I generally try to avoid plugging my books too brazenly on this website. It’s aim, first and foremost, is to offer a resource that may prove useful to you. But today I’m making an exception, following the publication of my book Seize the Day: A Mindful Guide to Fuller Living. Why? In part because the latter is very special to me, and I hope it may also prove special to others. But chiefly, it’s because I feel that it can meet a real and pressing need at this time . . . for two reasons.
First, as individuals, a country and a world, we are reeling at the moment – knocked back by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on our lives, and by the thought of the devastating consequences likely to follow in its wake. We all stand in need of hope, encouragement, inspiration – of a reminder that, for all our problems, life is still good, precious; a gift to be celebrated and lived to the full. That’s why I wrote this book; what I set out to share from the beginning. I have lived with a serious illness for a decade now, well aware that my treatment could suddenly stop working or an infection swiftly despatch me. But far from that causing me to feel sorry for myself, or to retreat into negativity, it has helped me to realise more than ever the value of each day, the beauty of the moment, the priceless treasure we have of this thing called life. As I often tell people, life is for living, and throughout the last ten years I have grabbed it with both hands, exulting in the simple but special things it has to offer. That is the overriding message of the reflections in this book – one that is summed up in its title: Seize the Day. Quite simply, we cannot afford not to. We need to hear, believe and act upon that today more than ever.
But there’s a second reason for my wanting this book to succeed, and it’s this: I hope and believe it may speak to everyone: not just Christians, but people of all faiths and none. I haven’t compromised my beliefs in writing it – at least I hope not – but I’ve tried to communicate them in a way that will touch a chord with all. Each reflection – prefaced by words of wisdom that have spoken powerfully across generations – speaks of the need to pause, consider, and open our hearts to a dimension we sometimes dismiss: the spiritual – a dimension that people are crying out for as much as they have ever done. For a variety of reasons, conventional religion has been widely rejected, but many still hunger for meaning, for purpose, for a sense of something beyond. In a materialistic age, a relativist age, a self-obsessed age, we need that so much, and nothing would give me greater happiness or satisfaction than for Seize the Day in some small way to helps to help offer answers to that yearning.
Seize the Day is published by Kevin Mayhew Ltd at a recommended retail price of £14.99, but to celebrate the launch of the company’s new website it is currently available, until the end of 15 June (next Monday), at a 10 per cent discount, using the code 3S8782. It is also available from Amazon, although it is currently wrongly advertised there (as indeed it is also wrongly titled on the Kevin Mayhew site) as This is the Day – a previous working title of the book and an error that I hope both will rectify shortly.
Thank you, Nick. An inspiration as always. xx