Eat, pray, love...spend, save, prosper - spot the difference!

Don’t laugh. Liz Gilbert’s mantra of self-discovery and wisewomen’s byline are more similar than they may initially seem!

In both cases the trio of little verbs encompass so much - abandon, endeavour and ultimately promise. Parallels?

Well we’ll start at the beginning: the feast. Eat, spend. Come on, not so different - both are essential to survival, both irresistible, sometimes enjoyed to excess. One of my favourite parts of Eat Pray Love the movie was watching Julia Roberts slurping her way through that delectable mountain of spaghetti. And who can shun the wonderful satisfaction following a successful day’s shopping, our arms overflowing, our purses empty? What would life be without these activities? Certainly a lot less enjoyable!

Onto pray and save – the more serious doing words muscling their way between gratification and actualization. They are underpinned with hope with an eye on the future. The driving force of having a goal and striving for something, they imply restraint, a sense of discipline and control. To perform these we need to harness our sensible or spiritual selves.

And then to our destination – the abundance of love, the luxury of prosper. These words represent the culmination of our striving, a blossoming of ourselves, a nirvana. And ultimately we can only reach this point when we are in a state of balance and understanding.

So the journey continues…will it be as dramatic and life-changing as that of Liz? Oh for a crystal ball - I only wish it could guarantee a blissful encounter in the arms of Javier Bardem!