By Often times, inspiration is goal bound. It is what makes us follow what our heart feels like doing at the moment or in the days to come. The Cacao Media team was asked what inspires them and here is what Winnie Kuria, our Events and Campaigns Manager shared with us.
Can Reading Really Change Your Life?
You could never pay me enough to read a self-help book.
Maybe a romance novel and still I would skip to the overly dramatic parts.
Apart from that, from a young age, I loved television so I kept up with all the Alejandro's in the soap operas. However, that soon changed
Growing up was not always rosy for me, and being the firstborn of 3 and the only girl, I often found myself taking on roles much older than myself. So I loved the escape and I overindulged in watching television all day and sometimes all night.
Soon after I was done with university, for my internship, I was working long hours in a greenhouse and having gone through my music playlist over and over I decided to try out an audio book for a change. The book I listened to I came across while in high school but never really read it.
It took me a few hours and by the end of it, I was asking myself the hard questions;
“What are you passionate about?
What do you believe to be your vehicle to living a happy fulfilled life?
What sets your soul on fire?”
All I knew for sure was what I was doing was not a fit answer to any of those questions.
The book described insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
I knew I had to make a change. But how?
Up until that point in my life, I had never really thought about what I truly loved doing. Yes, I had gotten into business before and now an internship to kick start my career but I did it for the money and not necessarily because I enjoyed it.
As I searched within, I met a friend. And my mind was blown! He had been on more trips than I had ever imagined. After that encounter, I could barely sleep. Every day I dreamt about all the trips I could take while my body was still sweating in the greenhouse.
The book said.. “it’s not the smart who get ahead, but the bold”. So I took a bold step and decided to make it a mission to travel to a place I had never been at least once a year. I could not wait to see the sunset from the different “corners” of our perfectly round universe.
That was 4 years ago. Since then I have been to more than 5 countries and it’s only the beginning.
So far on my journey of self-discovery, new possibilities have opened up and I will be honest. I am not always willing to do some of them in fear of looking dumb if it fails.
Some totally failed and maybe I looked dumb, probably still do to some people. But the book also says you’ll be criticized either way. Damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. I am glad I did because the lessons I learned are invaluable. Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. Right?
Now, I get excited about first-time experiences. Recently I started taking yoga classes and as much as my body complains of aches I never knew I could have, I am not about to stop expanding my comfort zone by getting out of it.
My answer? YES!!
Reading really can change your life if you allow it to inspire you.
Reading gave me the kind of self-belief and confidence that not even the people who love me most could make me see it in myself. The kind that only comes from within.
It gave me the freedom to make mistakes and not wait for permission from others to be or do what I am passionate about.
It also made me realize that even successful people like the author himself go through challenges in their own journeys.
It liberated me.
Since then, I have miraculously come to prefer physical books to audios and having read many more that have inspired me along the way, I will always remember my first “Rich Dad Poor Dad “ by Robert T. Kiyosaki.
