Amazon Reviews
31 of 31 people found the following review to be helpful:
Thinking about your baggage?, November 21, 2002
By Sara Benson
Simply put, this book is about considering the choices you've made in life, and making decision based on this idea: "Live in the place you belong, with the people you love, doing the right work, on purpose."
Leider and Shapiro use the metaphor of repacking your bags for the journey ahead, mindfully considering what you need to carry with you for your vision of a happy, joyful, purposeful life, and what you can unpack and leave behind.
The book contains some inspirational stories, and a number of soul searching exercises. I was challenged by some exercises, which promote dialogue with others as part of the process. Figuring out a life path can be easier with the help of others.
Why only three stars? I grew weary of the repacking metaphor, found some exercises too simplistic to aid me, and lost interest once the focus moved on past finding purpose (about 1/2 the book) to other related topics. I give the parts that spoke to me five stars, and less to the rest of the book.
15 of 15 people found the following review to be helpful:
Highly Readable, February 20, 2003
By Sara Benson
This book dares you to have a "Time Out" from the busines of everyday and examine your life. It reminds you that life is a journey and as such, you have to continually pack and repack to lighten your load. Although it caters more to couples, everyone can benefit from it. This is a must read for someone who's standing at the crossroads of life. The exercises at the end of every chapter are very helpful. Read it, it might help you to throw away some unwanted stuff in your life.
10 of 10 people found the following review to be helpful:
And Then What?, July 27, 2006
By Susan R. Meyer
Although I was excited by the premise of Repacking Your Bags, I didn't feel that it lived uop to my expectations. The book is well-written and has interesting examples of people making life changes, but somehow the process never becomes completely clear. Perhaps there's not enough in there about how to unpack the bags and how to decide what to leave behind. Perhaps there's comething amiss in the organization. Despite some excellent information, this just never comes to gethe as a process.
3 of 3 people found the following review to be helpful:
Window of Opportunity, July 12, 2005
By Mary E. Furnas
I was stuck in a government job for 13 years - budget restraints meant few if any raises over the years - but as a manager/director the responsibilities piled on. I read this book as and most importantly found it easy to apply! I looked at my skill sets using their tools, prioritized what was important to me and rated my risks. I took a job that was to last a year which lastest 3 and tripled my income the first year of leaving Government. I've continued in the vein over the past 6 years. I have recommended this book to everyone I know who is wondering what to do with the rest of their life!
3 of 3 people found the following review to be helpful:
One of my most borrowed books is Repacking Your Bags, August 26, 2009
By Eric Wentworth
This is one of those books you don't check out of the library but purchase and keep on your active bookshelf for frequent reference. It's also one of my most borrowed books (and as a result I've had to buy the book a couple times).
My current copy of "Repacking Your Bags: How to Live with a New Sense of Purpose" is highlighted with yellow marker and my own scribbles so that I can quickly reference the most salient points the authors make. It's almost completely yellow now.
If you've ever asked yourself "I've just got to get control of my life" or "What should I do with my life?" or "I feel like I'm wasting my life---I'm not living fully" then this is the book for you.
Life is a journey. And few people have a roadmap to guide them through it. The "baggage" we accumulate as we move along in life---emotional, intellectual, and physical---defines how we spend out time. How we spend out time---our choices---determines how we will live our life, and who we are.
These are big, important questions that need to be addressed in an intelligent way in order to have a successful life.
Our choices are often ill considered, especially in our early years. Our attachements may be weighing us down, holding us back. The authors show how you can simplify your life without sacrificing the conveniences, comforts, and personal needs we want in our life. As they brilliantly point out, we can get more from life by having less. It's certainly not a new concept, but this book illustrates it better than most.
For example, the authors address aging in this way---we age and lose our "aliveness" because we are weighed down by all the "stuff" in our life---clutter, attachments that no longer serve us, committments we aren't enthusiastic about, and "possessions that are irrelevant to the chief purpose of our life."
As Richard Byrd, the famous Antarctic explorer said, "Half the confusion in the world comes from not knowing how little we need."
The book also spends a lot of time discussing "Discovering Your Purpose." The current economic crisis has caused an enormous amount of disruption in the lives of Americans. As the authors demonstrate, "Often it takes a crisis for people to discover (or rediscover) their purpose." Few people have the courage, discipline, and sense of purpose required to live their passions. This book provides the encouragement and direction to move confidently in the direction of your life's purpose. Doing this is the foundation for true happiness---and why so many people function with a nagging sense that their life isn't making a difference.
This book was originally written (in 1995)before the subjects it addresses were as popular as they are today. Some gems from this book include "You need to build a reputation based upon portable skills." And "To prosper in this volatile world of work, we must be ready to recycle ourselves." And this insight, "Happiness has more to do with experiencing than with having." And finally, "Unpacking (our bags) can be one of the most painful of human experiences. At the same time it can be intensely liberating."
I just finished reading Ciji Ware's excellent book (based upon her personal experiences) called Rightsizing Your Life. In it she elaborates upon how "unpacking your bags" and moving in a simpler, less encumbered existence can be like a huge weight off your shoulders. But it takes guts to do it.
It seems that many of the most popular books about living a true life of meaning derive much of their thinking from Repacking Your Bags (which in turn derives much of its thinking from Buddha, Dale Carnegie, David Schwartz and other pioneers in conscious living). They all provide key components of living a rewarding and successful life.
It can be difficult. It does require discipline. And courage is essential. But "the road ahead can indeed be the best part of the journey. It can be a chance to rediscover and reembrace what matters most to us---an opportunity to attain a deeper and more authentic sense of fulfillment than ever before."
Repacking Your Bags will help you rearrange your priorities, reframe your vision of the good life, recover a new sense of being alive, and create a life anchored in what matters most to us.
You will like this book. But please, don't ask to borrow my copy.
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