Remembering to Live: Lessons I Learned Crawling out of Hell

by Khalil Rafati, Jeremy Brown

You want to change. You talk about it all the time. You keep telling everyone, including yourself, how you’re going to change. Maybe you need to finally get in the best shape of your life, get out of debt, stop cheating, get sober, quit your job and follow your purpose. Blah, blah, blah. Please, before we go any further, ask yourself a “Do I really want to change?” Because if all you want is your toys back, or for someone to listen to your sad story, that's not what you’re going to get here. This book is about change. Big, giant Change with a capital “C”. The kind of change that, once it happens—and it will happen—you are going to look in the mirror and say, “I cannot believe how amazing my life is.”

314 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 28, 2020

About the author

Khalil Rafati is a high school dropout, convicted felon, and former heroin and crack addict.

Now he is a speaker, author, and health and wellness entrepreneur. He is the founder and owner of Malibu Beach Yoga and SunLife Organics, a rapidly growing chain of health food cafés with locations in California, Texas, and Arizona.

He also founded Riviera Recovery, a transitional living facility for drug addicts and alcoholics, is a board member of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, and through his incredible relationship with Khensur Rinpoche Lobzang Tsetan he is on the board of the Siddhartha School Project.

Reviews

[Natali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciate such raw books that reflect author’s unfiltered world-view, opinions that might or might not be popular. He just shares what he’s been through, how he got through this and how he finally learned to live. It was strong, it was honest, it was sometimes naive but it felt true and I enjoyed reading it.

[Sunshine Hoover · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book started out very well. It had some inspiring stories, but I stopped at around page 110. He is explaining that a newly sober man comes to him asking for a job or a hook up on a job. He tells him no and says for him to get a "disposable job such as a coffee shop or yoga studio". Now if I'm not mistaken, he runs a chain of juice bars. To me, those are considered "disposable " jobs also. Throughout the whole book so far you have been preaching about love yourself and helping others and yet you won't even give someone the chance at a job when they are newly sober. It seems like the author has forgotten about all the help he received from others when he was newly sober. That just truly disappointed me.

[Brylee Bromley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always like reading about other peoples stories. I found this book in a smoothie shop in Austin Texas and started reading it there, I was fascinated by this man’s story that I bought the book and continued reading. How this man changed his life is nothing short of inspiring. It’s a tad repetitive and the style is a no bull shit I’m gonna say what I want when I want style. The story is inspiring and there are some solid gems scattered throughout the book.

[Maddy Seymour · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very different from his last book… it’s short stories about his life and the lessons he learned. It’s sort of “take what you want, leave what you don’t want” type of advice. I appreciated some of it and it’s a fast read!

[Finney Moore]

Ramey recommended

[Джордан · Rating 2 out of 5]

Narcissistic ramblings of a rich man who has forgotten where he came from.