I am fond of reading. I read to learn a new technology. I read biographies to know about personal journeys. I read non-fiction to learn new ideas and get a different perspective. How can I read something which is not only useful to me but also useful for my loved ones?
I searched for “marriage” on Amazon.com with the intention to find popular books on marriage advice. If you ask why, it is because I’m getting married in few weeks. The search result listed a book with more than 90 thousand reviews. It was the “5 love languages” by Gary Chapman. I have heard references to this book several times. I guess it was time to read the source.
I have completed the introduction and preliminary chapters. I hope to learn something insightful and apply them with my loved ones. It feels like cheating. It feels that this book is like “formula” to success, similar to the book “7 ways to persuade people” and “how to win friends”. Initial chapters talk about the love-tank and how its emptiness leads to ant-social behaviour. Gary thinks that giving and receiving love will keep this tank full and propel us towards a happy life in all dimensions.
This idea sounds similar to those mentioned in a book by Osho. He said the self-love would fill up ones love-tank and overflow will fill the love-tank of all around him. I am guessing that eastern philosophy and western findings end up as different perspectives of the same phenomena. Let’s see if that’s true.