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| Wait, What?: And Life’s Other Essential Questions |
I’m a sucker for inspirational, self-help books, especially those with a practical approach. This one hit nicely in that sweet spot between helpful and entertaining. This started as a graduation speech the author made at the Harvard School of Education. As so often happens, the video went viral and publishers came calling. They convinced him to expand his speech into a book and he did a good job with fairly thin material.
The strength of the book was in the author’s personal experiences. I learned more from his stories than I did from his advice. The advice itself is not earth-shattering, but the most profound answers are usually the simplest ones. It’s like at church where the answer to almost every question about how to better know doctrine, change your life, or deal with a tough issue is to pray and read the scriptures. It’s simple, but covers a lot of territory. The same thing is true here.
While we know that curiosity is important, do we actually practice it? Do we ask ourselves and others the questions we need to understand? I’m often guilty of complacency and being too willing to accept the status quo. Recently I have returned to college after 30 years away and have realized just how set in my ways I’ve gotten and how unhappy that has been making me. I do need to ask more questions, and the ones outlined in this book are a good place to start.
Five stars for practicality and readablity.
