Navigating Life

An essential guide to tackling what students, families, and educators can do now to cut through stress and performance pressure, and find a path to purpose. Today’s college-bound kids are stressed, anxious, and navigating demands in their lives unimaginable to a previous generation. They’re performance machines, hitting the benchmarks they’re “supposed” to in order to reach the next tier of a relentless ladder. Then, their mental and physical exhaustion carries over right into first jobs. What have traditionally been considered the best years of life have become the beaten-down years of life. Belle Liang and Timothy Klein devote their careers both to counseling individual students and to cutting through the daily pressures to show a better way, a framework, and set of questions to find kids’ “true north”: what really turns them on in life, and how to harness the core qualities that reveal, allowing them to choose a course of study, a college, and a career. Even the gentlest parents and teachers tend to play into pervasive societal pressure for students to PERFORM. And when we take the foot off the gas, we beg the kids to just figure out what their PASSION is. Neither is a recipe for mental or physical health, or, ironically, for performance or passion. How to Navigate Life shows that successful human beings instead tap into their PURPOSE—the why behind the what and how. Best of all, purpose is a completely translatable quality to every aspect of life, from first jobs to last jobs and everything in between.

“I absolutely loved this beautiful book! It's wise, wry, bracingly honest and so gripping I couldn't put it down. Clearly whip smart, Margaux Bergen has one of those rare voices that pulls you in and makes you want to keep reading.” — Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother An inspiring, piercingly honest user's guide to life, written for the author's daughter and given to her on her first day of college, reflecting tough lessons about family, work, and marriage. You learn a few useful things at school--the three Rs come in handy, and it's good to know how to perform under pressure and wait your turn--but most of what matters, what makes you into a functioning human being, able to hold your own in conversation, find your path, know what to avoid in relationships and secure a meaningful job, no teacher will ever tell you. This diamond-sharp, gut-punchingly honest book of hard-earned wisdom is one mother's effort to equip her daughter for survival in the real world. Margaux Bergen began writing this book when her daughter Charlotte turned nine and gave it to her right after graduation from high school, when she was setting off for her first day of college. "I am not writing this to groom or guide you to professional or academic success," she writes. "My goal is rather to give you tools that might help you engage with the world and flourish. . . . Think of this as a kind of developing bath-time wisdom." Wise, heartbreakingly funny, and resonantly true, Navigating Life has invaluable lessons for students of life of all ages. It will challenge you to lead a more meaningful life and to tackle the bumps along the way with grace, grit, style, and ingenuity. What The Blessings of a Skinned Knee did for the early years of parenting, Navigating Life does for the next, far more perilous chapter, when new graduates are cast out on the high seas and have to learn to swim and find their way by themselves.

From pastor and New York Times bestselling author Timothy Keller comes a beautifully packaged, yearlong daily devotional based on the Book of Proverbs. Proverbs is God’s book of wisdom, teaching us the essence and goal of a Christian life. In this 365-day devotional, Timothy Keller offers readers a fresh, inspiring lesson for every day of the year based on different passages within the Book of Proverbs. With his trademark knowledge, Keller unlocks the wisdom within the poetry of Proverbs and guides us toward a new understanding of what it means to live a moral life. God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life is a book that readers will be able to turn to every day, year after year, to cultivate a deeper, more fulfilling relationship with God. This makes a perfect companion to Keller’s devotional on the Psalms, The Songs of Jesus.

Here is a marvelous guide for anyone affected by Parkinson's disease--patients, caregivers, family members, and friends. Containing the most up-to-date information on the disease, one of the most common neurological disorders, it discusses the available treatments and provides practical advice on how to manage the disease in the long term. Emphasizing life-style adjustments that will provide a better quality of life and moderate the burden for patients and their loved ones, the book answers many questions and clarifies misunderstandings regarding the disease. Written by two experts on Parkinson's disease and a freelance journalist, the book is approachable and easily understandable. Question and answer sections are provided, while "hot topics" are highlighted for easy visibility. The authors have also included true patient stories that will both inspire and instruct, and they have addressed several topics often not mentioned in physician-directed disease management, such as how to talk to family and friends about one's life with Parkinson's.

An inspiring book for readers of Sheryl Sandberg and Arlene Dickinson Lisa LissonÕs life seemed perfect: she had married her high school sweetheart, applied her marketing degree to a position at FedEx Express Canada, and risen to become a vice president (and would ultimately become president) of the company. One night, after putting their four children to bed, her husband, Patrick, marvelled that their lives seemed perfectly happy. Just a few hours later, everything changed. One moment Lisa was sleeping beside Patrick, and the next, she was kneeling on the floor beside his unconscious body frantically administering CPR. Patrick had had a massive heart attack and was in a coma, and the doctors were blunt: there was no hope. But for the next two years, Lisa stood by his side and awaited a miracle, while continuing to balance life as a high-powered executive and mother of four. Part leadership guide, part memoir of loss, and part personal empowerment primer on how to achieve your goals no matter what the universe throws at you, Resilience is an inspirational story about how to rise to the top in a manÕs world, triumph over adversity, lead a fulfilling life, and live each day with purpose and gratitude.

Navigating Life Transitions for Meaning explores the central human motivation of meaning making, and its counterpart, meaning disruption. The book describes different types of specific transitions, details how specific transitions affect an individual differently, and provides appropriate clinical approaches. The book examines the effects of life transitions on the component parts of meaning in life, including making sense (coherence), driving life goals (purpose), significance (mattering), and continuity. The book covers a range of transitions, including developmental (e.g., adolescence to adulthood), personal (e.g., illness onset, becoming a parent, and bereavement), and career (e.g., military deployment, downshifting, and retiring). Life transitions are experienced by all persons, and the influence of those transitions are tremendous. It is essential for clinicians to understand how transitions can disrupt life and how to help clients successfully navigate these changes. Covers cultural transitions, such as immigration and religious conversion Examines health transitions, such as cancer survivorship and acquired disability Uses a positive psychology framework to understand transitions Includes bulleted ‘take-away’ summaries of key points in each chapter Provides clinical applications of theory to practice

Roughly 3 million people in the United States have already been diagnosed with epilepsy and another 200,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Worldwide, approximately 1 percent of the global population is diagnosed with epilepsy at some point in their lives. With the diagnosis come questions, concerns, and uncertainties from both the person diagnosed and their family. So, where to go? Navigating Life with Epilepsy provides accessible, comprehensive, and up-to-date information about epilepsy shared from the two decades of experience of epileptologist David Spencer, MD, FAAN. This book guides the reader through the initial diagnosis, offers explanations on current approaches to diagnostic testing, medications, treatment options, and life management for the patient, their family, and their caregiver. Patient's stories are peppered throughout to illustrate that you are not alone: like you, they must navigate the myriad psychosocial challenges associated with epilepsy, including everyday concerns like driving, work, and relationships. Navigating Life with Epilepsy is a perfect resource for both patients with epilepsy and the family members and friends who care for them.

Navigating Life with Multiple Sclerosis will serve as a practical guide for meeting the challenges of this life-long disease. MS may cause a myriad of symptoms and varies greatly from person to person. The authors demystify MS and offer practical solutions and guidance based upon their extensive combined clinical and research experience. The book tackles many of the common symptoms experienced by the person with MS and looks into the future to explore where research is headed. If you are newly diagnosed or have been living with MS for years, this book is an invaluable guide.