Life Lessons from Life is What You Make It Book: Understanding Resilience, Love, and Mental Health
There are some books you don’t just read — you quietly carry them around long after you’ve turned the last page. Life is What You Make It Book by Preeti Shenoy is one of those rare stories. It sits with you, nudges you, makes you reflect on how fragile we sometimes are, and how strong we can become without even realising it.
I still remember the first time I read it. The world felt loud, confusing, and a little unfair. And here was Ankita’s voice, trembling yet brave, reminding me that healing isn’t a straight line. Recovery doesn’t look the same for all of us. And life… well, it really is what we make of it.
If you’ve read the book, you probably know what I mean.
If you haven’t, don’t worry — let’s walk through the lessons that make this story a quiet but powerful companion.
1. Resilience Isn’t Always Loud — Sometimes It’s a Whisper
When we talk about resilience, we imagine big victories, inspirational speeches, maybe even dramatic comebacks. But Ankita’s journey shows something far more human. True resilience often appears in small, almost invisible moments.
- Waking up and deciding to try again.
- Choosing honesty over pretending.
- Letting yourself break… so you can slowly rebuild.
The Life is What You Make It Book doesn’t glorify suffering. Instead, it paints resilience as a daily practice, something deeply personal. Ankita isn’t a superhero. She’s someone like us — confused, hopeful, conflicted — stumbling through life and still choosing to move forward.
And maybe that’s the most comforting part: you don’t have to roar to be strong. Sometimes, a whisper is enough.
2. Love Isn’t Always Simple, But It Teaches You Big Things
Love, in the book, doesn’t arrive wrapped in perfection. It’s messy. Honest. A little painful at times. Whether it’s romantic love, friendship, or the complicated space between expectations and reality, relationships shape Ankita’s life in ways she never imagined.
You learn that:
- Love can lift you.
- Love can confuse you.
- Love can push you towards difficult truths about yourself.
But most importantly, love doesn’t heal everything — self-love does.
One of the most underrated themes in this book is how love can only survive when your relationship with your own mind isn’t at war. Ankita realises this slowly, sometimes painfully, and that’s exactly why it feels real.
3. Mental Health Isn’t a Weakness — It’s a Chapter, Not the Ending
This is where Life is What You Make It Book stands out in Indian literature. Preeti Shenoy addresses mental health with honesty, without sanitising the struggle.
Ankita’s breakdown isn’t portrayed as a dramatic twist. It’s portrayed as something that can happen to anyone — someone brilliant, cheerful, loved, ambitious. Someone who “seems fine.”
And isn’t that the truth we often avoid?
The book gently breaks the stigma around bipolar disorder by showing that:
- Mental illness is not a character flaw.
- Getting help isn’t shameful.
- Life after diagnosis can be meaningful, beautiful, and full of possibility.
It’s a reminder we desperately need in a culture where many still hesitate to say, “I need help.”
4. Choices Shape Your Destiny More Than Circumstances Do
One of Ankita’s biggest lessons is painfully relatable: your choices can become your turning points.
Dreams, risks, relationships, academic pressure — everything collides in her world. Yet the book never blames fate, society, or destiny alone. Instead, it highlights how everyday decisions eventually form the arc of your life.
You choose what hurts you.
You choose what heals you.
You choose what defines you — or what you walk away from.
It’s not a moral lecture. It’s simply life, unfolding the way it does for most of us.
5. Healing Takes Time, and It’s Allowed to Look Imperfect
If there’s one takeaway every reader remembers, it’s this — healing doesn’t come wrapped in neat timelines. Ankita’s recovery is slow, uneven, and emotional. Some days she rises. Some days she folds inward.
And that’s perfectly okay.
The book encourages readers to be patient with themselves. To allow therapy to work. To forgive themselves for not being “fine” immediately. And to understand that life after a mental health crisis is not a downgrade — it’s a different lens through which you learn to live again.
And honestly, isn’t that something we all need to hear?
If you’re drawn to introspective, mental-health-focused reads, you may also like the art of not overthinking book. It’s another gentle, relatable reminder that our mind sometimes needs fresh air and slower thoughts.
Life Doesn’t Always Follow a Clear Map — But You Still Get to Choose the Roads
Life is What You Make It Book doesn’t claim to have all the answers. It simply holds your hand while you look for your own. Ankita’s journey is messy, hopeful, frustrating, inspiring — very much like real life.
In the end, the book leaves you with a question that feels both scary and empowering:
What kind of life do you want to make for yourself?
And maybe that’s the real lesson.
Moreover, if you want to read book reviews, motivational quotes, reader stories, folk tales, and poems, then Books Ameya will be your only destination.
FAQs
1. What is the main message of Life is What You Make It Book?
Ans. The book emphasises resilience, mental health awareness, and the power of personal choices in shaping one’s life.
2. Is the book based on true events?
Ans. While not a direct biography, the story is inspired by real struggles people face with mental health, ambition, and relationships.
3. Does the book handle mental health sensitively?
Ans. Yes. Preeti Shenoy portrays bipolar disorder with nuance, care, and emotional honesty.
4. Is this book suitable for young readers?
Ans. Absolutely. It’s especially helpful for teens and young adults dealing with pressure, confusion, or emotional turmoil.
5. What makes this book different from other Indian fiction novels?
Ans. Its realistic portrayal of mental illness, relatable character depth, and strong emotional grounding make it stand out.