Education, Philanthropy and Traveling in one book
The Promise of a Pencil is a great book by Adam Braun, and very thought provoking. It's an inspiring story about how Adam followed a path that was different from the one his family and friends expected from him. Those who love traveling will find it fascinating the way he describes all the places he travelled, and even more the eyes through which he sees the world from a very interesting perspective, quite unusual for the common traveller.
In this beautiful story he presents how he found his life purpose and how he made the decision to listen to his inner voice and do what he felt he had to do against all the people who tried to put him down, it seemed like he needed no validation from anyone he was determined to impact the world in the best possible way, expand his vision and keep growing.
It was amazing to see how the more he focused his energy and attention to his purpose everything started to fall into place, as if the universe brought to him the people and the events that helped him to make his dream true.
This book is a good reminder of how many people can find joy in something as small as a pencil or a hope for good health. Sometimes, unconsciously, we let ourselves to be drawn into a superficial world where our values suffer a transmutation because we place our source of fulfillment on the things we pay for.
The book is composed by mantras instead of chapters and each one of them presents a thought provoking messages that are applicable to different areas in life. These are some of the mantras that I felt more connection with:
Mantra 11 - Speak the Language of the Person You Want to Become: I felt inspired by these lines "...the more we speak in the voice of our most inspirational self, the closer we pull our future into our present...". This means to me that when we set ourselves a goal and we have a clear and big WHY, we can overcome any challenge that we face because our purpose is always bringing light to the dark days and becomes the driving force to move forward. The author sees every challenge as a lesson and not as excuses.
Mantra 23 - Learn to Close the Loop: This was a big lesson on Gratitude, it seemed that the more they showed gratitude more doors of opportunities opened up for them. I also think that when you put this in practice in one area of your life (with clients) you can easily spread it to other areas (family) and others will follow.
Mantra 27 - Vulnerability is Vital: My big take on this mantra is Accountability, starting with the words you use, the promises or commitments you make no matter how small or big they are just do what you said you would do. This mantra is also about being open to acknowledge the things we don't know, and asking for help when needed. Those around us will perceive that we have an attitude of self-examination and improvement.
Mantra 28 - Listen to Your Echoes: One way that I look at this mantra is that sometimes when we put our best effort, energy, dedication and discipline in doing something meaningful we can inspire other people (e.g. own kids) and we may not know it until we notice it in their words or actions, this could start with a very small act of compassion on the street. We can also call it ripple effect, and it takes us to new levels of fulfillment.
