“Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you.“-Eddie Jaku
Have you ever come across someone whose optimism, positivity and zest for life go beyond comparison? Meet the ever-smiling, ever-grateful Eddie Jaku who is 100-year old.
I was intrigued to read Eddie’s beautiful memoir ever since it hit the bookshelves and it led me to an ocean of warmth and wisdom. Born to a Jewish family, Eddie Jaku is also a Holocaust survivor who faced unimaginable horrors every day, first in Buchenwald, then in Auschwitz, then on a Nazi death march. In the process, he lost everything that was his own- family, friends, his country.
The book, in Eddie’s words, is dedicated to the ‘future generations’. Narrated in the first-person format, you’ll find yourself a life coach in Eddie who replays his journey in fifteen very moving and infectiously inspiring chapters. There come some horrifying moments which would make your heart bleed for Mr. Jaku, which he zings with his positive attitude. We track his early life as a child, through to his student days, move to his arrest, his painful stay at two concentration camp, prison postings and the death march that eventually set him free, The Happiest Man on Earth covers all aspects from past ten decades in a compact format.
So much of what we embark on in the journey of life is directly connected with how we react to the situation that we are in. And often we tend to choose the path of constant cribbing and sorrows whereas we should lay our attention to the positives and its great takeaways. As Eddie beautifully quotes, ‘Tomorrow will come if you survive today. One step at a time’.
Because he survived, Eddie made a vow to be grateful for everything that God bestows him with and never take anything for granted. He pays a significant tribute to those who were lost by telling his story, sharing his wisdom and living his best possible life. He considers himself to be the ‘happiest man on Earth’.
Published on the occasion of Eddie turning 100, this is a very hopeful memoir on how happiness can be found even in the darkest of times.
The world’s tragic timing can’t go unnoticed with the title of this book- The Happiest Man on Earth which provides a gentle reminder that life is what we make of it. Life can be endured and survived, but we can also grasp those important moments of hope to carry us through the dark times.
Let The Happiest Man on Earth walk into your life for a day, and help you find a new meaningful, appreciation for life.
(Thank you, Pan Macmillan Australia for providing me with a free copy of this book for review purposes.)
Title: The Happiest Man on Earth
Author: Eddie Jaku
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Pages: 208
MRP: 32.99$