Friday, 12 October 2007 00:00 | and posted in Book Reviews
We live under stress and pressure in so many ways. Wouldn't you like to learn how to break free from so many of the fears, worries and distractions that prevent you living life to the full?
"Well - yes!" is the answer to the rhetorical question above.
Anthony Delaney starts his first chapter - I Don't Have to Be Afraid of Commitments - by stating that he doesn't like "to do" lists. It's something which I immediately related to; I still have a "to do" list from years ago, and nothing on it has ever been done. However - and this is the good bit - he's not writing a "to do" list, he's writing a list of things which you never, ever have to do again. It's brilliant. But - and this is what is so interesting - the list of things which I don't ever have to do again are just as hard to not do as it is to do that as-of-yet uncompleted list of things to tidy my room.
So what is this incredible list of things to not do? Well, there's the one above, and then there is I Don't Have to Worry if Someone Rejects Me, I Don't Have to Please Everyone, and I Don't Have to Be Fearful over Finances. Further issues not to ever worry about again are I Don't Have to Be Afraid to Die, and I Don't Have to Get Angry, as well as I Don't Have to Feel Guilty Any More.
I obviously can't go into everything Anthony Delaney talks about, because then there's no point in getting his book, but I will describe a few things. I really liked the Commitments chapter; he said a lot of things about setting goals and achieving these dreams - about having a life with a purpose, a goal, instead of wandering aimlessly along the street of life, looking for something, anything, to do. Another chapter which was on that theme was I Don't Have to Please Everyone, which talked about you following your mission for life using your talents for your purpose, rather than disobeying like King Saul when he didn't do everything he was told to do by God.
There are a lot of books which talk about what you should do so you don't have to do this kind of thing, and this is similar because you don't stop worrying because you just tell yourself to. But it helps and really lets you see what you can do. So it is a kind of "to do" list. However, I found that completing this "to do" list of things not to do was far more interesting and rewarding than merely shoving things back in appropriate drawers. Anthony Delaney outlined each of his points carefully, often illustrating with a story of his own or someone else's. It can be funny but it isn't afraid to be challenging, because that after all is the purpose of the book: to challenge you to not do these things which are unnecessary.
The (Don't Have) To Do List is written by Anthony Delaney and you can buy it from Amazon