How to Be Here: A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living

Great book! Rob has helped pull me out of a particularly difficult time in my life yet again. (The first time was with his DVD Nooma - Rain) I have the book and have listened to it twice already on audiobook. The book is written with very simple language, but the impact of the concepts are huge and transforming. Rob states things that I have often felt, but found difficult to articulate. This book is great for anyone regardless of stage in life, from new college grads, to those who are in midst of suffering, to the stressed parent, or the middle aged person who feels like there should be something more than just the rat race of work. I would, and have been, highly recommending this book to everyone I see. It is a short easy read that can change your paradigm on life in just a few moments.

Like most of Bell's books it was an easy quick read, with some great thoughts. It really is a self help book to get you more focused on what your life is all about. There was some really great information and some stuff I thought was repeated quite a bit. But otherwise if your a Rob Bell fan you will like it, and if you need help with a bit of focus in life, go ahead and grab it too!

I love how Rob seems to have mastered the ability to take these profound deep truths and condense them into a sentence that makes you say ,"Ohhh, of course! Why didn't I think of that?" These are peppered throughout the book and definitely make it worth reading. On to the content of the book, I'm not really sure what I was expecting, and that's what I got. I had preordered the book in a time when I was wrestling with work life balance. Even when I was home I couldn't find a way to be working since the nature of my job involves a lot of creativity and complex thought. Rob's solution seems to be getting a closed head injury, which turned out to be tremendous advice. So what is the book about? Presence? Living life? Spirituality? Christianity? Creativity? Yes. It's about all those. It's a reminder that life is a gift that we've been given, and with it we can choose to partner with the Divine in the ongoing creation of the world. Pretty sweet. It's not deep, it's not heady, it's just full of truth and stories.

What can I say that hasn't already been said a million times over about Rob Bell's work??!! This guy is one of the most inspiring people on the planet. I have read lots of his work, and I am a changed individual because of it. This little book is written in very simply language with great stories, some funny, some quite poignant, and Rob has a way of being vulnerable in his writing and connecting with so many. Read this one in one sitting, it's that easy to read and that good!! It will inspire you to live your best life, to reach for your dreams, and to be present in all of it. I could not recommend this book any higher, and it has the full 5 star rating.

I pre-ordered this book like I have every Rob Bell book, expecting great writing, wisdom, thought-provoking stories, and finely-crafted paragraphs that popped in my mind like vibrant colours in a Monet masterpiece. I was disappointed. Yes, there were many profound insights, some well-written chapters and lots of practical application. But it wasn't the Rob I knew and loved as much as the reinvented West Coast Oprahfied version. I had been listening to the Robcast since it started and witnessed this transformation firsthand, yet thought that surely his writing would be deeper, more profound, asking all the right questions and resonating with the core of my being. It wasn't. Yet, it wasn't a write-off. I read the whole book in three sittings. I enjoyed the stories from Bell;s life, the way he shared his evolution from Midwest Pastor to Californian Self-help Guru. It's been quite a journey. I appreciated the central theme of the book of self-awareness (I'm a long-time admirer of the philosophy behind numerous self-help apostles). I just wasn't expecting this type of book from Rob Bell. I loved Velvet Elvis, Drops Like Stars, and thought Love Wins was a pivotal book in the evolution of American Evangelical thought. I guess Rob is appealing to a wider, more secularised audience now. His style is simpler, easier to read, with the occasional quote-worthy paragraph. It's just not what I was expecting, nor what I was looking for. Who it IS for: those who haven't had a church upbringing, who appreciate and want to explore spirituality further, and who are looking for advice in how to live in the rat-race yet retain their sanity and the wonder at lit heir amazing life. For you, How to be Here is definitely not a waste of money.

Loved Rob Bell's book. He says everything I was already thinking! It was a great realization that we are not alone in our thoughts of stopping ourselves from reaching for whatever our goals or passions are. The "blinking line" is everyone's nemesis unless we see it as an asset, which it is. It is our story, our reason for being and even with all of the falling down in between, Rob reminds us to get up and go again. Never stop. We will fall at times, we will get tired, but the end results or worth every moment. I read the book in a day. So quick and easy! Thanks Rob

Rob Bell is a story teller. This is his gift. He weaves stories to make a point. It's also frustrating, too. Recently I was asked to lead a study group on this book. The stories are great and easy to remember, but the main thrust of the book, about being present, isn't quite articulated well. If you listen to the Robcast, many of these stories will already be familiar. This is a good book and teaches many valuable lessons about living life in its fullest, but he never quite gets to the point about How to be Here.

There are books that meet us where we are in seasons of life. They accompany us through, and then forever represent that time. We can look back on our shelf and it serves as a marker for what we went through. How To Be Here...is the first book I've come across that I can't wait to read again next year, and the year after...and the year after. This is an "all-seasons" kind of book. It is filled with wisdom to bring us back HERE no matter when we read it. Being HERE is one of the most challenging tasks we have as humans. So I have no doubt I'll need to be reminded how year after year...

Great read, I've read it several times and jump on again occasionally.

I recently read "How to Be Here: A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living" by Rob Bell and it completely resonated with me. As someone who often feels overwhelmed and disconnected from my life, this book was exactly what I needed to hear. Bell's writing is incredibly relatable and he has a way of breaking down complex ideas into simple, actionable steps. The exercises and tips he provides are easy to implement and have already helped me to feel more present and connected in my daily life. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for guidance on how to create a more meaningful and fulfilling life. "How to Be Here: A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living" by Rob Bell is a well-written and insightful book that provides readers with practical advice on how to live a more fulfilling life. Bell's approach is grounded in mindfulness and presence, and he provides readers with tools and exercises to help them cultivate these qualities in their daily lives. While some of the concepts in the book may seem familiar to those who have read other self-help books, Bell's writing is engaging and his insights are backed up by research and personal experience. Overall, this is a solid book that is worth reading for anyone interested in personal growth and development. "How to Be Here: A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living" by Rob Bell is an inspirational book that encourages readers to live their lives to the fullest. Bell's writing is uplifting and positive, and he provides readers with practical advice and exercises to help them achieve their goals. What sets this book apart is its emphasis on mindfulness and presence - Bell argues that by being fully present in the moment, we can unlock our full potential and find meaning and purpose in our lives. The book is filled with inspiring stories and examples of people who have used these principles to transform their lives. Overall, this is a must-read for anyone looking to live a more fulfilling and meaningful life. Viviane Presa - Toronto 2023

So let me be really honest before we start. I am no fan of self-help books. As I've written elsewhere, they can have a tendency to tap into fear more than hope; feeding our anxiety about being a nobody. They're usually full of cheap clichés and impotent anecdotes and twelve steps that lead nowhere. And often, they result in leaving people more exhausted, burdened and disillusioned as they try and exhibit the book's mantras. Take for example those relationship books that promise a better, more enriching relationship. So people buy them, and end up missing and sabotaging the uniqueness and beauty of what they already have through grasping for the faux assembly-line product that someone else tells them that they should have. As I said, I'm no fan of self-help. It'd be better called self-destruct. And it irritates me that it sells as well as it does. So I avoid it -- with an extremely wide radius. But along comes Rob, with his clear and well-honed communication skills and does, what I feel, is very subversive to the whole genre! This isn’t really a “self-help” book -- though it appears to be one. This isn’t a book that seeks to encourage us to let go of now in order to grab at more transcendental expectations and experiences. Rob’s few words here evoke the immanency of life, seeking to ground us more in the here and now; helping us to see the wonder that this present moment holds. *How To Be Here* does exactly what it says on the cover, without leaving the reader with a large headache, an unrealistic to-do list or a side order of depression. And as someone who is prone to the latter, it's nice to read a book that didn't nuance that. This didn't leave me feeling terrible about my place or progress in life, but actually more thankful, grateful and hopeful about it. I got a lot from this. If I'm honest, I'm wrestling with a huge sense of displacement at the moment -- thinking that life will happen if I locate myself elsewhere but here -- so I needed this. It resonated in some deep levels as I read through the chapters. It's helped me to reconnect with the present and to explore and rejoice in what I find here. *How To Be Here* is a book that actually helps. Another excellent, well written, and never long, book from Rob! -- Tristan Sherwin is the author of *Love: Expressed*

Such a joy to read this book. So simple yet so deep. Rob is a fantastic storyteller with such a compelling take on the world. This book is suited for everyone. Every age and every level of personal development. Just beautiful.

Tolles Buch. Sehr spannend. Jeder der, jede die sein /ihr Gotttesbild neu bedenken möchte, wird von diesem Buch sehr profitieren.