Greenlights (Matthew McConaughey)

In the German part of Salt n‘ Light my wife an me have a page where we post our favourite books. Today we present one of those books to our English speaking friends.

We have been to the land where you sent us. You were right: there is even milk and honey in abundance there. Just look at these fruits!!
Genesis 13:27

This is what it’s all about:

Greenlights is a very cool autobiography of an extremely versatile actor: the American Matthew McConaughey, who just turned fifty. He tells about his eventful life, his childhood and youth. How he builds a huge tree house and experiences the best summer of his life, comes to acting, rearranges his priorities. How he nearly goes crazy in at his host family in Australia, defeats a fighter in a village in Africa, pursues a dream all the way to the Amazon, and shapes his life with God.

Greenlights is about how to turn the red lights in life into green, how to take advantage of a green wave, and how to make the best of difficulties.

I laughed a lot while reading, thought a lot and took away some wisdom for my life: All in all, a great book full of crazy stories.

What I like about the book:

The book is completely honest. Matthew doesn’t sugarcoat anything or leave out any embarrassing moments.
It really makes you laugh a lot.
It really makes you think.
A man lives his life, his dreams and he doesn’t care what others think of him (once he gets taken away by the police naked in his apartment playing bongos with the window open at two or three in the morning).
It’s full of his life wisdom and thought snippets that make you think.
The crazy stories: absolutely worth reading is the story with his „day-blind“ brother who drives a car, acts like Rainman, and has a „guide dog“ (starting on page 218 in the German version).

What can we learn from the book:

Have courage to dare to do something new and make your dreams come true.
There are positives in bad things – you can shape your own.
Have the courage to be yourself – no matter what others think.
That we give our children enough freedom that they can have real adventures.
That sometimes it’s time to let go and reorder priorities.
That we pursue a dream, push through – despite opposition. Cue the movie Dallas Buyer Club.
That a man has to learn what it means to be a man.

The book: Matthew McConaughey, „Greenlights“, (ISBN 978-0-593-13913-4), Crown

Salz und Licht