An Astronaut’s Guide to Life — Made me tear up!
Book by Chris Hadfield
My fascination for Astronauts started during my school days, where we were introduced to space exploration, the journey of astronauts, and Indians contribution towards space research. Everyone smart in my school aspired to be Astronaut, and NASA was like a dream, and every time our teacher used to talk about it, my eyes used to shine.
One day, the fact that we might land upon the moon just like Neil Armstrong gave wings to the daydreamer in me.
Utill I remember crying for days when the news broke of the Columbia space shuttle killing 7 astronauts, including Kalpana Chawla. I adored her, and she was my role model. I wrote essays on her and remember writing a letter to her when she took off to the space. The deadly visuals on TV daily just broke me completely — here I was, hatting every part of the space mission and wondering how stupid I was to dream of going to space someday.
If you ever meet me and talk to me about NASA, Moon landing, Space exploration, you will find that child in me whose eyes will twinkle with excitement and in a few mins will fill her eyes with tears…. It is still a mixed emotional journey for me.
I relived it again, this time as I started reading “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life — Chris Hadfield.” This holiday, as I am away from my family and loved ones, I decided to keep myself busy reading….
I first picked up “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life,” and I finished reading it in 3 days and teared up many times. I never expected a book would make me tear up so much as this one did…. Of course, I love the book!!!
I learned 3 things from the book — Leadership, Teamspirit, Being zero.
Here are some of my inspiring quotes from the book:
Being zero
“You will almost certainly be viewed in one of three ways. As a minus one: actively harmful, someone who creates problems. Or as a zero: your impact is neutral and doesn’t tip the balance one way or the other. Or you’ll be seen as a plus one: someone who actively adds value. Everyone wants to be a plus one, of course. But proclaiming your plus-oneness at the outset almost guarantees you’ll be perceived as a minus one, regardless of the skills you bring to the table or how you actually perform.”
“Loneliness, I think, has very little to do with location. It’s a state of mind. In the centre of every city are some of the loneliest people in the world. If anything, because our whole planet was just outside the window, I felt even more aware of and connected to the seven billion other people who call it home.”
“Early success is a terrible teacher. You’re essentially being rewarded for a lack of preparation, so when you find yourself in a situation where you must prepare, you can’t do it. You don’t know how.”
“In my experience, fear comes from not knowing what to expect and not feeling you have any control over what’s about to happen. When you feel helpless, you’re far more afraid than you would be if you knew the facts.”
“I’m pretty sure that I can deal with what life throws at me because I’ve thought about what to do if things go wrong, as well as right. That’s the power of negative thinking.”
Teamspirit
“Too many variables are out of my control. There’s really just one thing I can control: my attitude during the journey, which is what keeps me feeling steady and stable, and what keeps me headed in the right direction. So I consciously monitor and correct, if necessary, because losing attitude would be far worse than not achieving my goal.”
“Life off Earth is in two important respects not at all unworldly: you can choose to focus on the surprises and pleasures, or the frustrations. And you can choose to appreciate the smallest scraps of experience, the everyday moments, or to value only the grandest, most stirring ones.”
The best way to contribute to a brand-new environment is not by trying to prove what a wonderful addition you are. It’s by trying to have a neutral impact, to observe and learn from those who are already there, and to pitch in with the grunt work wherever possible.”
“What I did each day would determine the kind of person I’d become”
“Focus on the journey, not on arriving at a certain destination.”
“Over the years I’ve learned that investing in other people’s success doesn’t just make them more likely to enjoy working with me. It also improves my own chances of survival and success.”
Leadership
“Good leadership means leading the way, not hectoring other people to do things your way.”
“Life is just a lot better if you feel you’re having 10 wins a day rather than a win every 10 years or so.”
“Good leadership means leading the way, not hectoring other people to do things your way. Bullying, bickering and competing for dominance are, event in a low-risk situation, excellent ways to destroy morale and diminish productivity.”
“Ultimately, leadership is not about glorious crowning acts. It’s about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it, especially when the stakes are high and the consequences really matter.”
“But if seeing 16 sunrises a day and all of Earth’s variety steadily on display for five months had taught me anything, it was that there are always more challenges and opportunities out there than time to experience them.”
If you haven’t watched this musical video of Chris from the Space, go watch it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo
Thanks to this book, I have found a new respect for Astronauts. My biggest takeaway from this book is that we all might not be astronauts, but we can develop a new perspective on life on earth… we can all do our bit to keep our beautiful planet safe and beautiful. No matter how accomplished you get in your career, we all have to climb down the ladder so let’s do it gracefully and pick up litter on our way.
