A Visit to The Midnight Library
I just finished reading “The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig. This was forever in my want-to-read list but I haven’t found an inexpensive copy of it. Until I saw one on Shopee. 🙂 I guess being 40 meant being extra thrifty (most likely the book will just be read once or twice); and also splurging where necessary (health, wellness & education).
Honestly, I could somehow relate to the main character, Nora Seed. She thinks her life is mediocre, and it’s set up for disappointment. There’s even a heavy tome that is her “Book of Regrets”.
They say that regrets are usually found at the end of life; what I found interesting was that Nora is probably in her mid-30’s. Does it mean that a lot of younger people are now feeling unaccomplished or that the elders suppress their ill feelings more? I suppose this book is a call to take stock of our lives midway.
Regrets
If it were me, what would be in my Book of Regrets, I wonder? What would be in yours or anybody’s?
- It could be the job that one is doing now. What if it’s different?
- What if you took another course in college? Maybe something that you are passionate about, and not what the parents think is profitable.
- If only we had made better and healthier choices when we were younger.
- If only she had married that guy, rather than this person who is hurting her emotionally.
- Marrying too early? Or marrying too late? Getting married at all?
- Wishing we had embraced and said “I love you” to a loved one one last time before they are gone. 🙁
“What if” and “if only” are keys to opening the door to regrets and to the desire to live in another life, maybe be another person. But, I have learned that each person’s life is unique and it has its own struggles.
I admit, sometimes our struggles do get too heavy. Our shoulders slump forward in defeat and sorrow. We do not even see a way out, unless…
But wait, there’s hope.
Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
31 but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
BibleGateway
Hope in Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ is always, always my Anchor and Comforter. As much as I want to be with Him, that doesn’t mean I must end my own life. Each day is a new chance to live out God’s purpose, to live for Christ and invite others to do the same.
Little miracles give hope. Things just look dull at the times I feel so down. It takes great effort, but I search for the little miracles God is sending: a cooling breeze on a summer day, birdsong in the city. For the tiny magical moments: a beautiful pink sunset sky, hearing childlike laughter and chatter from my kids, and the golden sunlight.
Gratitude nourishes hope. Gratitude means that wherever I am, whatever I have, I am thankful to the Lord; I will praise Him in any circumstance and appreciate the people in my life.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
BibleGateway
Midlife crisis? Look up, look within. Open up the heart to praise, open the eyes to new opportunities. Jesus loves unconditionally, forgives repeatedly, gives several chances after that second chance. Finally, give life another chance as well. 🙂
Do you have regrets, too? How do you deal with them?
The Midnight Library
Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Magical Realism
Canongate Books
August 13, 2020
Paperback
339
'Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices... Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?'
A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time.
Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?
In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.
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Good day. It’s cymplified{at}gmail.