BlogHer Book Club - My Life Map

When I was growing up, I read a lot. My life wasn't exactly peachy and I enjoyed the ability to escape into another world. I read those "Choose Your Own Adventure" books but they kind of drove me crazy. With my chaotic life and the constant uncertainty, I preferred stories that had a beginning, middle and end. Controlling my own destiny was not something I enjoyed when reading. I would rather pretend to be or do whatever was going on in the story so that I didn't have to think about being me.

I am going to be honest. I really struggled with reading My Life Map: A Journal to Help You Shape Your Future by Kate and David Marshall. Chapter One tells you how to use the book. It's not a standard 'start at the beginning and go to the end' journey. You have a choice in how you approach the actual process of life mapping. Having choices seemed to increase my anxiety about it.

I chose to use the 'Whole Life Map' as my guideline. I spent a lot of time focusing on the past portion because I have had an eventful life leading up to age 40 so that took a large chunk of time. In retrospect, perhaps I should have done a 'Ten Year Map' instead. I thought that I would struggle with mapping my future more than my past but I was mistaken. Looking at my life moving forwards was a lot easier for me.

You ask yourself so many valuable questions when reading this book. I really enjoyed this part because it helped me let go of the things I couldn't control about my past while showing me how much I am in charge of my future.

Bottom line - read this book. It really helps put things into perspective.  :)


This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own. If you'd like to join the book club discussion, visit http://www.blogher.com/bookclub/now-reading-my-life-map.