Book: The Time of My Life by Cecelia Ahern
"What happens when you stop paying attention to your life?"
Synopsis: Lying on Lucy Silchester’s carpet one day when she returns from work is a gold envelope. Inside is an invitation – to a meeting with Life. Her life. It turns out she's been ignoring it and it needs to meet with her face to face.It sounds peculiar, but Lucy’s read about this in a magazine. Anyway, she can’t make the date: she’s much too busy despising her job, skipping out on her friends friends and avoiding her family. But Lucy’s life isn’t what it seems. Some of the choices she’s made – and stories she’s told – aren’t what they seem either. From the moment she meets the man who introduces himself as her life, her stubborn half-truths are going to be revealed in all their glory – unless Lucy learns to tell the truth about what really matters to her. Lucy Silchester has an appointment with her life – and she’s going to have to keep it.
Book Notes: This book has been on my bedstand for quite a while, and one lazy evening after trash talking at the TV for not having anything good on, i decided to give this book a chance and get back into reading. Definitely an Ahern book is always a good choice to jump start your reading worms, and there was just something about this book that made me feel like - this was the best time to have read this.
With a life that seems to always be moving on the fast lane, i have to admit its so easy to completely neglect other aspect of myself. 2011 was completely unbalanced for me-from love, career, family, friends- it was a just one big snowball of a mess and i felt myself rolling into 2012 completely burnt out with life. cranky, stressed out, and busy being busy. it was pathetic, and i felt my life to be utterly depressing and completely lost in my work persona that i felt like i had no other character but that.
then this book came along, and in some strangely elemental way, i felt as if the universe was reminding me about something ive lost along the way. It was one of Ahern's finest novels that leaves much to the interpretation of the reader. Its a beautiful reminder for everyone to never neglect their lives, leave the past behind, get past the persona you've begun to hide behind and to just let go and enjoy. Lessons ive forgotten, ideals i thought ive lost... sometimes we just all need to be reminded.
So cheers to starting this 2012 right. So far, its been one great adventure!
Quotable Quotes:
"These are very acceptable things in modern society. You're sick; you go to the doctor, you get antibiotics. You're depressed; you talk to a therapist, they might give you anti-depressants. Youre greys show; you get your colour done. But with your life you make a few bad decisions, get unlucky a few times, whatever, but you have to keep going, right? Nobody can see the underneath part of who you are, and if you can't see it- if an x-ray and a camera can;t take a picture of you- in this day and age the belief is, its not there. But i am here. I'm the other part of you. the x-ray to your life. A mirror is held up to your face, and im the reflection, i show how youre hurting, how youre unhappy. its all reflected on me. Make sense?"
"You started lying to other people, and because you lied to them you made it a lot easier to lie to yourself."
"Sometimes wrong numbers are the right numbers."
"How else do you think life happens? A series of coincidences and occurrences have to happen somehow. Our lives all crash and collide and you think there's no reason or rhyme to it? If there wasn't any reason for it all, what would be the point? Why do you think anything happens at all? There is an outcome, repercussions and occurrences to everybody you meet and everything you say."
"Life has a way of getting what it wants when it really knows what it wants."
"That you're not reckless, you're just sad."
"Thats a lazy dream, Lucy, If you have a dream you want to at least be able to try to achieve it in some way. Something that is seemingly beyond your grasp but that you know that with a bit of hard work you could possibly achieve. Walking to your local newsagent to buy a lottery ticket is not inspiring. Dreams should make you think, If i had the guts to do it and didnt care what anybody though, this is what i'd really do."
"Im angry because not only are you not happy where you are, but you can't even think of where youd rather be... No wonder youre stuck in a rut."
"Its nobodys fault. its not my fault. i didnt do anything wrong, i know that now. its just the way it is. sometimes things just dont work. you and me, we worked for the amount of time that we worked, and then we didnt anymore. we cant go back, and frankly, i cant see what we can be. ive changed."
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