Wide Awake (Erwin McManus).

Wide Awake was one of the most helpful books for me during my transition from college into the "real world." I have to admit that I'm a bit biased about this book--I go to Mosaic Community Church where Erwin McManus is the pastor. I got the added bonus of hearing McManus discuss each chapter at church week after week, and his presentations provided me with the clarity I needed to fully understand the content found on the book's pages.

Regardless of my affiliation with both Mosaic Church and McManus himself, I truly believe that this is the perfect book for anyone transitioning into a new phase of life. It's also the right book for anyone who feels that their life has come to a standstill. The book is all about encouraging the reader to pursue a life wide awake, to pursue living one's dreams in present-day life instead of allowing them to remain as figments of their subconscious.

The book is broken down into chapters in order to explore the characters within ourselves that are waiting to be set free. Each chapter challenges the reader to dig deep and discover the potential that is undoubtedly within them. McManus encourages readers to recognize that we must be awakened from our sleepwalking in order to live the lives God has created for us. He calls us to understand that not only will our own lives be improved by comprehending our potential but he also stresses that the world needs us to live up to the standards God has set for us. We must create, dream, imagine and, ultimately, live. McManus mandates that we must live the lives that were set out before us in order to improve ourselves and our communities.

The book is simple to read and easy to follow. It's the type of book that some readers may be unable to put down; it's the type of book that other, more leisurely readers will be able to set down for a few days and return to without feeling overwhelmed or lost. The book is well-written, Biblically based and foundationally sound. Here's an excerpt from one of my favorite chapters, a section that investigates the "Explorer" character found within each and every one of us:

In an excerpt from Wide Awake:

If you're going to create the life of your dreams, you have to once again choose to explore. You need to make it a life mandate to learn everything and anything you need to know to turn your dreams into reality. You have to start making yourself flexible and pliable again, because if you stop learning, you will stop growing and will never create a life beyond the one you have right now...

When you are called out by God, you have to take on a learning mode that recognizes you are called by God to explore unknown territories and go to uncertain environments. To some of you, God is literally saying, "You need to leave your country, your relatives, your house and go to a place you've known if you are going to live the life of your dreams..."

I wonder if some of you need to move to Tibet or maybe India or South America. Or maybe you need to find a way to deal with the issue of AIDS in Africa. Is it possible that to create the life of your dreams, you need to get up and leave what you know and relinquish the security of what you have in order to discover what you only see in your imagination? Remember, there is always a hero within you waiting to be awakened--that hero is the explorer.

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After reading the book, I found this quote by Henry David Thoreau that not only went along so well with Wide Awake but that served as consistent inspiration to me during my times of transition as well:

:: Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake. ::