And as long as your mind is only full of complaining and talking about your failures and other people's successes you are unlikely to get anything more.   

One thing that really struck me was about the negative thoughts. All of us have them. According to the book, the thing to do, and I fully support this, is to turn a negative thought into something positive. To let the moment of disappointment envelop you, wallow in the pain and then immediately think about the future. About the fact that you lost "something" and because of that you will get something else. That this is a lesson. One can refract through their prism any incident and turn it into something good. We just need to focus on being happy, or in short "Find the positive in every circumstance; don't judge events as "good" or "bad" but experience them, celebrate them and learn from them". Said like that it certainly seems easy, we know it's not. But life is a wonderful adventure, a string of emotions. It is up to us how we enjoy the journey.