The Comfort Book - Book Summary

by Matt Haig

"Like a steaming hot chocolate on a chilly day. "
– Metro

Reflexions on hope, survival and the messy miracle of being alive.
– Canongate Cover

When I was in the store the book cover caught my eyes. Being so colourful it felt jovial and full of life. With tick pages and their scent made the perfect date for a rainy Sunday.

The book captures all - from writings on comfort foods and books, to anecdotes about inspirational people, to meaningful life lessons discovered during hard times, to just accepting life and being in the moment.

Bellow, I extracted some of the interesting ideas.

• For The Low Moments
  In life, we’ll not experience always good moments, but having the bad ones is how we learn and grow. It is important to stay positive, hopeful and how Rollo May pointed out that truly courageous are those who experience fear and move through it.
  
  A bit about breathing chapter, reminded me of a youtube podcast by Andrew Huberman about the science of breathing.
  When I need a little blast I try double breathing or for relaxing the box breathing or pursed-lip breathing.
  
  For some time I stopped asking myself Why me? when something bad happened, because I didn’t want my brain to look for more reasons, but when I read How to be random I felt there is no why, to begin with.
  I loved the ending highly recommend reading it.
  

And in our darkness even the tiniest fragments of light can shine, capture our attention and maybe even lead us home.

• Love Yourself
  It is important to be kind to yourself, and remember that you deserve Love.
  
  Relax! - “I think that resting might actually be the main point of life”. I realised that I feel guilty when I’m not doing anything and even if I don’t change my state I fall in a loop where I’m stressed because I want to de-stress.
  
  Most of the time people try to discover the meaning of life, but a good reason is “for the people you will meet... but also the people you will be.”
  

The sky doesn't start above us. There is no starting point for sky. We live in the sky.

• To Remember
  Don't expect people to understand you when they cannot understand themselves.
  

Your self worth is not found inside the minds of other people.

The author was open about his mental struggles, and what help him. He tells us that despite the bad experiences, we should embrace the imperfections as a natural part of our existence and just allow ourselves to live.

I think we should write our version of this book. Like a journal, on how we managed to get past our lowest moments as a reminder of our victories and courage.

Note: Some pieces of information are left out of the book.
Get the full experience by reading it! ❤