5 Things To Do Daily

By Nina Sankovitch

I have always been a reader. As a child, I’d rather have gone to the local bookmobile than to a carnival. Books were the glue that held my family together, through high and low times. But when my oldest sister died of cancer at the age of forty-six, I reacted by running as fast as I could away from her death and my fears of death.

I was determined to live a life worth living, full of activities and commitments, trying to keep everyone around safe, and me, comforted. No matter how fast I ran and how much I did, however, I could not relieve my sorrow. Finally, after three years of craziness, I realized what I needed to do. I needed to return to books and to reading in order to find answers, and comfort and escape.

I began a project to read a book a day and write about every book I read. To some people reading a book a day may seem like a form of mania but for me it was pure pleasure. Through the connections I made with books and authors and even other readers, my life changed profoundly, and in unexpected ways. My book, Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, tells the story of my year of magical reading and of my lifetime of reading.

In our lightning-paced culture that encourages us to seek more, bigger, and better things, my year of reading showed me how I could meaningfully deepen the quality of my everyday life — by taking the time to truly live it. For me, the five daily things all women should do for themselves are clear: read, talk, walk (while singing), write, and smile.

Next: Read and Talk

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Sheleen A.

7:06AM PST on Jan 9, 2013

Thanks for this I love reading, writing and doing all these things and they often help me out

January 9
send a green star

Alina M.

3:20PM PDT on Sep 14, 2011

Very inspiring.Thanks.

September 14
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Sarah M.

5:34PM PDT on Jul 25, 2011

thanks

July 25
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Nina A.

8:01AM PDT on Jun 29, 2011

thanks.

June 29
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selin d.

11:15AM PDT on Jun 26, 2011

nicee

June 26
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Vicki P.

3:44AM PDT on Jun 8, 2011

Thank-you!

June 8
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Ann F.

9:23AM PDT on Jun 7, 2011

June 7
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Claire C.

10:12PM PDT on May 23, 2011

I have been reading 15-17 verses from the Bible every day into my son's voicemail on his cell phone for the past 8 months now. It has us both in our Bibles daily and has become my very favorite part of the day!!

May 23
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Ree O.

11:12AM PDT on May 21, 2011

Thank you for this really inspiring article! As I was reading it, I was also writing the points on a post-it which I will stick to my bedroom door as a reminder! This is exactly what I need to do in my life - thank you for writing your experiences and sharing with us. :)