Life: Enjoy the Ride
by Lee Monday

Life: enjoy the ride! Good advice? Definitely

And what better title for a book that gets to the heart of how to take pleasure in each day by employing simple precepts to help navigate life's twists and turns.

An illustrated tale that follows the main character, turtle, as he discovers how to make the most of his life on the river.

"It is a simple story with a lot of meaning," Monday said.

As he wends his way down the "river" -- a metaphor for life -- turtle comes in contact with many of his river-mates, all representative of different aspects of self-imposed obstacles to enjoying life. Some are swimming against the current; some are staying in unpleasant situations due to of fear of the unknown; and others are trapped in never-ending whirlpools or mired in mud, unwilling to take a chance on new experiences.

"We put so much into how things are supposed to be instead of enjoying the process," Monday said. "We get caught up in the 'what if...' and 'I am going to be happy when...'"