I have always been a fan of Winnie the Pooh. Growing up, my favorite stuffed toy was a Pooh whose stomach squeaked (it was designed for babies), I would sleep with him every night and set him on my bed with my other toys when I went off to school. I watched the cartoons, I read the books, I had the merchandise... fan!
So when my husband pulled out a book from his collection called 'Tao of Pooh', I thought 'excellent, a chance to read Pooh as an adult'. I had no idea what it was about and failed to notice the ying-yang symbol on the front.
The book, by Benjamin Hoff turned out to be a great read and an excellent guidance/lifestyle type book. It uses ancient Chinese theories to break down each character perfectly and analyze their personalities and how those traits can benefit or hinder you. It is full of inspiring and obvious quotes that have been stuck in my head since I finished the book about a week ago.
Wisdom, knowledge and courage are great things but some people, who are lucky to have these qualities, abuse them. Take Owl, he uses his knowledge for the sake of appearing wise and superior, he doesn't share his knowledge with the others.
The basic idea of the book is knowing your own limitations and listening to your 'inner nature', it can be very positive and beneficial to your own happiness.
I love this book and would recommend it to anybody, 'Winnie the Pooh' lover or not. I already know that my sister will benefit from reading this book. This book is a great resource for bringing yourself back down to Earth and to listen to that inner nature because sometimes life gets shitty but if you just take some tips from Pooh, things don't seem so bad after all!
“Things just happen in the right way, at the right time. At least when you let them, when you work with circumstances instead of saying, 'This isn't supposed to be happening this way,' and trying harder to make it happen some other way.” ― Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
“There are things about ourselves that we need to get rid of; there are things we need to change. But at the same time, we do not need to be too desperate, too ruthless, too combative. Along the way to usefulness and happiness, many of those things will change themselves, and the others can be worked on as we go. The first thing we need to do is recognize and trust our own Inner Nature, and not lose sight of it.”― Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
“You can't save time. You can only spend it, but you can spend it wisely or foolishly.”― Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
“The play-it-safe pessimists of the world never accomplish much of anything, because they don't look clearly and objectively at situations, they don't recognize or believe in their own abilities to overcome even the smallest amount of risk.”― Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
