Katie Piper’s latest book, A Little Bit of Faith, lists 365 bite-sized life affirmations – one for each day of the year. Some of the uplifting words of wisdomare attributed to the great and the good – such as Marie Curie and Florence Nightingale, some from the Bible, some from ancient philosophers and some, of course, Katie herself.
Of this latter category, there is one theme she returns to again and again – and that’s kindness. She urges readers to ‘Do an act of kindness’ – from simple things like allowing fellow drivers to merge into the lane we’re driving in to dropping a home-made cake on the doorstep of someone we know is going through a difficult time.
“They may be little things but they make such a difference,” says Katie. “Kindness is the most valuable currency there is. It’s about people thinking of others and giving their time. Now time will, at some point, run out for all of us so giving other people some of this most precious commodity is such a wonderful gift and does so much good.
A Little Bit of Faith isn’t the kind of book you read from cover to cover, rather it’s to dip into when you need an injection of confidence, hope and, indeed, faith. And for Katie, she says she’s always found life affirmations particularly comforting.
“I think we all know what we should be saying and thinking about ourselves and our lives. In practise, though, it’s often a different story as we allow our minds to be flooded with negative thoughts and voices,” she says.
“The ones that say, ‘I can’t do this’, ‘I’ll mess up’, ‘Nobody will like me if I do such and such’. It’s so easy to let that critical voice run riot through our heads. That’s why I think it’s so important to have positive things written down so we can actually see them – and read and re-read them as and when we feel the need, and to say them aloud to ourselves.
Does she have a favourite affirmation in the book?
“I do actually,” she replies. “I draw on it all the time and it particularly helped me during the pandemic and various lockdowns. It goes something like, ‘Worry is a total waste of time. It steals your joy and keeps you very busy doing absolutely nothing at all’. You can never foresee what’s going to happen in life so there is absolutely no point in worrying about what might happen. It’s easier said than done though, so seeing it written down and saying it aloud to myself really helps.
"I hope that maybe A Little Bit of Faith is the kind of book people will give to each other at trying times in their lives."
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