Download or read book Pain Points of Joy written by Madeline Kim and published by WestBow Press. This book was released on 2017-07-12 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pain Points of Joy is the story about the dramatic life change Madeline Kim goes through when she marries a man with seven kids, including five who are adopted and two with special needs. She herself has one son to complete the family, thus begins the incredible ride of learning to navigate family life with eight kids. At times, it is crazy and complex, even chaotic, yet the times of stillness and joy peak inexplicably amidst it all. Each family member has their own history and struggles as they sort out the new normal. Madelines story will resonate with anyone who believes in new beginnings while overcoming the fear of the unknown. Anyone who has gone through the adoption experience or has experienced loss and the pain of abandonment will gain insight as Madeline weaves the impact of her own adoption journey into the present day. If you have ever wondered how to turn a messy life into something meaningful, Pain Points of Joy will clarify how the author found peace, joy, and most importantly, purpose, after choosing Gods standards versus the worlds.

Download or read book The Joy of Pain written by Richard H. Smith and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2013-08-15 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Argues that schadenfreude is a normal human emotion, looking at its roots in feelings of justice, positive sense of self, and concern with inferiority.

Download or read book Mercy for Today written by Jonathan Parnell and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2020-01-07 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You cannot make it without God’s mercy. Do we just need God’s grace in dark and shameful moments? Are prayers for mercy only for those times when we really mess up? Jonathan Parnell says we need God’s mercy all the time. In fact, contrary to many church cultures, Parnell shows that asking God for mercy should be as regular as asking God for our daily bread. There’s no doubt that David was in a terrible predicament when he first prayed the words of Psalm 51. It was a dark and shameful moment in the Bible, and one so dark and shameful it seldom feels relevant to us today. But David’s most desperate prayer is really a prayer for all of us—and not just for our worst moments, but for our every moment. In these pages, you'll discover: how to pray a daily, memorable prayer derived from Psalm 51 how to practice daily repentance and soul care how to pursue God and experience his joy in the Christian life This is God’s mercy, and it’s Mercy for Today.

Download or read book The Book of More Delights written by Ross Gay and published by Algonquin Books. This book was released on 2023-09-19 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From bestselling author of The Book of Delights and award-winning poet, a book of lyrical mini-essays celebrating the everyday that will inspire readers to rediscover the joys in the world around us. In Ross Gay’s new collection of small, daily wonders, again written over the course of a year, one of America’s most original voices continues his ongoing investigation of delight. For Gay, what delights us is what connects us, what gives us meaning, from the joy of hearing a nostalgic song blasting from a passing car to the pleasure of refusing the “nefarious” scannable QR code menus, from the tiny dog he fell hard for to his mother baking a dozen kinds of cookies for her grandchildren. As always, Gay revels in the natural world—sweet potatoes being harvested, a hummingbird carousing in the beebalm, a sunflower growing out of a wall around the cemetery, the shared bounty from a neighbor’s fig tree—and the trillion mysterious ways this glorious earth delights us. The Book of (More) Delights is a volume to savor and share.

Download or read book Jesus Himself written by Andrew Murray and published by . This book was released on 1893 with total page 82 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Lightmaker s Manifesto written by Karen Walrond and published by Broadleaf Books . This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Karen Walrond shines her light so we can find our own." —Brené Brown Many of us have strong convictions. We want to advocate for causes we care about--but which ones? We want to work for change--but will the emotional toll lead to burn out? Leadership coach, lawyer, photographer, and activist Karen Walrond knows that when you care deeply about the world, light can seem hard to find. But when your activism grows out of your joy--and vice versa--you begin to see light everywhere. In The Lightmaker's Manifesto, Walrond helps us name the skills, values, and actions that bring us joy; identify the causes that spark our empathy and concern; and then put it all together to change the world. Creative and practical exercises, including journaling, daily intention-setting, and mindful self-compassion, are complemented by lively conversations with activists and thought leaders such as Valarie Kaur, Brené Brown, Tarana Burke, and Zuri Adele. With stories from around the world and wisdom from those leading movements for change, Walrond beckons readers toward lives of integrity, advocacy, conviction, and joy. By unearthing our passions and gifts, we learn how to joyfully advocate for justice, peace, and liberation. We learn how to become makers of light.

Download or read book Choose Joy written by Kay Warren and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2012-04 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Passionate Bible teacher Kay Warren shows women--even those who battle depression and anxiety--that a joy-filled life is within their reach.

Download or read book Defiant Joy written by Stasi Eldredge and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2018-10-16 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We all spend a lot of energy reaching for happiness, but we're never quite able to hang on to it. Real life happens, and our circumstances take us on an emotional rollercoaster. Oftentimes, the Bible's call to "be joyful always" seems out of reach--but it doesn't have to be. We are called to live. And, miraculously, to live with joy. Join bestselling author Stasi Eldredge as she shows us how to choose a joy that stands against the tides of life's real and often overwhelming pain. Defiant Joy reminds us that a joy that is defiant in the face of this broken world was meant to be ours. This joy isn't simply happiness on steroids, it's the unyielding belief that sorrow and loss do not have the final say. It's the stubborn determination to be present in whatever may come and interpret both goodness and grief by the light of heaven. Defiant Joy will give you the encouragement you need to: Finally experience daily joy Learn how to have a posture of holy defiance when circumstances threaten to weigh down your soul Find new perspectives on the painful circumstances you've faced In Defiant Joy, Stasi invites us with courage, candor, and tender vulnerability to a place beyond sadness or happiness, leading the way as we learn how to maintain a posture of holy defiance that neither denies nor diminishes our pain but dares to live with expectant, unwavering hope.

Download or read book The Sweet Spot written by Paul Bloom and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-11-02 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This book will challenge you to rethink your vision of a good life. With sharp insights and lucid prose, Paul Bloom makes a captivating case that pain and suffering are essential to happiness. It’s an exhilarating antidote to toxic positivity.” —Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the TED podcast WorkLife One of Behavioral Scientist's "Notable Books of 2021" From the author of Against Empathy, a different kind of happiness book, one that shows us how suffering is an essential source of both pleasure and meaning in our lives Why do we so often seek out physical pain and emotional turmoil? We go to movies that make us cry, or scream, or gag. We poke at sores, eat spicy foods, immerse ourselves in hot baths, run marathons. Some of us even seek out pain and humiliation in sexual role-play. Where do these seemingly perverse appetites come from? Drawing on groundbreaking findings from psychology and brain science, The Sweet Spot shows how the right kind of suffering sets the stage for enhanced pleasure. Pain can distract us from our anxieties and help us transcend the self. Choosing to suffer can serve social goals; it can display how tough we are or, conversely, can function as a cry for help. Feelings of fear and sadness are part of the pleasure of immersing ourselves in play and fantasy and can provide certain moral satisfactions. And effort, struggle, and difficulty can, in the right contexts, lead to the joys of mastery and flow. But suffering plays a deeper role as well. We are not natural hedonists—a good life involves more than pleasure. People seek lives of meaning and significance; we aspire to rich relationships and satisfying pursuits, and this requires some amount of struggle, anxiety, and loss. Brilliantly argued, witty, and humane, Paul Bloom shows how a life without chosen suffering would be empty—and worse than that, boring.

Download or read book The Case for Rational Optimism written by Frank Robinson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-28 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Case for Rational Optimism tackles a host of challenging subjects in an engaging, accessible, down-to-earth style. It is intellectually serious, ceaselessly intriguing, and devoid of banalities. While other books in this genre tend to be oriented toward self-help, this volume brings evolutionary biology, neuroscience, psychology, sociology, economics, and a keen sense of history to the topic. Robinson begins with three goals: making the case for feeling good about oneself, about humanity in general, and about the global situation. He addresses such seemingly disparate subjects as selfi shness versus altruism, mind and free will, human nature, and issues relating to economics, technology, the environment, and more. Unifying these ideas into a coherent philosophical whole are central concepts: evolution has endowed our species with more good qualities than bad, and why; those qualities, and our use of reason, are the foundations of civilization, and how; and, consistent with our nature, we make a better world by valuing human life therefore enabling others to fl ourish in ways they freely choose. The Case for Rational Optimism argues that the highly challenging conditions confronting early man created a Darwinian selective pressure for cooperation, even altruism, among members of a tribe. Th e author fi nds evidence for this in the way our brains work, and in observable human behavior. He argues against existential despair over the human condition. Even though there probably is no grand celestial design investing life with meaning, he considers this liberating, giving every person the freedom to craft their own meaning. To Robinson, whether sentient beings experience suff ering or joy is the only thing that matters; without emotive highs and lows, the Universe would hardly matter.

Download or read book Life Liberty And Happiness written by Frank S. Robinson and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2011-07-06 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Writing in a highly readable style, independent of religious dogma, Robinson in Life, Liberty, and Happiness comprehensively tackles the big questions with the basic understanding that 'if you keep before you the core idea, live and let live, you will never go far wrong'...Robinson offers a coherent viewpoint on the big questions, a comprehensive optimist manifesto, not packed with bland bromides but thought-provoking ideas.-The Review of MetaphysicsThere's no shortage of gloom-and-doom viewpoints about humanity: our history of violence and war, environmental profligacy, economic and social injustice, etc. Frank S. Robinson has written this optimist manifesto as an antidote to such poisonous pessimism. Here you will find some radical and refreshing assertions: that most people are fundamentally good, that global society is getting better all the time, and that, in the big picture, humankind is not at the end of a brief, tragic existence but, rather, has just embarked on a long, bright future.What started as an extended letter to his daughter, one father's effort to leave an intellectual legacy, grew to comprehensively cover and tie together the big philosophical, political, social, and economic issues. Writing in a highly readable style, Robinson steadfastly emphasizes reason as our best tool for discovering truth and making objective decisions. It is through this consistently rational approach to life that he argues for a positive humanistic vision, based on people being left free to pursue their dreams.Celebrating our human character and achievement as well as American ideals of liberty and opportunity, this compelling work is packed with thought-provoking ideas that engage the mind. Good-humored and entertaining, yet intellectually rigorous, it has a positive, optimistic message: we can live good and happy lives; today's world is the best ever; and tomorrow's will be better still!Frank S. Robinson (Albany, NY) is a retired administrative law judge, an expert numismatist, and author of three previous books including Confessions of a Numismatic Fanatic.

Download or read book Ecstasy written by Michael Eigen and published by Wesleyan University Press. This book was released on 2001-11-15 with total page 126 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Ecstasy is a force to be reckoned with--sometimes creative, sometimes destructive. Eigen argues that there is an ecstasy that comes through the ever-necessary confrontation of our psychic cores with suffering and degradation and he shows that when we can learn to be present with these feelings, they add to the tone and texture of our lives, and help us to feel real."--Page 4 of cover.

Download or read book Crazy Brave written by Joy Harjo and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2012-07-09 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A memoir from the Native American poet describes her youth with an abusive stepfather, becoming a single teen mom, and how she struggled to finally find inner peace and her creative voice.

Download or read book Joy Pain written by D.M. Jordon and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2010-07-31 with total page 51 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Navigating one’s way through everyday life is akin to riding a rollercoaster: We ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’ through all the twists and turns, laughing loudly along the way. Out of nowhere there is a reality check waiting for passengers at ride’s end—the inevitable big drop! Laughs turn to screams; we hold on for dear life and hope the safety equipment is in proper working order. The coaster stops, we touch ground safely, and move on with our lives. In a nutshell, life is the ultimate roller coaster filled with loads of twists and turns, coupled with its highs and lows. We are all moved through life by emotions that, at times, dictate how we live. However, it isn’t healthy to live on emotions alone. Sometimes we have to use common sense and take a step back to get a better view of what lies ahead. When we learn to control our emotions, the better equipped we become to handle what falls our way. Joy & Pain/Life Happens is a compilation of my personal views on how to deal with life’s ups and downs. I hope you, the reader, find it enjoyable, interesting, and insightful.

Download or read book Paradigm Busters Reveal the Real You written by Marilyn Redmond and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-04-07 with total page 594 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new approach for a New Age. This book contains a lifetime of wisdom and insight into the mind-body-spirit connection of healing and wholeness. If you are trying to reach new levels of health or trying to find your purpose in life, this book is a must read." ~ Dr. Kathleen Drake, Chiropractor "Marilyn Redmond has spent her life bringing light and love from the realm of angels and spirit to this world of ours. In this book she shares with us, some of her rich history as she helps us better understand the beauty of our own Divine selves." ~ Gladys Taylor McGarey M.D. MD [H]"Happiness is an inside job, which can never be reached with drugs! Following this wise advice could save your life, and a great deal of suffering. HUGS, Norm."~ C. Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D.President, Holos Institutes of HealthProfessor Emeritus of Energy MedicinePresident EmeritusHolos University Graduate Seminary

Download or read book Rule the Room written by Jason Teteak and published by Morgan James Publishing. This book was released on 2014-01-01 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rule the Room is the product of Jason Teteak’s twenty-year experience as a trainer and coach. His thoroughly tested advice covers every presenter’s concerns, from hooking the audience immediately to entertaining them, and from overcoming your fears to handling questions. He covers every base—content creation, delivery, audience management— with an overview plus step-by-step instructions, review exercises, and scores of specific and practical tips. Whether you want to persuade, motivate, teach, or inspire, Rule the Room can be your guide.

Download or read book Divine Enjoyment written by Elaine Padilla and published by Fordham Univ Press. This book was released on 2014-12-02 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book’s theological and philosophical construction of a God of enjoyment poetically remaps divine love. Posing a critique to the Aristotelian unmoved mover whose intellective enjoyment is self-enclosed, this book’s affective tones depict a passionate God who intermingles with the cosmos to suffer and yearn out of love— even improper love. Divine Enjoyment leads the reader to a path of excess, first in the form of an intellective appetite that for Aquinas places God beyond the divine self, then more erotically in the silhouette of a lover whose love is like the delectable pain of mystics. Culminating with banqueting, fiesta, and carnival, the book deterritorializes God’s affect, conceiving of an expansively hospitable enjoyment stemming from many life forms With a renewed welcome for pleasure, the book also upholds a disruptive ethic. Ultimately, an immoderate God of love whose passionate enjoyment stems from the sufferings as well as joys of the cosmos offers another paradigm of lovingly enjoying oneself in relationship with passionate becomings that belong to many others.