I am almost giddy as I write this. I really took a step out of my normal Stacie-zone, and requested this particular book to read and review. Some of you aren’t going to agree with my love of this book, and that’s totally fine. I respect that. But this is now one of my very favorite bookery bookie books. (Ooo, look at me, making up words.)
I am embarrassed to say that I was unfamiliar with the author of this book. Mallika Chopra is the daughter of Deepak Chopra (you know, the Founder of the Chopra Center? Yeah, that guy.) When I saw this book up for review, I requested it on a whim, without knowing anything about it really. What I knew was that it wasn’t what you would call a “Christian” book. And quite honestly, that drew me in. Sometimes, a fresh perspective (or even just a different perspective) draws me even closer to God. Allow me to explain.
Eat, Pray, Love is hands-down one of my very favorite books in the whole wide world of books. It is about a woman who begins to discover that her life has developed into something that she never wanted. She feels like she’s suffocating and embarks on a journey to re-discover herself, which leads her through some really amazing experiences, including the discovery of Hinduism. I put that book down, wanting nothing more than to go all-out in my spirituality by really getting to know God. It also helped me to realize that one person’s walk of self-discovery may not look like mine, but is still incredibly inspiring. Enter in Living With Intent: My Somewhat Messy Journey to Purpose, Peace and Joy. Did I want to discover who this woman was? Yes. Did I want to see how she found purpose, peace and joy? You bet. And I was not disappointed.
Millika is incredibly real in this book. She is honest about her struggles…from not enjoying the role of Soccer Mom, to not being able to beat her need for sweets. She opens up about feeling smothered by life; never having the time that she needs for herself, allowing her spiritual life to take a back seat due to all the busyness and go go go of daily life. And then she gets honest about her desires to change it. How, most importantly, she can’t change it without the intent to do so. And then begins this year-long journey to learn how to live life with intent; to live life daily on purpose and to find the peace in that. And I soaked up every single word. I earmarked pages, I highlighted, I journaled.
She spent some time explaining the peace and grounding that she feels in meditation. She explains in depth about the role of the Universe in her life. But she also says multiple times that meditation for you might be prayer. That the Universe for you might be God. She was open-minded and open-hearted through the whole book, and that gave me the freedom to soak up her tips, her insights, her advice, her lessons and her beautiful ideas and apply them to my walk with Christ. I literally loved this book. It was refreshing to hear that women from all walks of life struggle with the very same things that I do. It was comforting to hear that there were things that I could do, purposefully, to get to know Stacie better, to get to know God better and to simplify life. It was truly a joy to read.
Bottom Line: Take a chance, and read a new perspective. You won’t regret it. (Also check out her website where you can set your intents and get support from a large community of people.)
**I received this book from Blogging for Books, in exchange for an honest review.
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