This book may be small in size, but it is packed with a great deal of wisdom, which everyone, irrespective of age, can benefit from, in order to help fulfill the purpose of life.
Dream Big Dream True: 35 Tips to make the Best of your Life
By Teresa Joseph FMA
Published by Better Yourself Books, Mumbai (stpaulsbyb.com)
Price: Rs 50
Reviewed by Nigar
I consider it my good fortune and a blessing to have met Sister Teresa Joseph recently. She struck me as an epitome of kindness and joy! I was instantly and instinctively able to connect with her as a daughter bonds with a mother. Sister Teresa is a Catholic nun of the Mumbai Province’ of the Salesian Sisters. She holds a Master’s degree in the Science of Education and a Ph.D. in Missiology with specialization in inter-religious studies from the Gregorian University, Rome. And, she has years of experience of working with people of different ages and backgrounds.
This book of hers may be small in size, but it is packed with a great deal of wisdom, which everyone, irrespective of age, can benefit from. It’s a book that you might like to go back to again and again. Hilariously, I read it at a time when I had a bad cough and cold, a result of travelling in a car that had the air-conditioner on, the cold being just too much for my good. It was someone else’s car and I couldn’t get myself to request to have the air-conditioning turned off. I wish I had read the book before that, because it has a chapter that encourages you to say ‘no’ when you want to!
This book provides you useful suggestions and insights about how to make the best of the gift of human life. I’ve read some other things on motivation and life-skills, but many of them had no mention of the role of God in one’s life. There are a great many books available on the materialistic way to reach what they view as the “top-rung” of the ladder of life”which they view in materialistic terms. But Sister Teresa’s book is different. It touches your heart because its basic essence is all about how to not just believe in yourself, but to believe in and trust God above all. Even as it provides useful practical tips about how to use our potentials meaningfully, it reminds us that our life is given to us by God.
The chapters of this book, short and to-the-point, offer you an understanding of your own self, deep enough to enable you to understand others and the realities of life’s perplexities as well. They are peppered with inspiring quotations from many wise men and women from different countries and ages. The book begins with the basics of “loving oneself” and goes on to talk about how to cultivate a better self-image, build self-confidence, think optimistically, trust oneself, develop a love for reading, conquer fear and worry, avoid depression and discouragement, live one day at a time, and learn how to say ‘I can’ and when to say ‘no’!
This book is already a best-seller: some 22,000 copies have already been sold! You might like to procure a copy of it, too. It’s a useful guide in encouraging you to reflect on your life, renew your energy levels and further your confidence to move on ahead with faith in God. It certainly helped me to feel that I should be confident enough the next time to say “no” to unwanted air conditioning!. n
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