What life lesson did you draw from "Man Mission" and how do you see it impacting your life?

Use this forum to discuss the January 2020 Book of the month, "Man Mission: 4 men, 15 years, 1 epic journey", by Eytan Uliel.
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Leyla Ann
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Re: What life lesson did you draw from "Man Mission" and how do you see it impacting your life?

Post by Leyla Ann »

That's another interesting remark. You see the narrator's struggles and you understand where they come from so his "downfall" isn't surprising, on the contrary Daniel's struggle was quite a twist.
Indeed. I would have been less surprised were it Sam's case rather than Daniel's.
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Post by Josmolz »

Your lesson resonated with me deeply.
Unlike yours, mine was not a quote even though the book has countless quotes that resonated with me. The protagonist's kind act of letting his friend crash on the couch despite all of his reckless financial decisions and how often he bailed out of the man missions, to me, was incredibly heartwarming. Even though his wife Racheal disagreed with his decision, he remained true to the unspoken rule of the friendship- of always helping each other whenever help is needed. No judgement.
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Post by Josmolz »

This is not a life lesson but rather an insight into the mysterious mind of a man.
the author writes that Ego mixed with adrenaline will drive men to do crazy things.
How true!
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Post by xxqueenforadayxx »

That money doesn't bring happiness or fulfillment, unless you travel with it...
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Post by Ekta Swarnkar »

Nerea wrote: 06 Jan 2020, 02:04
diamonnd wrote: 05 Jan 2020, 15:33 I think my favorite life lesson from the book was just to spend more time with my friends. I lost touch with so many good friends after school to focus more on my career. I realize now that I should catch up with them and that I need to make more time for my friends.
Sure thing. Friends play a vital role in our lives and creating more time for them will help deepen your relationship with them. That's a wise decision.
Truth! They help us get through the difficult times. I'm missing them.
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Post by Nkoo »

I learned a lot of things from reading this book. In addition to learning about being courageous about our dreams and aspirations, I equally liked the part where the author was ruminating over Tyler's disappearance earlier in the day. The author wrote: "Each moment in life is precious...". I absolutely agree with him because each moment counts. This moment you are speaking with one, the other moment, they are gone...life is fickle!
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Post by oluchiokere84 »

I learnt not to run my relationship like Rachel's. I really don't like to act all prim and proper and pretend that everything is alright when I am unhappy.
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Post by Julianna »

I think the main lesson I learned from this novel is that friendships can save your life. Through the whole book you follow these 4 friends on their journeys together and see what life is like outside the hustle of “real life” (work, family, etc). If we don’t have that “break” from real life, with friends we can laugh until we cry with, then life will be very bleak.
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Post by Areej Tahir »

Yes... Courage! that'd be the most important thing this book taught me :techie-studyinggray:
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Post by Laura Lee »

Julianna wrote: 06 Feb 2020, 12:52 I think the main lesson I learned from this novel is that friendships can save your life. Through the whole book you follow these 4 friends on their journeys together and see what life is like outside the hustle of “real life” (work, family, etc). If we don’t have that “break” from real life, with friends we can laugh until we cry with, then life will be very bleak.
That's very true. And once you've graduated and are out in the work-a-day world, it can be really hard to find time to establish new friendships. I really like how the men maintained their close friendship over the years.
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Post by readerrihana »

unamilagra wrote: 03 Jan 2020, 17:47 I don't know if this is a lesson per se, but the part that struck me most is when Sam found out his dad died. "And that means I’ll never be the child again. Just like that, poof-I’m the grownup now.”

My mom is going through treatment for stage IV cancer, and I know it's only a matter of time before I will lose her. It's really hard to think about what it will be like when your parent is gone forever. Reading this really helped me be more empathetic to my friends who have already lost their parents, and gave me insight into what I will be experiencing at some point too.
I am sorry to hear that...yes it is hard to hear such knews and I think on some level we still like to remain children of our parents- taking on the caring role, or losing one of them is hard...not that I haved been through that until now
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Post by Ten10 »

Man Mission taught me lessons on hardwork, passion, endurance and perseverance.
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Post by La Loca Designs »

I think my biggest takeaway from the book is to talk about how you are feeling with the people you are close to. The author was struggling in so many areas of his life, like work, marriage, and how to balance his time. I feel like if he had actually discussed his feelings more, he would have had more support. I keep thinking of the career decisions he made. Every time he made a career decision it was based on money and his need to sacrifice his happiness to make everyone else happy. If he had talked about how he really felt about his job, his wife might have supported him in making a change that would be more fulfilling for him. I also feel that his marriage might have had a better chance of survival if he had talked more about his feelings. Not very manly though :)
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Laura Lee
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Post by Laura Lee »

La Loca Designs wrote: 08 Feb 2020, 20:32 I think my biggest takeaway from the book is to talk about how you are feeling with the people you are close to. The author was struggling in so many areas of his life, like work, marriage, and how to balance his time. I feel like if he had actually discussed his feelings more, he would have had more support. I keep thinking of the career decisions he made. Every time he made a career decision it was based on money and his need to sacrifice his happiness to make everyone else happy. If he had talked about how he really felt about his job, his wife might have supported him in making a change that would be more fulfilling for him. I also feel that his marriage might have had a better chance of survival if he had talked more about his feelings. Not very manly though :)
I think you're right. While he made the choices he did based on what he thought was best, constantly denying one's own feelings and needs is simply not sustainable. Thanks for sharing!
Laura Lee

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Post by eastandalchemy »

Laura Lee wrote: 02 Jan 2020, 12:08 In Man Mission, Eytan Uliel skillfully interweaves the men's journeys with the life lessons he, as narrator, learns along the way. What is your favorite life lesson from the book and why?

My favorite is the observations of life shared by Peter, the German catamaran captain on Man Mission VIII, the trip to Thailand. On page 177 he tells the men: "I know what I do is strange and exotic to you . . . But that's my job . . . After a while, whatever you do in life becomes normal. I chose this life, and so this is normal for me. You have a different life, and so that is normal for you. We are all made of our experiences. The good thing is that anytime we want, we can change those experiences and change our life . . . If you choose a different life it will be strange at first, but in time almost anything can become normal."

Then he adds the challenge: "The most important thing is to have courage and to just f*#%ing do what you want. After that, my friends, everything else will be okay."

I really like Peter's perspective. Fear can be paralyzing. It can keep us back from pursuing our dreams. But if we will find the courage to pursue those dreams, even the most out-of-the-normal-rut experiences can become our new normal. I like that attitude and want to apply that to my own life.

What about you? What is your take-away from the book?
I love this sentiment as well. Too often we feel that we are 'supposed' to live life a certain way instead of following our passions, discovering our hidden talents, and (hopefully) uncovering our true purpose.
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