Books have the Power to Change Lives
And now what – what do you do when you’re done with the book?
There we were, Tom and I, relaxing in bed, reading. We do it every night, no matter where we are. We stop whatever we’re doing and read for at least an hour, usually more.
This night, I turned the last page of my book and gave a sigh.
“Now, what will I read?” I said. Yes, there was accusation in my voice. As if it were Tom’s fault I had finished the book so quickly.
It was a book that was almost too good to put down. I read it quickly, in two days. And now, here I was, at the end…with no more pages to turn, just that blank page at the end of the book letting me know the story was over.
I slowly set it down on the bedside stand and pouted. I wondered if the author had other great books just like it, which wouldn’t help me at that moment, however.
“We have a ton of books,” Tom said. He glanced at me over his eyeglasses. He, of course, was not in the dilemma I was in. He was only halfway through his book. His story would go on for many more days.
The evening shadows were slipping in the window, curving around our blue drapes, whispering of nighttime. I could hear voices from the park behind us. Moms and kids, packing up their evening picnic, ready to head home for baths and bedtime reading.
I imagined them reading Good Night Moon or Where the Wild Things Are. Maybe they would read The Little Engine That Could or The Cat in the Hat. Classics. You can’t go wrong with classics. (If you need advice on classics that are not children’s books, Tom’s post on 27 Quotes includes many you might want to pick up.)
Me? I craved something that would take me off planet. Into another world. I wanted my life changed by the next book I read. I glanced over at the bookcase. The one my husband had nodded his head at.
“I’ve read all those books,” I said. The look on his face told me the petulance in my voice was unworthy of me.
I sighed again. Tom did not respond with words; he merely gave me the ‘figure it out yourself, I’m reading my book’ stare.
Words are more than letters on a page
I found a book that night. One I had read before, but so long ago, it was like a new story to me.
Did it change my life? A little. After all, it saved me from being bored. And it did give me some creative ideas I might use in a new book of my own.
That’s the beauty of words. Words that become books. They have the power to change lives because they are more than letters on a page.
Have you ever looked at someone and said, “I can see the answer swirling around in your brain”? As if the words the person is thinking are there, in a tornado above their head.
That’s how it is, how your big idea starts before it becomes a book. The words may be scrambled, but they’re there. I see them all the time.
I hear them in your voice.
I feel the weight of them in your tone.
I can almost touch them as you speak to me. You don’t know it, but you’re showing me why you should write a book, even as you’re telling me you can’t.
Today, April 2025, I feel more strongly than ever that you should write a book. That the hundreds of professionals, like you, with a message to share, one that matters, must write a book.
Every time I read an amazing post on social, most likely LinkedIn, I think: “This person should write a book,” and I love it when they have!
I want people to understand that the letters on the page that make up the words that make up the paragraphs are always more than scribbles from a kindergartner. Consider this – the authors of the children’s books mentioned were adults, writing to amuse children while also teaching them something.
That’s what we do – those of us who write books. We slip in a moral to the story. The book becomes more than a speech or a presentation. It becomes a purpose.
If you are like Tom and me, then you count words as friends, and companions, and colleagues; they fill your world with possibilities in ways too big to explain, sometimes. The right word, in the right sentence, shared (audibly or through reading), most assuredly has the power to change lives.
When Words and Voices Come Together
Look at Eleanor Roosevelt; in a speech delivered in Paris, France, on December 9, 1948. Roosevelt was well known for being stately in public speaking. This evening, she spoke on the Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the United Nations. Here is a clip from that speech:
“At a time when there are so many issues on which we find it difficult to reach a common basis of agreement, it is a significant fact that 58 states have found such a large measure of agreement in the complex field of human rights. This must be taken as testimony of our common aspiration first voiced in the Charter of the United Nations to lift men everywhere to a higher standard of life and to a greater enjoyment of freedom. Man’s desire for peace lies behind this Declaration. The realization that the flagrant violation of human rights by Nazi and Fascist countries sowed the seeds of the last world war has supplied the impetus for the work which brings us to the moment of achievement here today.”
Roosevelt’s speech was so passionate that the resolution for universal human rights was adopted the very next day. Her words, which she wrote over a period of two years, were given with heart and resolve and helped bring human rights to many countries, including ours. And it changed a lot of lives for the better.
Think of the speech orator and politician Patrick Henry made at the Second Virginia Convention, March 25, 1775. His famous “Give me liberty or give me death” cry echoes through time.
This is an excerpt that demonstrates his passion for this country and his determination for liberty, a concept that, in those days, was unique to royalty only:
“The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
How many lives were changed by that speech, do you suppose? Millions. We can truly say that our lives might not be what they are in a free democracy had the Revolutionary War not happened. Was his speech a turning point? It was.
There are those who say the speech was reconstructed, and even the closing line was not Henry’s own. But it matters little to today’s citizens. Our world is here partly or wholly because of Patrick Henry and many others like him.
I knew the power of words before Roosevelt spoke, before she championed human rights. I learned of Patrick Henry in school and carried his strength with me as I grew up. These speeches, and so many others, Dr. Martin Luther King comes to mind, as does Susan B. Anthony and Greta Thunberg, change lives by the manner in which they’re shared and the power in how they are crafted.
Written words that were given life and purpose and which live on today.
Why can’t you do the same?
Books are treasures that most people keep for a very long time, in sturdy bookcases in their office or at home. Why can’t your book be one of them, sitting there invitingly on the shelf of hundreds or thousands of people, people whose lives you have changed with your words.
We have many strong bookcases overflowing with the weathered leaves of dead trees at our house.
Do you keep your books in a library or your office? Do you write in the margins, like Tom? Or scratch on a notepad, like me?
That’s good. Writing in the margins, scratching on notepads, pulling a book down from a shelf to read a favorite passage.
What’s not good are the bookcases floating somewhere in your mind, full of books you want to write. Idea after idea slipped onto their shelves, hidden away lest someone find them and say, “Hey, you have some great ideas. You should write a book.”
There is never a better time to become an author than today
As the availability of publishing a book becomes easier and easier, I expect more people to put pen to paper – and yes, fingers to keyboard – to share their knowledge and expertise with the world.
I expect those books pining away in your brain or your desk drawer might finally see sunlight. I promise you, and heed these words, if you do not write your book this year (or next, as we are quickly approaching mid-year and books take time), someone else will write it for you. Oh, not ‘for’ you as if you will get any credit for their work.
No, someone else will write the book you wanted to write and didn’t. And they will get the accolades. And their words will change lives.
Do you see yourself in these words? Is a book part of your business plan, but you’re still putting it off?
Think about this:
The credibility and respect a book brings.
Think about the thought leadership that comes with writing a book.
Think about new, exciting places you could be invited to speak.
Think about the people who are right now stumbling through LinkedIn or Facebook or attending seminars and webinars looking for truth. A truth they can’t find because you have it and you are not sharing.
They say sharing is caring. Show us you care. Write that book, tell that story, change a life while you still can.
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