Book Reflection: From Strength to Strength

Sitting here writing this book reflection on a Friday evening feels silly. Why am I writing about a book meant for people in the second half of their lives?

Like really. I am only 23 afterall.

Well, one reason might be my book-picking system/mechanism. I let the universe decide for me. There have been a few ideas floating in my mind, and some combination of luck, timing and culture keeps making me question the way we talk about success in the zeitgeist. I heard about this book randomly more than twice and decided to get it. Must be a sign from the universe, I have convinced myself.

Another reason is that I thought what better way to learn about the second half of life than by reading a book meant for the second half of life. Sort of like reverse engineering life. This might be a sneaky reason why I sometimes get along with older people so much more easily. I resonate with the perspectives and the wisdom of that age quite readily and deeply. And weirdly, I felt like I could envision older Jagriti resonating with a lot of things he talks about. And it is up to Jagriti today to get her there.

I finished this book after every gym session on my walk back home. The sessions would usually be quite intense with loud workout music. For cooldown, I used this book to quiet my sympathetic nervous system and activate my parasympathetic system. This habit of walking and audiobooks was one of my favourite memories of Canada. Turns out, Nepali streets allow the same habit, though with some beautiful chaos added.

By now, you might be frustrated. Maybe you clicked on this hoping for a clean book summary to decide whether you should read it.

That's not what this is.

This is more like a mental gym session. A place where I stretch ideas, test them, and see which ones linger after the noise fades. I like documenting the questions a book leaves me with more than summarizing its arguments. The arguments you can Google. The questions are more personal.

So instead of a summary, here are the ideas that followed me home from this one:

Do you want to be special or happy?

Do you self objectify? - Viewing yourself as an object for use instead of as a person.

Work can be a dangerous type of addiction

Use things, love people and worship the divine

Crystalized vs fluid intelligence: Fluid intelligence is the capacity to think logically and solve new problems independently of prior knowledge, peaking in young adulthood and declining later. Crystallized intelligence is the accumulation of knowledge, facts, and skills acquired through experience and education, which tends to increase or remain stable with age.

How you act in liminal spaces of life, actually matters.

If you're so smart, then why aren't you happy?

There is no such thing as atheism; we all worship something. - Transcendence seems to be part of being human.

Vulnerability is very important as a leader

There is a lot to learn from both Eastern vs Western phiosophy.

Faith is required to go from strength to strength. Thank you for reading. Consider subscribing to my email list so the posts come directly to you. Connect with me on GoodReads to view the books I am reading: JagritiLuitel-Goodreads