Reclaiming The Life We Lost Along The Way

We've been sold a bill of goods. Not out of malice but out of a fundamental misunderstanding of how to effectively approach our lives-and the world-in order to secure the genuine happiness and authentic loving relationships we desire. In Reclaiming the Life We Lost Along the Way, we discover that at the heart of every decision we make is the intention to reduce our suffering and satisfy our unmet yearnings. Authentic love, safety, acceptance, connection, belonging, meaning, purpose, value, appreciation. These are the shared desires of every human being. To meet these desires, we have invested tremendous effort, yet the quality of life we have sought continues to elude us. The reason is shockingly simple: We have attempted to resolve an internal problem with external solutions. The outside world can never satisfy our deepest longings until our inner world makes a critical shift in perception and orientation. When this internal shift occurs, our experience of everything outside of us begins to change as well. This is the key to realizing and experiencing the quality of life we have been seeking for so long. Discover who you really are, recover your true self, bring your unique gifts to life, then share them with the world. This book shows you how to reclaim the life you were born to live by recovering the authentic love and deep fulfillment you came out of the Universe to encounter and extend in your own life and the lives of everyone you touch....

"One morning Mel Toews put on his coat and hat and walked out of town, prepared to die. A loving husband and father, faithful member of the Mennonite church, and immensely popular school teacher, he was a pillar of his close-knit community. Yet after a lifetime of struggle, he could no longer face the darkness of manic depression. Now his daughter Miriam, an award-winning writer, has given her father a voice for his whole story. In Swing Low, Miriam recounts Mel's life as she imagines he would have told it, right up to the day he took his final walk. Toews takes us deep inside the experience of depression, but she also gives us winsome and hilarious tales of country life: growing up on a farm, courting a wife, becoming a teacher, and rearing a strong, happy family in the midst of private torment." --

Only one generation in history (ours) will experience life both with and without the Internet. For everyone who follows us, online life will simply be the air they breathe. Today, we revel in ubiquitous information and constant connection, rarely stopping to consider the implications for our logged-on lives. Michael Harris chronicles this massive shift, exploring what we’ve gained—and lost—in the bargain. In this eloquent and thought-provoking book, Harris argues that our greatest loss has been that of absence itself—of silence, wonder and solitude. It’s a surprisingly precious commodity, and one we have less of every year. Drawing on a vast trove of research and scores of interviews with global experts, Harris explores this “loss of lack” in chapters devoted to every corner of our lives, from sex and commerce to memory and attention span. The book’s message is urgent: once we’ve lost the gift of absence, we may never remember its value.

“Full of revealing, instantly applicable ideas for leveraging your strengths and overcoming your weaknesses.” —Adam Grant, author of Think Again and Originals, and host of the TED podcast WorkLife For many of us, listening is simply something we do on autopilot. We hear just enough of what others say to get our work done, maintain friendships, and be polite with our neighbors. But we miss crucial opportunities to go deeper—to give and receive honest feedback, to make connections that will endure for the long haul, and to discover who people truly are at their core. Fortunately, listening can be improved—and Ximena Vengoechea can show you how. In Listen Like You Mean It, she offers an essential listening guide for our times, revealing tried-and-true strategies honed in her own research sessions and drawn from interviews with marriage counselors, podcast hosts, life coaches, journalists, filmmakers, and other listening experts. Through Vengoechea’s set of scripts, key questions, exercises, and illustrations, you’ll learn to: • Quickly build rapport with strangers • Ask the right questions to deepen a conversation • Pause at the right time to encourage vulnerability • Navigate a conversation that’s gone off the rails Now more than ever, we need to feel heard, connected, and understood in a world that keeps turning up the volume. Warm, funny, and immensely practical, this book shows you how.

We've been sold a bill of goods. Not out of malice but out of a fundamental misunderstanding of how to effectively approach our lives-and the world-in order to secure the genuine happiness and authentic loving relationships we desire. In Reclaiming the Life We Lost Along the Way, we discover that at the heart of every decision we make is the intention to reduce our suffering and satisfy our unmet yearnings. Authentic love, safety, acceptance, connection, belonging, meaning, purpose, value, appreciation. These are the shared desires of every human being. To meet these desires, we have invested tremendous effort, yet the quality of life we have sought continues to elude us. The reason is shockingly simple: We have attempted to resolve an internal problem with external solutions. The outside world an never satisfy our deepest longings until our inner world makes a critical shift in perception and orientation. When this internal shift occurs, our experience of everything outside of us begins to change as well. This is the key to realizing and experiencing the quality of life we have been seeking for so long. Discover who you really are, recover your true self, bring your unique gifts to life, then share them with the world. This book shows you how to reclaim the life you were born to live by recovering the authentic love and deep fulfillment you came out of the Universe to encounter and extend in your own life and the lives of everyone you touch.

‘An elegant, thoughtful book . . . beautifully expresses the importance and experience of liberation from the battery-hen life of constant connection and crowds.’ Daily Mail ‘A compelling study of the subtle ways in which modern life and technologies have transformed our behaviour and sense of self.’ Times Literary Supplement In a world of social media and smartphones, true solitude has become increasingly hard to find. In this timely and important book, award-winning writer Michael Harris reveals why our hyper-connected society makes time alone more crucial than ever. He delves into the latest neuroscience to examine the way innovations like Google Maps and Facebook are eroding our ability to be by ourselves. He tells the stories of the remarkable people – from pioneering computer scientists to great nineteenth-century novelists – who managed to find solitude in the most unexpected of places. And he explores how solitude can bring clarity and creativity to each of our inner lives. Urgent, eloquent and beautifully argued, Solitude might just change the way you think about being alone. ‘Speaks to a long-overdue conversation we still haven’t properly had in our society.’ Vice ‘A timely, elegant provocation to daydream and wander.’ Nathan Filer, author of The Shock of the Fall ‘The leading thinker about technology’s corrupting influence on our collective psyche.’ Newsweek ‘A poetic, contemplative journey into the benefits of solo sojourning.’ Elle

A deeply reflective primer on creating meaningful connections, rebuilding abundant communities, and living in a way that engages our full humanity in an age of unprecedented anxiety and loneliness—from the author of The Tech-Wise Family “Andy Crouch shows the path to reclaiming a life that restores the heart of what it means to thrive.”—Arthur C. Brooks, #1 New York Times bestselling author of From Strength to Strength Our greatest need is to be recognized—to be seen, loved, and embedded in rich relationships with those around us. But for the last century, we’ve displaced that need with the ease of technology. We’ve dreamed of mastery without relationship (what the premodern world called magic) and abundance without dependence (what Jesus called Mammon). Yet even before a pandemic disrupted that quest, we felt threatened and strangely out of place: lonely, anxious, bored amid endless options, oddly disconnected amid infinite connections. In The Life We’re Looking For, bestselling author Andy Crouch shows how we have been seduced by a false vision of human flourishing—and how each of us can fight back. From the social innovations of the early Christian movement to the efforts of entrepreneurs working to create more humane technology, Crouch shows how we can restore true community and put people first in a world dominated by money, power, and devices. There is a way out of our impersonal world, into a world where knowing and being known are the heartbeat of our days, our households, and our economies. Where our vulnerabilities are seen not as something to be escaped but as the key to our becoming who we were made to be together. Where technology serves us rather than masters us—and helps us become more human, not less.

Help in Healing from Grief and Loss Living Now Book Award, Silver – Aging, Death, & Dying “Filled with insight, wisdom, and relatable stories, this resource shares everything you need to know to start living again with joy, meaning, and love after loss.” —Chelsea Hanson, author of The Sudden Loss Survival Guide Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief is a handbook for dealing with grief, organized so that you can pick and choose a topic from the table of contents pertaining to the issue affecting you the most at that moment. Rediscover sustained moments of joy as you seek a new way of being in the world.Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief guides and lightens the journey to positivity for those who feel the pain of loss, whether it is the loss of a loved one, a job, a marriage, a house, a pregnancy, a nest egg —anyone or anything that we loved and that is no longer in our lives. In this book, author and fellow griever Emily Thiroux Threatt provides you with strategies to embrace the process of learning how to start living again. The book includes 26 practices and stories from people who have been through the grieving process and have come out on the other side feeling renewed: one for every week of the year. Mourning and coping with grief looks different for everyone. Emily organized Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief with this in mind, giving you 26 different options to try in any given moment. Find what works for you, with dozens of ideas covered, including: Meditating and allowing space for mindful grieving, sadness and loneliness Finding joy and gratitude in the dark moments Learning what you can say to others so that they can better understand and help you in your recovery If you’ve found help from grief books like It's OK That You're Not OK, Bearing the Unbearable, To Love and Let Go, or Things I Wish I Knew Before My Mom Died, then you’ll be encouraged and inspired by all of the tips and ideas in Loving and Living Your Way Through Grief.