Book Review : "I Really Needed This Today" By Hoda Kotb

"Champagne wishes and caviar dreams" comes to mind via Robin Leach from the British journalist who stressed this 'perfect' lifestyle ad nauseum on television.

Surely this was plenty of quotes and or idioms on that popular notion with 'celebrity' friends adding their two cents as the lifestyles of the rich and famous is discussed.

For the average Joe this won't be something you rush to pick up because it's not something you can welcome in with open arms unless you live by this philosophy.

Many of the quotes are not uncommon in fact they have been utilized way too much for the 'feel good spotlight' segments.

While I love Hoda and her cheerfulness on tv I was hoping to have a deeper soulful and more intricate connection but it just felt like a cheap way to make a quick buck by selling the 'brand' while the brand is still popular. 

Each quote comes with a personal thought but it's brief and without much inner dialogue or take away.

Life is funny because you must 'seize the moment' at the perfect time &as Hoda mentioned to write this book it seemed the time was right;but for me it felt it was the perfect time to 'capitalize' on 'fandom'.

It reminds me of a local guy in town who was recently selected to be on the 'Big Brother' show on CBS and did the same hard selling of merchandise while he was still popular going so far as to create a Go Fund Me page to bank on this 'new wave' and buy a 'pool' for his kids with the money using a family member in this case a 'sick child' as the 'selling point' for raking in the 'dough.'

I've lived a 'hard knocks' life. One in which I spend my days not seeking inspiration, positive motivation, or gratitude but in finding new ways to merely survive in acquiring the basics for my three teens. The only time I feel gratitude is when volunteering in helping others or in seeing others worse off. 

Sadly many of those worse off are scrounging in garbage cans for food; homeless after medical issues, abuse, job loss and or unforeseen circumstances; have larger medical issues than my own even though mine are all consuming. These are the people we forget about in these random acts of kindness. Those who like me are still 'living' but not 'thriving'. Those seeking not a hand out but a hand up. We are all but forgotten. So for us words don't matter action does!

Like many Americans I can't get a job even with a dual MASTERS after seeking work for past 10 yrs. I work for free doing blogs/reviews in hopes of getting noticed, while volunteering for the past 20 yrs thinking silly me would be offered a job position from it, only to learn it means nothing when you're in a 'dog eat dog' world that lacks all compassion, empathy, and moral civility for the common man.

All of this above was to my great detriment in my own health and against spending time with my own family in hopes of procuring a paying job with a living wage while residing in extreme poverty.

I simply cannot be 'sold' on 'rainbows and roses' at this time but for those seeking 'fluff' you have found it in abundance.