5 Inspiring Books To Get You Through Hard Times | The Odyssey Online
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Health Wellness

5 Books That Helped Me Turn The Page On My Depression

A list of must-read books that'll leave you feeling inspired again.

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5 Books That Helped Me Turn The Page On My Depression

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Are you feeling lost, unhappy, or just having a hard time figuring out your true purpose in life? If so, you're in the right place. Growing up, I faced many challenges like my parents getting divorced, losing a friend to suicide, getting diagnosed with skin cancer at 16-years-old, and losing my mom to lung cancer four days after my 19th birthday. It was those life-altering moments that sent me on a long quest to find happiness again. Aside from the love and support from family and friends, I found contentment through reading. With that being said, here are 5 amazing books that helped me get through some of the hard times and will hopefully help you through yours.

1) You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero

This book is hands down one of my favorites. It is filled with inspiring stories, advice, and lessons that you can practice in your everyday life. It will help you identify and fix the self-sabotaging habits that you've grown accustomed to doing over the years and create a life that you truly love. The best part is the fact that the chapters are short and easy to read which is a great way to kick-start or end any day.

2) The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

This book is about the author's year-long attempt to find the meaning of her true happiness. It is totally relatable because at some point in our lives we're bound to feel as if we've hit a "mid-life crisis." It's entertaining, funny and shows how you can improve your own life through both small and big changes. It's also not your typical preachy self-help kind of book either which is a total plus.

3) Love Your Life in 30 Days by Mike Dooley and Hope Koppelman

This is a workbook with 30 daily activities that are created in order to help you move closer to your aspirations, whatever they may be. I loved this book because it held me accountable and gave me the push that I needed in order to figure out what exactly I wanted in life and what was actually important to me. Overall, the daily lessons and journal activities were so fun and took less than 10 minutes each day.

4) 101 Secrets For Your Twenties by Paul Angone

This book is perfect for anyone in their twenties. Let's be honest, the struggle of no longer being a teenager is filled with confusion, loneliness, transition, horrible jobs, disappointment, break-ups and more. With that being said, this book is filled with hilarious, honest, relatable and wisdom filled stories that will help you get through those tough days.

5) The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson

Last but not least, there's that point in your life where you stop with all the rainbows and butterflies and realize that being positive all of the time is unrealistic and doesn't always work. Sometimes, life is just going to be one big suckfest and that's okay. After reading this, you'll feel refreshed and more confident in knowing how to embrace the suck and just simply move on. Plus, we could all use a little tough love sometimes.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, Odyssey may earn a portion of qualifying sales.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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