Mark Manson’s “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” was one of the more practical and useful happiness/life advice books I’ve read in a while. A few reflections:
(1) Mark’s liberal use of profanity to make his point made me chuckle at various points. It is thus fitting that the biggest lesson I took away from the book was a point he made early on in the book (paraphrased) – We all walk around giving too many f*cks. We let far too many things bother us – none of this is going to matter when we look back years from now. Leading a good life is about learning to give a f*ck about the few things that matter.
I’ve thought about this a lot over the past weeks since reading the book. Even today, I faced an incident that I might have reacted to. But “don’t give too many f*cks about random things” came right to mind. I smiled and moved on.
(2) “Often, the only difference between a problem being perceived as painful or powerful is whether we feel we chose it. With great responsibility comes great power.”
With great responsibility comes great power is a wonderful flip of the famous Spiderman quote “with great power comes great responsibility.”
(3) “Wanting positive experience is a negative experience. Accepting negative experience is a positive experience.”
As I reflected on a sub-par first half of this year during my mid-year break, I realized that I’d let far too many things get to me. I’d lost perspective and equanimity over an uncharacteristically long stretch. So, Mark’s wisdom came at a time when I was just working out how to take action on that realization.
It is short and impactful – a book I’ll be recommending.
