Book Review: On Fire by John O’Leary

I think that most St. Louisans have heard about John O’Leary and know at least a little about his story. In 1987 when he was 8 years old, John accidentally set a fire that burned 100% of his body. He was not expected to live. As he says in the book, “spoiler alert” he does. He eventually became a motivational speaker and in 2016 he authored the book “On Fire”. I think I was lucky to get this one from the library when I did. It was recently announced that the movie based on this book and filmed here in St. Louis will be released in October. There was no wait list when I checked the book out, and fully intended to renew it at least one time. I sincerely apologize to the person who had to wait a few extra days for me to return it.

While I knew a lot about this book before I read it, I just wasn’t sure if I was going to like it. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. I really enjoyed this book. I liked the format, the book was easy to read, and while I knew about John O’Leary’s story it was interesting to learn more about what had happened to him. What he calls them, “the 7 choices to ignite a radically inspired life”, are not radically new and different ideas, but rather simple things or ways of looking at things that everyone could be doing in their lives.

The book is structured so that every chapter begins with a memory of what happened to him right after the fire. How he started it, some of the things that he went through in the hospital. But more than what happened to him, he talks about how people reacted to him. Things that were said to him that helped him survive when no one thought he would. Each chapter then follows with stories of his life that help to illustrate the “choice” that he is explaining.

The 7 choices are:
Take ownership of your life.
Choose self-acceptance and be willing to own your own story.
Choose your purpose and then be willing to go all in.
Choose to be a victor not a victim. (Why me? – it’s all in how you phrase it) Choose growth (saying yes to things you don’t think you can do)
Choose significance over success. (Ask, “what more can I do”)
Let go of fear and choose love.

The chapter where O’Leary explains the “why me?” question really stood out to me. It is all in the way you phrase it. Are you saying why me, like why do all these horrible things keep happening to me, or do you say it like why are all these wonderful things happening to and around me. This reminded me of the “ I have to” vs “I get to” phrases which he does bring up later in the book. Just changing that one word can have a profound effect on how you look at life.

Of course one of my favorite parts of the book was learning about the friendship that blossomed between John O’Leary and Jack Buck. There were some other St. Louis sports references that I also enjoyed but you don’t have to be a St. Louisan to enjoy the book.

John O’Leary’s story truly is inspiring and I recommend reading this book before you see the movie because as we all know, the book is always better than the movie.