The Happiness of Pursuit by Chris Guillebeau. 

4/5 rating.

Book #2 of 2020. Read January 6, 2019.

This was an incredibly entertaining book! If you are thinking about changing your life, setting huge goals, and starting on an earth-changing quest, this is absolutely the book for you!! (And just in time for New Year’s Resolutions.) Chris weaves both his story of visiting all 193 UN accepted countries with stories of a plethora of other people on their own personal quests. He considers “quests” something that: has clear goals, is very challenging, requires sacrifice, is driven by a calling or mission, and has a series of small steps.

I found this book to be incredibly motivating – just in time to add that extra punch to summit Kilimanjaro! It also is a fun book that will keep me striving to read more and more.

As Chris so beautifully says: “Why pursue a quest? Because each of us in our lives is writing our own story, and we only have one chance to get it right.”

Quotes:

“Once you start down the road to adventure, you don’t always know where you’ll end up.”

“When discontent sets in, it’s time to make some changes. In a world where so much is possible, yet so many people are unhappy, there has to be another way.”

“Dissatisfaction + Big Idea + Willingness to Take Action = New Adventure”

“I felt a deep discomfort with the life I’d been prescribed. I had some preexisting interests and desires, so seeing that others had made that same leap, I packed it all in and followed a dream of my own.”

“When a person is really happy they don’t have to tell people about it. It just shows.”

“Nevertheless, there’s a mission out there that is greater than yourself. Whether or not you think of it in spiritual terms, a true calling will challenge and thrill you.”

“A real dream requires investment, and often it calls for sacrifice—yet when you feel excited about something, even if it doesn’t make sense to others, the journey will produce its own rewards.”

“When a great adventure is offered, you don’t refuse it.” – Amelia Earhart

“He had decided to live forever, or die in the attempt.” – Joseph Heller

“We all have but a short time on this earth. As slow as time can be it is also fast, swift, furious and mighty and then it’s over.”

“Find what troubles you about the world, then fix it for the rest of us.”

“What’s worth living for? If you could only pursue one thing, what would you craft a life around and do every day? And what if real sacrifice was involved…would you stick with it?”

“When misadventure strikes, you can panic or you can figure it out. One of these solutions is better than the other.”

“If something is going to keep you up at night, let it be the fear of not following your dream. Be afraid of settling.”

“If you’re going to worry about something, worry about the cost of not pursuing your dream.”

“This is my story. No one can take it from me. And that is what has made everything entirely worth it.”

“It has become ever more clear to me that if I had spent my life avoiding any and all potential risks, I would have missed doing most of the things that have comprised the best years of my life.”

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