Product Description

Why is it that despite our best efforts, many of us remain fundamentally unhappy and unfulfilled in our lives? In this provocative and inspiring book, David Richo distills thirty years of experience as a therapist to explain the underlying roots of unhappiness—and the surprising secret to finding freedom and fulfillment. 

There are certain facts of life that we cannot change—the unavoidable "givens" of human existence: (1) everything changes and ends, (2) things do not always go according to plan, (3) life is not always fair, (4) pain is a part of life, and (5) people are not loving and loyal all the time. Richo shows us that by dropping our deep-seated resistance to these givens, we can find liberation and discover the true richness that life has to offer. Blending Western psychology and Eastern spirituality, including practical exercises, Richo shows us how to open up to our lives—including to what is frightening, painful, or disappointing—and discover our greatest gifts.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2790 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-08
• Released on: 2008-04-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 272 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781590305560
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"Richo gently and compassionately coaches readers. His book will help those seeking personal transformation."—Publishers Weekly



"A lucid, thought-provoking, and illuminating book—a wonderfully useful guide to fluid acceptance of life as it is."—Martha Beck, author of Finding Your Own North Star and The Joy Diet

"I started highlighting splendid passages in this book and my highlighter ran dry. The whole book is splendid."—Brother David Steindl-Rast

About the Author
David Richo, PhD, is a therapist, teacher, and author who leads popular workshops around the country. He is the author of numerous books including  How to Be an Adult in Relationships and The Five Things We Cannot Change. He lives in California.

Customer Reviews

Magnificent, spellbinding book on accepting the givens of life.
No one doesn't need this marvelous book. David Richo, in an extraordinary generosity of spirit, shares with us some truly illuminating insights of remarkably profound truths. It can't be overstated enough on how valuable his insights are. The key truths of life, the inevitabilities and vicissitudes of it, are dealt and tackled with unflinching directness, and with that, a great deal of compassion for the problems that can assail us all. And yet, he is conspicously lacking in false sentiment. Richo urges us, firmly, yet gently, to give up trying to exist in denial of the things we cannot change, and instead makes a compelling, and logic-based treatise on the idea of just simply embracing and accepting these inevitabilities. His 5 key truths are: 1. everything changes and ends, 2. things do not always go according to plan, 3. life is not always fair, 4. pain is part of life, and 5. people are not loving and loyal all the time.

So many of Richo's statements and exposition behind these points have such clarity, brilliance of scope, and an astonishing ring of truth behind them, that he makes it sound almost easy to commence in the process of acceptance. Moreover, Richo shows that the only way to evolve as a sentient being is to consciously work at a personal self-evolution, for it is, really, the key to moving from one stage of life to the next. That tantalizing but often elusive prospect can invlove a great deal of personal growth and fulfillment. So many of us get stuck in ruts, seemingly unaware and puzzled as to how life can pass us by, without any conscious realization as to the subtle, but inexorable changes that occur along the way. Richo, like a wise master and teacher, generously helps in the process of coming to terms with those changes, and makes us see the beauty of accepting them.

One of the more felicitous aspects of what's presented here is that Richo utilizes in his words a combination of modern Western psychology and ancient Eastern spiritual thought, with a dash of Jung thrown in. There are numerous wise and poetic quotes from Shakespeare to Shaw deftly incorporated throughout, and which vividly illustrate Richo's own eloquent phrases. The text is clear, easy to read (yet some sentences and phrases are so astonishingly meaningful that you have to stop and THINK), compact, unfussy, and peeled to the truth.

Needless to say, I heartily recommend this book; it has changed(or rather, ENHANCED greatly) the way I think.

Most People Learn These Lessons the Hard Way
This isn't a feel-good self help book. It is a realistic look at certain "givens" in life that must be addressed by anyone who wants to live a REAL life. Many people don't want to accept ideas like, "Life isn't always fair."
When I was younger, I didn't want to accept this type of thinking myself, but over time, I have learned that each of the 5 things the author mentions are true. I appreciated the candor with which the author delivered these truths and the solutions that were offered to help accept the positive and the negative aspects of existence. This is not a main stream, positive thinking piece, but I think it helped me to develop a more healthy attitude about the aspects of life that are difficult, if not impossible to change.

Richo writes another winner
This book is so helpful. If you are like me -- caught in the web of fear and mad as hell that the world doesn't go the way I want it to -- this book points the way to liberation! Richo blends buddhism, wisdom teachings, and Jungian psychology together with poetry, literature and humor to get the point across. Lots of charts and bullet suggestions help the info sink in. I'm going to have to read it again because there is so much in it. Richo makes it easy to understand and take action.