What Life Should Be About

What should your life be about? What are the things that matter? In this thoughtful and poignant collection of stories and essays, John P. Weiss inspires readers with life lessons about hope, love, loss, creative passion, self-improvement, relationships, and getting the most out of life. A full-time writer and artist, Weiss is a former police chief with nearly three decades of law enforcement experience. He holds a master's degree in criminal justice administration, and over 51K subscribe to his popular weekly online essays.

Winner of the Pulitzer prize in 1974 and the culmination of a life's work, The Denial of Death is Ernest Becker's brilliant and impassioned answer to the 'why' of human existence. In bold contrast to the predominant Freudian school of thought, Becker tackles the problem of the vital lie - man's refusal to acknowledge his own mortality. The book argues that human civilisation is a defence against the knowledge that we are mortal beings. Becker states that humans live in both the physical world and a symbolic world of meaning, which is where our 'immortality project' resides. We create in order to become immortal - to become part of something we believe will last forever. In this way we hope to give our lives meaning.In The Denial of Death, Becker sheds new light on the nature of humanity and issues a call to life and its living that still resonates decades after it was written.

Adler, along with Freud and Jung, created an entirely new branch of psychology, namely psychoanalysis. What Life Should Mean to You brings his conclusions to a popular audience. The book covers adolescence, feelings of superiority and inferiority, the importance of cooperation, work, friendship, love and marriage.

This book describes how the phenomenon of life emerges gradually from the elements of inanimate matter. It shows that, first, this transition occurs in space, when we move from elementary particles and atoms, through molecules and their complexes, cells, tissues and organs to entire individuals. Second, this transition also happened (and is still happening) in time, during biological evolution, when the first living systems originated spontaneously from organic compounds and then evolved step by step through bacteria to plants, animals and us. Third, the embryonic development from a fertilized egg to an adult individual occurs both in space and time. This book is unique as it analyzes all three processes in terms of their physical, chemical, biochemical, thermodynamic, energetic, genetic, cellular, physiological, embryological, evolutionary and cybernetic aspects.

This collection of my work does not come with explanation as I leave it to the reader to interpret what they read within. Much of what Ive seen, learned, and lived may be that which others have as well. I take this opportunity to not only share my insight and observations but to express much of the knowledge and guidance that I applied to my own life that I want to share with all.

Michael White, one of the founders of narrative therapy, is back with his first major publication since the seminal Narrative Means to Therapeutic Ends, which Norton published in 1990. Maps of Narrative Practice provides brand new practical and accessible accounts of the major areas of narrative practice that White has developed and taught over the years, so that readers may feel confident when utilizing this approach in their practices. The book covers each of the five main areas of narrative practice-re-authoring conversations, remembering conversations, scaffolding conversations, definitional ceremony, externalizing conversations, and rite of passage maps-to provide readers with an explanation of the practical implications, for therapeutic growth, of these conversations. The book is filled with transcripts and commentary, skills training exercises for the reader, and charts that outline the conversations in diagrammatic form. Readers both well-versed in narrative therapy as well as those new to its concepts, will find this fresh statement of purpose and practice essential to their clinical work.

In this follow-up to the international phenomenon The Courage to Be Disliked, discover how to reconnect with your true self, experience true happiness, and live the life you want. What if one simple choice could unlock your destiny? Already a major Japanese bestseller, this eye-opening and accessible follow-up to the “compelling” (Marc Andreessen) international phenomenon The Courage to Be Disliked shares the powerful teachings of Alfred Adler, one of the giants of nineteenth-century psychology, through another illuminating dialogue between the philosopher and the young man. Three years after their first conversation, the young man finds himself disillusioned and disappointed, convinced Adler’s teachings only work in theory, not in practice. But through further discussions, the philosopher and the young man deepen their own understandings of Adler’s powerful teachings and learn the tools needed to apply them to the chaos of everyday life. To be read on its own or as a companion to the bestselling first book, The Courage to Be Happy reveals a bold new way of thinking and living, empowering you to let go of the shackles of past trauma and the expectations of others, and to use this freedom to create the life you truly desire. Plainspoken yet profoundly moving, The Courage to Be Happy will illuminate your life and brighten the world as we know it. Discover the courage to choose happiness.