I Fight, You Fight

Memoir: A
Inspiration: A
Writing/Narration: A
Best Aspect: I enjoyed the parts told by his family and friends.
Worst Aspect: Not always easy to listen to the horror of a young person’s life changing so dramatically.
Recommend: Yes.

"I Fight, You Fight: Life Isn't About the Hand You're Dealt, But How You Choose to Play It" by Alex Noble is a true story, a memoir about then 16 year old Alex Noble's recovery after a terrible accident on the rugby field. He fell, and his neck was broken, and he ended up with C3 paraplegia. He couldn't even breathe on his own at first and couldn't move at all. He had great support and he worked very hard for every little bit of his recovery.

It is an inspiring book. Alex eventually is able to sit up and stand up and eat on his own. He went tandem skydiving and surfing. He started his own business and went into finance and law. He went into university to study law.

Here are some of the things he wants us to know:

Be grateful. You can do this by comparing yourself to someone who has less or recalling when you had less. Going through cancer treatment was very challenging, and I compare all my health issues to that.

"How to live a fulfilled life:
1. Accept what you can't control.
2. Embrace discomfort and vulnerability
3. Keep striving."

Say yes, because what if...
"What if it helps one person. What if you are supposed to. What if it was on God's to-do list for you."

"Discipline is doing what you should be doing, not necessarily what you want to be doing." So you can't just exercise once in a while when you feel like it. You have to do it regularly to get the benefits.

"The Noble Way is a four stage method to approach life, to grow as a person, to find happiness and fulfill goals:
1. Master your mind.
2. Pursue peace.
3. Become resilient.
4. Grow and achieve."

The audiobook is narrated by Alex Noble himself. There are also chapters by his Mom, Dad, a brother, and a friend or two, all in their own voices. They have Australian accents, which was tricky at first, but I got used to it after a bit.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs a boost of inspiration and wisdom.

Thank you to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster Audio, Australia, and Alex Noble for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Of the 300 or so books I figure I have read in my life, this is the best one I have ever read. I listened to it in one day. I am a serial self-improvement genre reader, and I have heard many of the principles in this book before but never like this, never from someone who has every reason not to follow these principles.

I cried several times while reading this book - tears of joy, sadness and pride – of him. Alex has the wisdom of an old man who has already lived his full life to the absolute fullest. The work he has put in and what he has achieved is astounding.

This is the first book I have ever listened to all of the acknowledgments for. Alex is truly grateful, and it shows. It sounds like he has had an infectious, charismatic personality all of his life and only continues to attract those around him.

Whether you are perfectly healthy, struggling with a temporary or chronic illness, a quadriplegic, or something in between, you can benefit from listening to Alex’s story, and I guarantee it will help you learn to be so much more appreciative of what you have.

I recommend listening to the audiobook. Alex narrates it himself and his voice and tone give breadth to the range of emotions in this book. Additionally, his family members have some chapters they narrate as well, and it’s interesting to hear their perspectives in their voices.

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Australia for the ARC!

When I think about this story, I am amazed at how young Alex Noble is and yet how much wisdom and self-awareness he puts forth in his writing. Maybe when tragedy strikes, in this case a rugby accident, you have to grow up fast and figure out what really matters at warp speed to be able to cope, but from reading his own words, I suspect that Alex had at least some of that wisdom all along just waiting to come out.

Reading Alex's story was at times heartbreaking, often touching, occasionally funny, and all-together inspiring. I ran the gambit of emotions as the book unfolded, but in the end, the overwhelming sense I had was that this young man, through what has undoubtedly been huge adversity, has found his purpose, and people are going to sit up and take notice and listen to what he has to say.

I very much enjoyed the first half of this book. Alex takes reader through the accident and his recovery process from the hospital to rehab and, finally, back home. His words are interspersed with chapters from the point of view of his family members and friends, and I found these chapters especially interesting. Alex and the others do a great job of describing and demonstrating through actions the qualities that he spends the latter part of this book discussing. I actually think that, without this set-up, the second half of the book would not have the impact that it does. The beginning chapters give us a look at Alex's experiences so that when he speaks in the remainder of the book, there is no doubt that he knows what he's talking about. While I did appreciate the second portion of the book where Alex lays out the principles he has identified for living a fulfilled and purposeful life, I wouldn't have been as inclined to listen without having traveled the beginning chapters first. I can't say that I agree with every single piece of advice given in this book, but I definitely do think there are plenty of golden nuggets to be found here, and I applaud Alex's ambition and attitude of desire to share what has worked for him with the rest of us. I think many readers will be greatly impacted by, not only this book, but it's author as well.