How The Midnight Library Changed my Life

I finished reading The Midnight Library by Matt Haig in just under a week. I absolutely devoured the book, I could have finished it a lot sooner, but wanted to savour every word. The Midnight Library has completely changed my perspective on life (not wanting to sound extreme). Although a fiction novel, it contains valuable life lessons which we can ALL learn from. Here is why The Midnight Library changed my life.

Before I get into the nitty gritty, I want to share a little background on the book, don’t worry I won’t give any spoilers. The Midnight Library is a place in between life and death where there are infinite possible lives a person could have lived. The main protagonist, Nora Seed, is given the opportunity to live the other lives she may have lived, by underdoing her regrets and choosing differently.

Three Ways The Midnight Library Changed my Life

1. Stop worrying about regrets – Every one of us has some form of regret, whether that’s not going to University, cancelling plans with friends, or not saying yes to a guy/gal that asked you out. Instead of dwelling on things that I didn’t do, I’m going to flip them on their head and turn them into positives. For example, if I went to University, the chances are I wouldn’t be in the job I currently have. I love my day job and have progressed higher up the ranks over the years. I didn’t go to University to get where I am, so why should I dwell on not going, when I’m happy!
   
2. Don’t take things for granted – Throughout life, we either make small decisions ourselves, or small things happen which are out of our control. These could have a huge impact on our lives without us realising. For example, a red traffic light slowing down a journey. This exact scenario happened to me a few years ago, stopping at the red light prevented my boyfriend and I from being in a car accident. A few moments after carrying on with our journey we witnessed a car crash, which we likely would have been caught in if the light hadn’t turned red. A red light can be frustrating, but it might just change the course of your life.
   
3. It’s helped with grief…kinda – over the past two years my life has been filled with heartbreak and grief. My Grandad sadly passed away in December 2019, right before Christmas. It was unexpected and I really struggled to come to terms with it. Last, November, a family friend of mine past away at just 18 years old from SUDEP, Suddent Epileptic Death Syndrome. A fiction book helping with grief seems a little dramatic, but for me, as someone who constantly thinks of parallel universes and life after death, it gave me a new concept to consider when dealing with life and death. Personally, I find it rather comforting that when we die, there is something beyond simply no longer existing.

I truly loved every moment of The Midnight Library, and I would urge everyone to read it. It’s one of those books that is completely deserving of the hype it has received, I will definitely re-read this book at some point in the future. Over the years, I have read a couple of Matt Haig books, every one of them is beautifully written, and deserving of some form of award. I loved How to Stop Time and Reasons to Stay Alive. Humans is sitting on my shelf ready to read too!

Have you read The Midnight Library? Did you love it as much as I did?

Until Another Day x