How to Save Your Own Life: 15 Lessons on Finding Hope in Unexpected Places

This was a surprising read for me, I didn't expect such an inspirational book, these 15 lessons are truly finding hope in unexpected places. I loved that this book was written from an average person's perspective. I actually loved that this book started out with the lines, "When I was fired from my job and then diagnosed with a brain tumor, I thought my life was over." How many times have our individual lives felt the same way? Life isn't always kind, sometimes life deals you difficult moments, and we have a choice to make when things like this happen, we can either sit, and do nothing, or to simply choose to move forward with our lives. Michael Gates Gill obviously chooses to move forward with you life. His lessons teach you to listen to others who have been survivors, to listen to your own heart and its desires, to leap with faith, to let yourself be helped, and to learn from many different others. Other lessons include letting go, to laugh, to live, how less is more, and how to be a late bloomer, love, and finally hope. I love this book is written from someone who has lived life, and knows what it is like to suffer, and to move on. A definate inspirational read.

When I ordered this book, I had a great job of 16 years. About a month later I was laid off and I can't tell you how much hope this book gave me. I worked in customer service, and loved to make customers happy so even though I was doing it in my job, I could see that maybe I lost something along the way. I can't say how helpful this book is for me, and gave me hope even when I thought all was lost. Finding hope is what this book is about, based on the authors experiences, and it is helping to save me when I got down and continues to help me with the experiences and lessons learned :)

Michael Gates Gill's book, "How to Save Your Own Life, 15 Lessons on Finding Hope in Unexpected Places" makes life a little simpler to comprehend and easy to go forward. A lot of his book focuses on paying attention to what is going on around you, having random discussion with people, just being out there and seeing what happens. But you have to be out there. If you hide away waiting for that perfect opportunity it may never happen. Maybe you aren't where you feel you should be ie, Starbucks after a long successful run in the advertising industry, but there you are and life is not over yet. Keep you eyes and ears open. Be ready to veer off the track you've been running on even if at first glance it seems a little rockier and may have more hills. We often start off thinking we have our whole life planned from college to retirement but then life throws us a curve ball and then what? Gill gives us a series of life lessons that will keep any one of us going forward no matter how many times we may have stop and duck when another curve ball comes our way. I loved this book. Not a lot of chart making and list keeping. Just living and being aware. Oh, and a latte or two.

I loved this book and it came at a good time for me. Right when my husband and I were facing struggles in our life - I read "How to save your own life." The principles Michael Gates Gill refers to are not as compelling as his own story. Losing his job, his life in the 'upper class' and then getting a brain tumor and other trials, made my problems seem small - and yet, he is happy. He tells you how his focus changed and how it can change for you too, and result in a happiness through the trials. I loved this book and will recommend it to everyone!

"How to Save Your Own Life" is a very timely piece written to inspire people to get with it when times are tough. Here we have a man who has lost his career, family and health all in a very short time. This is a 'riches to rags' tail, as he calls it, with an upbeat message and with the end of the journey helping us to find hope. Surely some will think this a quaint writing, but being able to find ourselves in difficult circumstances can help us to create a new view of things. He does not mention the oft quoted concept that in Chinese the word for crisis is also the symbol or word used for opportunity. Here he shows how he has used his crisis for an opportunity. Having not read his original book: "How Starbucks Saved My Life," I am intrigued to get that next as a read to hopefully inspire. What he is not saying here is that getting a job in a Starbucks is the end of things. Really, his job in Starbucks is his anchor. Without telling us outright, he is saying that he has the time to pursue new things as he lives a now Spartan life compared to his former life caught up in pursuit of riches. The issue is what do you do when faced with the loss of work, to turn things around. Basically, here is a way you finally get the chance to do what is that urge inside of you, whether it be writing, singing, inspiring, whatever it may be. He has now written one best seller and is on the way, in my view, to another with this book. He has a movie deal possibly coming up, which is sure to help him tremendously. One thing about this amazing book, it is never a drag. You know what I mean, where you feel sad reading about the pitfalls that someone has to deal with. Yet, it hits you square with some profound stories of the mans life and the influencial people in his life, who no longer are there to help him. He, on his own, makes his world for himself. Now, he travels, to sell his book, speaks on TV, at corporations and the like, you know he gets honoraria and fees for these things, yet he keeps his Starbucks job. Here is a "Rich Man" using his opportunity to learn to serve, and throughout he is attemting to encourage us to do likewise. Michael Gill is definately an interesting writer. He has threads of religious and philisophical thought showing he is an eclectic reader and he applies inspiring thought from diverse perspectives. Really one of the most inspiring short reads I have read, this is on par with the likes of "Message to Garcia", "The Greatest Thing in the World," and "When a Man Comes to Himself," and the like. His "15 Lessons on Finding Hope in Unexpected Places" is a quick read, with good heartfelt stories that are sure to inspire new thoughts and hope in opportunity. I recommend this to anyone who is struggling within our times today, and tomorrow. This book will help anchor anyone who has faced difficulty. I look forward to more great reads from Micheal Gill. Here is to hope and your future.