My friend and fellow writer Patrick Rhone is the kind of guy whose thoughtful insights about the world are worth paying to read. His book, This Could Help, is a collection of nearly 100 essays based on those sorts of insights.

There is no particular theme to the book, other than that just about anyone can find at least one thing within that will help them on their journey, whether they're struggling in a relationship, job, creative endeavor, or something else. I realize this is a somewhat vague description so far, so here is an excerpt from the book that struck me particularly, a short essay titled Shaping the Light:

Think about a lightbulb. Soft, white, diffused light. It speeds in all directions, illuminating the room. Unfocused.

Now, place a mirrored cup around that same light, point the cup’s opening at a specific point, and now you have a spotlight. Focused in one direction.

Now, start to constrain that opening. Shape it as a cone. Make the opening smaller and smaller and you’ll have a beam. Perhaps, if done correctly, a beam powerful enough to burn a hole in any object it is directed at. Like a magnifying glass to a leaf. Extreme focus.

It’s the same energy. Just shaped in different ways. And, once shaped, its strength, intention, ability, and purpose is changed.

This is you. This is your time. This is your attention. This is your energy.

The same energy that you currently spread amongst the many tasks you are now doing, can be focused to put a real, deep, burning, hole right in the center of the one thing you should be doing.

The book is available in Kindle format ($10), as an iBook ($10), and in paperback ($15).