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Compassion

Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder

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Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder
by Arianna Huffington
Format:  Audiobook

One evening in 2007, Arianna Huffington dropped to the floor in her home office.  The fall resulted in a horrible cut over her eye and a broken cheekbone.  After months of medical tests, it was determined that Arianna was suffering from exhaustion.  At the time, Huffington was working 18 hour days as the co-founder of The Huffington Post, writing books, appearing at speaking engagements and writing as a syndicated columnist.  Arianna had always thought to herself that these were all indicators of success.  By all accounts she was a successful woman.  But as she recovered from her injuries, Arianna took a step back and began to realize that society’s definition of success was killing her.

Huffington compares society’s drive to the legs of a three-legged stool.  Striving for money and power comprise two of the legs, but without the third leg, or “third metric” the stool will topple over.  As Arianna describes it, we all need a third leg, or “Third Metric” composed of our well-being, our ability to draw on our intuition and inner wisdom, our sense of wonder, and our capacity for compassion and giving.

In sharing her story, Huffington encourages us to disconnect from our devices more frequently, get more sleep, cherish the people we are with, enjoy exercise and adventure, and most importantly be kind to one another and ourselves.   Thrive is filled with scientific findings, the personal stories of athletes, quotes from famous philosophers, poets, and entrepreneurs, and Arianna’s own personal stories.  We must all strive to remember the things that truly sustain us, prioritize the people in our lives who really matter, and be aware that we are actually living.

Find Thrive in the catalog.

This is Motherhood: A Motherly Collection of Reflections and Practices

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This is Motherhood: A Motherly Collection of Reflections and Practices by Jill Koziol and Liz Tenety
Publication Date: March 2019
Format: Book
Who’s it for: Mamas everywhere

Published by the co-founders of “Motherly,” an online community, This is Motherhood is a collection of essays and practices written by mothers from all walks of life. Each woman’s voice helps to address the complexity of motherhood and gently reminds us that there is no one right way to be a mother. To further the reader’s introspection of a particular topic, each chapter also concludes with a journaling or meditative exercise. As a reader makes their way through the book, one central message remains loud and clear: motherhood can be hard and ultimately, mamas have to do what is best for them and their children–unsolicited parenting advice, be gone!

My first thoughts after reading this book were: “Oh my goodness, why couldn’t this book have been published before my oldest child was born?!” As any new mother might experience, our inner voices can sometimes be overwhelming and our thoughts can be nonsensical:
“Am I feeding my baby enough?”
“Is my baby happy?”
“My baby hates me! I can’t make him stop crying!”
“Wow…I really need a shower…but taking a moment for myself is so selfish!”
“If I go out with my friends, will my baby think that I left her?”

Concerned with the many worries and doubts that motherhood brings, mothers can often feel alone in their struggle to understand it all. This book hides nothing in addressing both those great highs of motherhood (My baby smiled at me!!) and those low-lows (When was the last time I got a restful night’s sleep?). I found so much comfort in these women’s words and stories. Reading about other mother’s perspectives has shown me that women everywhere are experiencing and thinking similar things while navigating through motherhood, which is so wonderfully reassuring. Mamas, we are not alone and we’ve got this!

Bonus: This book is now my go-to baby shower gift! Babies are adorable and new and exciting…but let’s not forget about supporting those mamas too!

Find it in our catalog.

The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland

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The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland  By Jim Defede
Format:  Audiobook
Who It’s For:  Adults

Everyone remembers where they were on 9/11.  It was a catastrophic day.  Seldom though, do we think about what happened to the rest of the planes in the sky after planes crashed into the World Trade Center Towers, the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, PA.  At 9:42 am, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all civilian aircraft within the continental U.S., and civilian aircraft already in flight were told to land immediately.  All international civilian aircraft were either turned back or redirected to airports in Canada or Mexico, and were banned from landing on United States Territory for three days.

When the United States shut down its airspace, tiny Gander International Airport in Newfoundland opened its runways, taking in 38 wide-body planes on transatlantic routes.   A town of about 10,000 people, with one hotel, took in nearly 7,000 passengers from more than 100 countries.  They made sure that the people, dogs, cats, and apes that were on board the planes forced to land in Gander, had food, prescriptions, bedding, clothing, toothbrushes, shower facilities and a place to sleep for several days.

Through interviews and research, Jim Defede shares with us the true story of the incredible acts of bravery, kindness, compassion and comfort that the people of Gander shared with those stranded passengers.  A day that was filled with so much terror and grief can also be looked upon as a day that humans were at their best in a small town in Newfoundland.

Find it in the catalog.