RESCUE YOUR LIFE WITH READING AND WRITING

If all else fails, you can still rescue your life - and often the tools are simpler and quieter than you think.

Rescue doesn’t always look like a sudden breakthrough; more often it’s a series of small, deliberate acts that add up. Reading and writing are two of the most potent, portable, and inexpensive instruments for that rescue work. They let you learn faster, feel deeper, and rearrange your life from the inside out.

START WITH READING

A single book can change a map in your head. Books give you new languages for old pains, new strategies for old problems, and the consolation of knowing someone else has navigated similar terrain. You don’t have to read a whole library -  pick one that feels like company. If you’re lost, choose memoirs or essays; they’re human-scaled and practical. If you want tools, choose clear books that teach one thing at a time. Read not to escape, but to gather maps you can use.

WRITING IS TO BECOME AN ACTIVE RESCUER

Reading fills you with other people’s maps; writing helps you draw your own. Start small: five minutes of freewriting in the morning, a single page every night, a letter to someone you never send. Don’t wait for inspiration; treat writing like a muscle that responds to routine. The point isn’t to produce a masterpiece, it’s to convert chaos into sequence. When you write, you externalise what’s inside: fear becomes a sentence, confusion becomes a paragraph, and ideas become plans.

Combine the two into a habit. Pick a time and a place: fifteen minutes with tea, or twenty minutes before bed. Read a short passage and write a short response. Ask yourself three simple questions after a reading: What did this teach me? What does it make me feel? What small action will I take today because of it? These tiny bridges between reading and writing create momentum you can feel in a week.

YOUR WRITING IS YOUR EVIDENCE OF GROWTH

Keep a short journal of small wins and failures. When life seems irretrievable, the journal proves otherwise: it shows you took steps, however tiny. Track practical things too: calls made, emails sent, pages read. Concrete records reduce the fog and create leverage for next steps.

Turn reading into apprenticeship. Learn from your favourite authors, not only about feelings but also about skills: cooking, bookkeeping, gardening, coding, or how to start conversations. Borrow their methods. Practice the exercises they give. Learning a craft reorders your identity from “stuck” to “practitioner,” and that shift alone is an act of rescue. Have a look at our blog Kruger National Park: The secrets of Africa’s wild heart to explore this idea.

Share your writing. You don’t need a huge audience — a trusted friend, a writing group, or an online forum is enough. Feedback turns private rescue into public repair: it corrects blind spots, gives encouragement, and places your work in relation to others. If you’re wary, start anonymous or with one brave reader.

RESCUE YOUR LIFE WITH READING AND WRITING

Finally, be practical. Reading and writing are powerful because they combine thinking with doing. Use them to plan small experiments: apply for one job, call one person, change one habit for a week. Write about what happens; read what others attempted. Repeat. Rescue is not a single heroic act; it’s repeated curiosity and disciplined translation from thought to action.

WORDS ARE MIRACLES

When all else fails, remember this: words are miracles. They cost little, travel with you, and multiply when shared. Read to learn and to feel less alone. Write to see, to test, and to steer. Over time, small sentences become stories, small stories become paths, and paths lead you out of what felt final into something workable and new.

Please contact me, as a writing coach, to assist you with your rescue efforts.