Personal Wisdom

As parents today, we often feel that our role is to protect our children from the world: to cushion them when they fall, to lift them over obstacles, and to remove sharp rocks from their path. But controlling a child’s entire environment and keeping all pain at bay isn’t feasible—we can’t prepare the world for our children, so instead we should focus on preparing our children for the world.

John Parker never had to look far for an advocate and mentor to help him overcome his greatest challenges, from his father's abuse to the tragic loss of his son. His great-aunt Gladys, or "Glad," was always there, telling him he was destined for extraordinary things and inspiring him to become the person he was meant to be. In Be the Dawn in the Darkness, John invites you on his journey from heartbreak to happiness, fear to resolution in this inspirational account of a boy and his harbinger.

Who doesn't worry sometimes that smart phones, the Internet, and TV are robbing us of time and preventing us from having a life? How can we make the most of our time on earth? In the first century AD, the Stoic philosopher Seneca the Younger offered one of the most famous answers to that question in his essay "On the Shortness of Life"—a work that has more to teach us today than ever before.

From the moment pets come into our lives, we know the day will arrive when we have to say farewell. Still, we are never emotionally prepared for the last adieu. In Goodbye, Friend, Gary Kowalski takes you on a journey of healing, offering warmth and sound advice on how to cope with the death of your pet.

Natural, legal, and innovative after-death care options are transforming the paradigm of the existing funeral industry, helping families and communities recover their instinctive capacity to care for a loved one after death. Reimagining Death offers stories and guidance for home funeral vigils, advance after-death care directives, green burials, and conscious dying. When we bring art and beauty, meaningful ritual, and joy to ease our loss and sorrow, we are greening the gateway of death and returning home to ourselves, to the wisdom of our bodies, and to the earth.

When You Kant Figure It Out, Ask a Philosopher explains how pearls of wisdom from the greatest Western philosophers can help us face and make light of some of the daily challenges of modern life. In 12 clever, accessible chapters, you'll get advice from Epicurus about how to disconnect from constant news alerts and social media updates, Nietzsche's take on getting in shape, John Stuart Mill's tips for handling bad birthday presents, and many other classic insights to help you navigate life today.

Was Renaissance genius Leonardo Da Vinci’s brain different from yours? Yes … and no. Like you, Da Vinci had a wide array of interests and constantly found connections between them, even when they seemed obscure. You may already be a problem solver at work, and perhaps admire Da Vinci as a ‘polymath’ and ‘Renaissance Man.’ But you may never have thought you could be like him. Da Vinci was ahead of his time. His notebooks, hundreds of years after his death, influenced modern flight, optometry, and photography. How could you follow in his footsteps?

Sensual Intelligence: The Lost IQ describes the embodied art and science of how to break free of the rules and ideals that have been dictated by society so that you can experience greater joy and full self-expression.

Ageism is too often an accepted form of bias, even though the facts support the value of aging. Airline pilots forced to retire at the arbitrary age of 65 are usually at the top of their game. Forced retirement in most organizations remove highly skilled performers as well as role models and trainers for newer generations. Instead of revelling in who we are, we begin to try to look younger as soon as possible. People have become inured to "losing" abilities as they age instead of appreciating new abilities that only age can bestow.

We know that they prayed, sang, and wore long robes, but what was it really like to be a monk? Though monastic living may seem unimaginable to us moderns, it has relevance for today. This book illuminates the day-to-day of medieval European monasticism, showing how you can apply the principles of monastic living, like finding balance and peace, to your life. With wit and insight, medievalist and podcaster Daniele Cybulskie dives into the history of monasticism in each chapter and then reveals applications for today.

365 Quotes to Live Your Life By will be more focused than other quote books, allowing you to keep your mind on what is most important and helping you produce real and long-lasting positive changes in your life. This collection of great quotes comes from a diverse range of great people - men and women from the East to the West, from ancient to modern times, from artists to philosophers to scientists to entrepreneurs, and more.

In this treasury of uncommon wisdom and spiritual insight, the best writings and personal philosophies of one of the 20th century's greatest poets, Rainer Maria Rilke, are gleaned by Ulrich Baer from thousands of pages of never-before translated correspondence.

Clint Arthur takes you on a wild ride to discover freedom, power, and adventure with the world's greatest leaders, champions, cultural icons, international superstars. It's all true, much is unbelievable, and every bit is designed to deliver maximum timeless control over your destiny in today's unpredictable world and hundreds of years in the future.

What is a crone? Life after forty doesn’t end. So why do most women treat it like it does? Put aside your midlife crisis and embrace the aging process with Crones Don't Whine. They're juicy and they trust their own instincts. Meditating, not groveling, and choosing the path with heart, crones are fierce about what matters to them. They speak the truth with compassion. They listen to their bodies, reinvent themselves, and savor the good in their lives. Featuring thirteen brief essays and small practices, this lighthearted book gives listeners resources to turn to again and again.

In this compelling self-help religious legal guide the author, judge, lawyer and inspirational speaker provides intimate details of the intricacies of the grief resulting from divorce. This how-to guide will walk the listener through what to expect when involved in a divorce and what to expect when the listener comes face to face with the realities that life as they know it is about to change drastically.

In this inspirational follow-up to the beloved Things I Want My Daughters to Know, lifestyle philosopher Alexandra Stoddard reflects on the lessons she's learned from her daughters and offers further thoughts and words of wisdom garnered from her own life. A mother, a grandmother, and the author of more than 25 books on personal fulfillment, Alexandra Stoddard celebrates the wisdom of motherhood and the lessons mothers can learn from their daughters in this warm and deeply moving new book that cuts to the heart of what is important in life.

In More than Happiness, Antonia Macaro delves into both philosophies, focusing on the elements that fit with our sceptical age and those which have the potential to make the biggest impact on how we live. From accepting that some things are beyond our control, to monitoring our emotions for unhealthy reactions, to shedding attachment to material things, there is much, she argues, that we can take and much that we’d do better to leave behind.

Healing Begins With Us is the story of two sisters who weren’t supposed to be friends. Ronni and Jennie grew up in a home with addiction, mental illness, and abuse issues that generated unhealthy dynamics and often pitted them against each other. In this audiobook, they tell the raw truth about their childhood experiences, including the abuse that occurred between them. As they moved toward adulthood, they managed to come together and chart a path that allowed them to heal their relationship and break the cycle of intergenerational trauma and abuse in their own families.

Business is about making money, but it's also about making decisions. There are relatively small decisions, like when to call a meeting or which emails to answer quickly. Then there are the big decisions that can make or break a business - which product to launch, whom to hire, how to spend. Hard work, analytics, past successes, intelligence, and a great business plan aren't enough anymore. Many of us are scrambling to discover the path to success but have found instead that we've lost our way.

Written for all ages, this short simple story contains a powerful therapeutic metaphor designed to cause change within your personality. Though the story and language is deceptively simple, it would be difficult to give a full description of the process that occurs while reading this book. Embedded in the tale of a young boy's struggle to come to terms with a schoolyard bully is another story of another time. Within this story is yet another layer that gives a healing metaphor to the subconscious of the listener.