Review: “I Decided to Live as Me”

Are you struggling in your adulting stage of life? Well, this book might be a good fit for you.

BTS Jeon Jungkook had this book beside him while packing in a Bon Voyage episode in Malta. The only reason why I got so ecstatic about this book. Plus, the aesthetics of the cover and the simple yet artistic illustrations. Also, I am not into reading nowadays, but I am surprised that I finished reading this in less than four days — shookt me. That’s how excited I was.

And the book did not fail me.

“I Decided to Live as Me” is the English translation of the Korean best-seller book “나는 나로 살기로 했다” which 김수현/ Soo Hyun Kim originally wrote.

The book allows its readers to self-reflect and to address the mental and inner issues. The author gave heartfelt advice and made everything easy to understand by sharing her real-life experiences, making them more authentic. I felt like I am just talking with a friend who has the same concerns in life as me.

Reading this book made me realize and discover more things about me — things I don’t know about me, things I am not aware I am doing, and the way I live as a young adult.

It does not end with self-reflection; this book provides a to-do list for someone adulting. Yep, things you should and should not do as an adult. What I like most about this book is that it centers on the topic of loving yourself for who you are now while working on the better version of yourself and facing the harsh reality of being an adult while pursuing the best in everything.

I like how the author emphasized loving oneself while respecting other people, but I find some of the given points a bit aggressive to do to others – this is my personal opinion, though. We are taught to love others the way we love ourselves. Isn’t it better to live a life-loving people and learning how to love even those who are unlovable? This is why loving and understanding oneself matters. You cannot pour out if you are an empty can.

Another thing that this book made me realized. The simple things we can do in our daily lives can make significant results. We should find joy in living because we all have the right to be happy in our own ways. The world may be cruel and dark, but let’s choose to be a light of this world. Live as a grown-up individual while enjoying the life. Day by day, aim to move a step closer to having a meaningful life.

“Nobody is perfect. I make mistakes, and that is completely okay. But I learn, I grow, I change and I have decided to live as me.”

Young adult life is never easy, but know that you are a work in progress. Things may not be well now, but surely it will.