There have been a few books that have inspired me over the years.
The one that stands out in recent memory is 'Dangerous Parking' by Stuart Brown. It is without doubt one of the most inspiring books I have ever read. It's a story of a man who overcomes alcohol and drug addiction, and rebuilds his life only to be faced with a bigger battle when he is diagnosed with cancer. It's funny, honest and not mawkish or sentimental - yet I cry every time I read it.

In the book there is a little piece about him being taken to a bar by a guy named Tiny who had been sober for many years. The bar is a dive, full of big hairy bikers and the like - the kind of bar where everyone stares at you before spitting on the floor. Tiny (a 6'2" hairy Hells' Angel with a beard) walks up to the barman and asks for a pint of milk much to the consternation of the barman and the derision of the rest of the punters. He eventually gets his pint,, drinks it and then leaves...and outside the pub tells the protagonist that it is far more important to do what you know is the Right Thing rather than to do what is expected of you and considered 'normal'.

'Go for the milk' is one of the best bits of advice I have ever been given.

The man who lent me the book was a man who I had fallen in love with, but who was due to fly out to Australia to work for a year. I couldn't join him due to commitments at home, and everyone told me that I was wasting my time. We'd not been together long, and there was no way we could survive a long distance relationship. People all around me told me that I should forget it, walk away from it and concentrate on finding a man nearer home.

Logically they were probably very right, but I knew I had to follow my heart and my instinct regardless of what everyone else had to say. Everytime I wavered, every time I doubted, the phrase 'Go for the milk' would pop into my head.

My boyfriend never went to Australia. He didn't want to leave me. He went for the milk too, and now we live happily together. I like to think that Dangerous Parking had something to do with that :D
( Wicca'd Witch needs ideas for a new sig on..., Sat 17 May 2008, 22:16, Reply)