Tigers in your lifeboat...

My roommate Annie and I started a book club back at the beginning of fall. The book that we read for the month of March was entitled "Life of Pi". It is about a young boy who gets stranded on a life boat in the middle of the ocean with a hyena, gorilla, tiger and zebra for his companions. It is a fascinating book and one that takes quite a twist at the end when you least expect it. I loved the book and it facilitated some of the best discussion we have ever had. Everyone was anxious to add their opinion and thoughts into the conversation.

I am also a part of another book club through my work. My colleagues and I meet during our lunch break for our book discussions. I enjoyed reading "Life of Pi" so much that I suggested this be the book of choice for my work book club as well. As we have discussed the book at work, my friend Barb pointed out some interesting life parallels.

In the story, Pi has to figure out how he can co-exist with a large bengal tiger without becoming the tigers dinner. He goes through a list of possibilities, such as poisoning it, strangling it, dumping it over board... etc... before realizing that for one reason or another, none of these are actual possibilities. He then realized that his only option of surviving was to "tame" the tiger.

While my friend was not a big fan of the book ending (don't worry, I won't divulge what happens) she said the book has helped her tremendously. She realized that in life, we all have a few "tigers" in our lifeboat... so to speak. However, to get rid of those tigers, we can't drown them, poison them, or dispose of them in any other way. We have to "tame" them and by "tame", I mean learn to co-exist an deal with them as they are. We have to "become the tiger" and put ourselves in the tiger's shoes... ha ha... tigers don't wear shoes...

I guess the point is that we all have things (tigers)in our lives (our lifeboat) that can sometime make life unpleasant, disappointing or downright hard... However, whether they are unpleasant, disappointing or hard is not the point... they aren't going to go away. It is up to us to figure out how we are going to "tame" the tiger and enjoy life along the way. As my motto goes... Life is meant to be enjoyed! If you have a tiger in your life preventing you from enjoying life, my advice is to take the time to "tame" the tiger!

Man I love to read... a few other books on my list to read right now include...
The Alchemist
Leadership and Self Deception
Eat, Pray, Love

Any other good book recommendations are always welcome...