Surviving Life

by Ronald C. Striano, Anthony V. Rubonis (Editor)

Overview

The world has become more hostile and competitive. We're constantly pressured to accomplish more and more. It is increasingly difficult to find happiness in our life. We are frequently offered, by well-meaning people, simple solutions consisting of brief lists, suggesting that if we do these four, or seven, or ten things, we will be happy. But is life that simple? Are we really all the same? Do we all feel the same feelings?

Surviving Life offers a much richer philosophy, one that is rooted in sound psychological principles. This book celebrates the uniqueness and individuality of each of us, moving in the opposite direction from attempts to oversimplify the human experience. It explains that there is something beyond happiness. There are ways to be able to enjoy our self throughout our day despite what is going on around us. We have everything we need. All we need to do is access it.

The Surviving Life philosophy offers an explanation of our self and our self within our world, allowing us the opportunity to maintain a sense of being in charge of our destiny, and to find peace, contentment and joy within our self at any time, anywhere. The complexity of the human experience is explained utilizing easy to understand concepts, demystifying the often difficult to understand world of the psyche in a manner that allows the reader to benefit from application of the concepts in day-to-day living.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780970646002
Publisher:	Sunshine Lane Publishing
Publication date:	08/20/2002
Pages:	156
Product dimensions:	5.48(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.46(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. The Secret of Life: Myth versus Reality

2. Beginning to Regain the Sense of Self: Getting to Know You

3. The Earlier Stages of Life: Enjoying the Benefits and Negotiating the Tradeoffs

4. Adulthood and Beyond: The Benefits of the Later Years

5. Homeostasis - The Balance of Life: Health versus Illness

6. Enjoying Our Self in the Workplace

7. The Social Sphere: Enjoying Our Self in Social Interactions

8. Enjoying Our Self in the Primary Intimate Relationship

9. Divorce / Restarting: Life After a Disruption in the Intimate Sphere

10. Health and Psychopathology of Everyday Family Life

11. Getting On With It: Living Life

12. The Self Interview

Introduction

If you have ever allowed yourself a moment of thoughtful contemplation, you perhaps have caught a glimpse of the notion that life can be truly wonderful. It's a journey that can take you in many enjoyable directions. But life also has its share of difficulty. And this difficulty serves an important existential purpose, for without it the wonders of the world would not be so readily evident.

From time to time, however, we find that life's difficulty may be rather taxing. In recent years, the world has become more fast-paced, hectic, and hostile, and these changes have brought about greater challenges to our ability to cope with our world. Life's journey becomes complicated with unexpected storms, last minute detours, and occasionally long stretches of emptiness. The world population is increasing, resources have become more limited, and competition for these resources has become fiercer than ever before.

To navigate through this increasingly difficult, complex, and challenging world, we often look to external remedies for solutions to life's difficulty, usually with little lasting success. This book asks you to do something different, to look internally instead of externally. It will help you discover and draw upon personal resources to deal with life's challenges. Your ability to maintain your existence in the face of adversity is the essence of survival. This book is designed to teach you how to carry yourself beyond life's difficulty.

Survival of life need not imply an extreme challenge or dramatic endeavor. Nor does it end once the challenge is overcome or the difficulty subsides. Survival involves a systematic effort at coping with adversity of all types, and is an ongoing, developmental process. We grow when we survive, and we become better persons because of our experience.

With this book in hand, you will embark on a journey with a philosophy of life that can guide you through life's most difficult challenges. And in this journey, you will learn new ways to view these challenges and to deal with them. You will be able to master the journey of your own life.

Anthony V. Rubonis
New York