good read

this is probably my most read book. every time boredom eats me up, i turn to this. but instead of being eased up from loneliness, i find myself crying over and over again. it is a beautiful love story but painfully ended in tragedy. actually the plot is predictable, however the emotion is just so intense that although i have actually almost memorized the lines of the characters, i still end up sobbing in tears. also, the book tackled on a very important lesson that i think we all should ponder on, and i am sharing it here:

Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls . The balls are called work, family, health, friends, and integrity. And you’re keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball, if you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls — family, health, friends and integrity — are made of glass. If you drop one of these , it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in you life.

people, changes in their lives, and how they resist at it. generally, this how people initially react at change. but as resilient as we should be, we should realize that there is nothing much we can do about change but embrace the idea of it, even if it would mean leaving our comfort zones and facing an unknown world. this book illustrates how we should set our attitude to every change that takes place in our lives, cheese being the metaphor of it:

        

1. Change happens. they keep moving the cheese. 

2. Anticipate change. get ready for the cheese to move. 

3. Monitor change. smell the change so you know when it's getting old. 

4. Adapt to change quickly. the quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you enjoy new cheese.

5. Change. move with the cheese. 

6. Enjoy change. savor the adventure and enjoy the taste of new cheese.

and only if we have mastered the art of dealing with change will we be able to assess how far we have gone, and how much potential we have in us that we never thought of having. we stop blaming others, rather we start to realize where we have gone wrong and what better ways should be acted out. we should stop living in routines because change, whether we like it or not, will always finds its way on us. and little do we know that change can bring even greater opportunities and leads us to much better things. so there, move with the cheese!

this is my first book from malcolm gladwell, and i must say i am in awe of his genius. the book bundles together his favorite articles from his New Yorker contribution. The way he plays with his wit is just beyond compare-- how he sees things in different perspectives and how critically his mind thinks over day to day things then suddenly it will make you realize how everything  works beyond superficiality. 

the book challenges us to regard normal things in a completely different view and possibly see it in a different eye to help us appreciate, understand and learn more on the entirety of things. oh and by the way, i am not talking about dealing with life, relationships and people here. the book tackles from almost about any subject, from ketchup, to hair coloring, to what happened with enron and even the history of birth control pills. his brilliance and writing prowess is really at best!