Download or read book Living the Life Unexpected written by Jody Day and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2016-02-25 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘The book to recommend to patients when they face coming to terms with unavoidable childlessness.' – British Medical Journal In Living the Life Unexpected, Jody Day addresses the experience of involuntary childlessness and provides a powerful, practical guide to help those negotiating a future without children come to terms with their grief; a grief that is only just beginning to be recognized by society. This friendly, practical, humorous and honest guide from one of the world’s most respected names in childless support offers compassion and understanding and shows how it’s possible to move towards a creative, happy, meaningful and fulfilling future – even if it’s not the one you had planned. Millions of people are now living a life without children, almost double that of a generation ago and the numbers are rising still. Although some are childfree by choice, many others are childless due to infertility or circumstance and are struggling to come to terms with their uncertain future. Although most people think that those without children either 'couldn't' or 'didn't want’ to be parents, the truth is much more complex. Jody Day was forty-four when she realized that her quest to be a mother was at an end. She presumed that she was through the toughest part, but over the next couple of years she was hit by waves of grief, despair and isolation. Eventually she found her way and in 2011 created Gateway Women, the global friendship and support network for childless women which has now helped almost two million people worldwide. This edition, previously titled Rocking the Life Unexpected, has been extensively revised and updated, with significant additional content and case studies from forty involuntarily childless people (mostly women) from around the world.
Download or read book Living the Life Unexpected written by Jody Day and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2016 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jody Day would have liked to have had children, but it didn't work out that way. At the age of 44, she admitted to herself that her quest to be a mother was at an end. She presumed that she was through the toughest part, but over the next couple of years she was hit by waves of grief, despair and isolation. Eventually she found her way and created the Gateway Women Network, helping many thousands of women worldwide. In 'Living the Life Unexpected', Jody addresses the taboo of childlessness and shows women how to live creative, happy, meaningful and fulfilling lives without children.
Download or read book Life Interrupted written by Priscilla Shirer and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From telemarketers to traffic jams to twenty-item shoppers in the ten-item line, our lives are full of interruptions. They're often aggravating, sometimes infuriating, and can make us want to tell people what we really think about them. But they also tell us something quite important about ourselves. The prophet Jonah's life was interrupted by a clear call of God that made him mad enough and scared enough to run in the completely opposite direction. Yet it wasn't really an interruption. It was an opportunity for Jonah to be involved in something the likes of which the Old Testament world had never seen: national revival in a Gentile country. What if Jonah had seen God's interruption for what it truly was—a divine intervention that held more adventure and possibility than any other thing he could have been doing at the time? What could have felt any better than being directly in the center of God's will? Yet we play it that same way—always running from major pains and minor problems that just don't seem to suit us at the time. Who knows what we're missing by being so interruption avoidant? In this very personal account of opportunities lost and lessons learned, popular conference speaker and author Priscilla Shirer shows how to embrace the amazing freedom and fulfillment that comes from going with God, even when He's going against your grain. .
Download or read book Motherhood Missed written by Lois Tonkin and published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. This book was released on 2018-09-10 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many women expect to become mothers but are childless through social rather than biological reasons - perhaps they haven't met the right person or they prioritised career or education earlier in life. Featuring international interviews by grief counsellor and researcher Lois Tonkin, this collection of first-person stories provides insight into the under-discussed situation of being childless by circumstance. Each story highlights the different aspects of being childless by circumstance, as women move through their 30s, 40s, and 50s, and beyond their ages of fertility. The book explores feelings of grief and loss, and also how women adapt positively to their changed life expectations, finding excitement in the alternative, rich and complex shapes their lives have taken.
Download or read book Otherhood written by Melanie Notkin and published by Seal Press. This book was released on 2014-02-25 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This “essential read” (Gretchen Rubin) from the author of Savvy Auntie tells the funny, sexy, and sometimes heartbreaking stories of today's well-educated, successful women who expected love, marriage, and children, but instead find themselves in the “Otherhood” as their fertile years wane. More American women are childless than ever before—nearly half those of childbearing age don’t have children. While our society often assumes these women are “childfree by choice,” that’s not always true. In reality, many of them expected to marry and have children, but it simply hasn’t happened. Wrongly judged as picky or career-obsessed, they make up the “Otherhood,” a growing demographic that has gone without definition or visibility until now. In Otherhood, author Melanie Notkin reveals her own story as well as the honest, poignant, humorous, and occasionally heartbreaking stories of women in her generation—women who expected love, marriage, and parenthood, but instead found themselves facing a different reality. She addresses the reasons for this shift, the social and emotional impact it has on our collective culture, and how the “new normal” will affect our society in the decades to come. Notkin aims to reassure women that they are not alone and encourages them to find happiness and fulfillment no matter what the future holds. A groundbreaking exploration of an essential contemporary issue, Otherhood inspires thought-provoking conversation and gets at the heart of our cultural assumptions about single women and childlessness.
Download or read book Life Gets Better written by Wendy Lustbader and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2011-08-18 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The acclaimed author of What's Worth Knowing reveals the truth about aging: Old age often offers a richer, better, and more self-assured life than youth. From our earliest lives, we are told that our youth will be the best time of our lives-that the energy and vitality of youth are the most important qualities a person can possess, and that everything that comes after will be a sad decline. But in reality, says Wendy Lustbader, youth is not the golden era it is often made out to be. For many, it is a time riddled with anxiety, angst, confusion, and the torture of uncertainty. Conversely, the media often feeds us a vision of growing older as a journey of defeat and diminishment. They are dead wrong. As Lustbader counters, "Life gets better as we get older, on all levels except the physical." Life Gets Better is not a precious or whimsical tome on the quirky wisdom of the elderly. Lustbader-who has worked for several decades as a social worker specializing in aging issues-conducted firsthand research with aging and elderly people in all walks of life, and she found that they overwhelmingly spoke of the mental and emotional richness they have drawn from aging. Lustbader discovered that rather than experiencing a decline from youth, aging people were happier, more courageous, and more interested in being true to their inner selves than were young people. Life Gets Better examines through first-person stories, as well as Lustbader's own observations, how a lifetime of lessons learned can yield one of the most personally and emotionally fruitful periods of anyone's life. As an eighty-six-year-old who contributed her story to the book noted, "For me, being old is the reward for outlasting all the big and little problems that happen to all of us along life's pathway." The collected stories in Life Gets Better provide a hopeful corrective to the fear of aging aggressively instilled in us by the media. Don't dread the future: The best years of our lives just may be ahead.
Download or read book The Unexpected Everything written by Morgan Matson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-05-03 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a scandal surrounding her father upsets all her carefully laid plans for her future, Andie must learn to accept a new relationship with her father and to embrace a little chaos in her life.
Download or read book Living with Less written by Joshua Becker and published by Group Publishing (Company). This book was released on 2012-08-01 with total page 107 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In Living with less, Joshua will guide you through biblical teachings on possessions and his own personal experience with minimalism--living with only the essential ... This book will challenge you to spend your hours, energy, and resources in ways that draw you closer to the heart of Jesus."--Page 4 of cover.
Download or read book Nowhere for Very Long written by Brianna Madia and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2022-04-05 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER • USA TODAY! BESTSELLER In this beautifully written, vividly detailed memoir, a young woman chronicles her adventures traveling across the deserts of the American West in an orange van named Bertha and reflects on an unconventional approach to life. A woman defined by motion, Brianna Madia bought a beat-up bright orange van, filled it with her two dogs Bucket and Dagwood, and headed into the canyons of Utah with her husband. Nowhere for Very Long is her deeply felt, immaculately told story of exploration—of the world outside and the spirit within. However, pursuing a life of intention isn’t always what it seems. In fact, at times it was downright boring, exhausting, and even desperate—when Bertha overheated and she was forced to pull over on a lonely stretch of South Dakota highway; when the weather was bitterly cold and her water jugs froze beneath her as she slept in the parking lot of her office; when she worried about money, her marriage, and the looming question mark of her future. But Brianna was committed to living a life true to herself, come what may, and that made all the difference. Nowhere for Very Long is the true story of a woman learning and unlearning, from backroads to breakdowns, from married to solo, and finally, from lost to found to lost again . . . this time, on purpose.
Download or read book The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary written by Catherine Gray and published by Aster. This book was released on 2019-12-26 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: **From the Sunday Times Bestselling Author** Life-affirming - THE TELEGRAPH Wonderful - INDEPENDENT She made it her mission to learn how to be default happy rather than default disgruntled - RADIO 4 - WOMAN'S HOUR Take a leaf out of Gray's book and be kinder to yourself by appreciating life just as it is - IRISH TIMES This book came to me in an hour of need - during lockdown when I had to focus on the positive, appreciate simple things, not lose my shit, and value each day. It was a pure joy for me and held my hand - SADIE FROST Interesting and joyful. Lights a path that could help us to build resilience against society's urging to compare life milestones with peers - LANCET PSYCHIATRY Underwhelmed by your ordinary existence? Disillusioned with your middlin' wage, average body, 'bijou' living situation and imperfect loved ones? Welcome to the club. There are billions of us. The 'default disenchanted'. But, it's not us being brats. Two deeply inconvenient psychological phenomenons conspire against our satisfaction. We have negatively-biased brains, which zoom like doom-drones in on what's wrong with our day, rather than what's right. (Back in the mists of time, this negative bias saved our skins, but now it just makes us anxious). Also, something called the 'hedonic treadmill' means we eternally quest for better, faster, more, like someone stuck on a dystopian, never-ending treadmill. Thankfully, there are scientifically-proven ways in which we can train our brains to be more positive-seeking. And to take a rest from this tireless pursuit. Whew. Catherine Gray knits together illuminating science and hilarious storytelling, unveiling captivating research showing that big bucks don't mean big happiness, extraordinary experiences have a 'comedown' and budget weddings predict a lower chance of divorce. She reminds us what an average body actually is, reveals that exercising for weight loss means we do less exercise, and explores the modern tendency to not just try to keep up with the Murphys, but keep up with the Mega-Murphies (see: the social media elite). Come on in to this soulful and life-affirming read, to discover why an ordinary life may well be the most satisfying one of all.
Download or read book Finding Joy Beyond Childlessness written by Lesley Pyne and published by . This book was released on 2018-06-18 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You wanted to be a mother and for some reason it didn't happen. Now you're feeling devastated, sad, angry, disappointed, (I could go on) Mostly, you're hiding your true self from the world. And it hurts. A lot. You're not alone.In Finding Joy Beyond Childlessness, Lesley Pyne uses her life experience as a childless woman, the experiences of other childless women from all over the world, and her skills as a coach and NLP Master Practitioner to gently guide readers through their pain, using practical advice and exercises, to help them reach the other side to find their joy. Finding Joy Beyond Childlessness helps you: Understand why the story you tell yourself is important, how to change it and stop it holding you back.Learn different ways of moving through the grieving process including, letting go, connecting with your feelings and your body, self-acceptance, and writing. Recognize the importance of gratitude and how to find joy again.Explore how you've changed during the process and gently learn how to find fulfillment now and in the future.¿Lesley Pyne is childless and has lost both parents, and now is able to say confidently 'I absolutely love my life, the adventures I'm having, and I'm excited about what will happen next.'
Download or read book The Unexpected Joy of Being Single written by Catherine Gray and published by Aster. This book was released on 2018-12-27 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Sunday Times bestselling author 'This refreshing, unusual book needs to exist. A culture shift which repositions a single person as someone who is relationship-free, complete, and not lacking is long overdue.' - The i 'Absolutely f*cking brilliant' - Florence Given Having a secret single freak-out? Feeling the red, heart-shaped urgency intensify as the years roll on by? Oh hi! You're in the right place. Over half of Brits aged 25-44 are now single. It's become the norm to remain solo until much later in life, given the average marriage ages of 35 (women) and 38 (men). Many of us are choosing never to marry at all. But society, films, song lyrics and our parents are adamant that a happy ending has to be couple-shaped. That we're incomplete without an 'other half'*, like a bisected panto pony. Cue: single sorrow. Dating like it's a job. Spending half our lives waiting for somebody-we-fancy to text us back. Feeling haunted by the terms 'spinster' or 'confirmed bachelor.' Catherine Gray took a whole year off dating to find single satisfaction. She lifted the lid on the reasons behind the global single revolution, explored the bizarre ways cultures single-shame, detached from 'all the good ones are gone!' panic and debunked the myth that married people are much happier. Let's start the reverse brainwash, in order to locate - and luxuriate in - single happiness. Are you in? *Spoiler: you're already whole PRAISE FOR CATHERINE GRAY'S WRITING: "Fascinating." - Bryony Gordon "Not remotely preachy." - The Times "Jaunty, shrewd and convincing." - The Telegraph "Admirably honest, light, bubbly and remarkably rarely annoying." - The Guardian "Truthful, modern and real." - Stylist "Brave, witty and brilliantly written." - Marie Claire "Haunting, admirable and enlightening." - The Pool
Download or read book Sunshine Girl written by Julianna Margulies and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2022-05-03 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Known for her outstanding performances on the groundbreaking television series The Good Wife and ER, Julianna Margulies deftly chronicles her life and her work in this deeply powerful memoir. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY GOOD HOUSEKEEPING • “At once a tender coming-of-age story and a deeply personal look at a young woman making sense of the world against a chaotic and peripatetic childhood.”—Katie Couric As an apple-cheeked bubbly child, Julianna was bestowed with the family nickname “Sunshine Girl.” Shuttled back and forth between her divorced parents, often on different continents, she quickly learned how to be of value to her eccentric mother and her absent father. Raised in fairly unconventional ways in various homes in Paris, England, New York, and New Hampshire, Julianna found that her role among the surrounding turmoil and uncertainty was to comfort those around her, seeking organization among the disorder, making her way in the world as a young adult and eventually an award-winning actress. Throughout, there were complicated relationships, difficult choices, and overwhelming rejections. But there were also the moments where fate, faith, and talent aligned, leading to the unforgettable roles of a lifetime, both professionally and personally—moments when chaos had finally turned to calm. Filled with intimate stories and revelatory moments, Sunshine Girl is at once unflinchingly honest and perceptive. It is a riveting self-portrait of a woman whose resilience in the face of turmoil will leave readers intrigued and inspired.
Download or read book Living the Life That You Are written by Nic Higham and published by New Harbinger Publications. This book was released on 2018-07-01 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Living the Life That You Are weaves together psychology, ancient wisdom, and honest personal reflections into a coherent and inspiring whole. If loneliness is the great disease of the modern age, then Nic’s heartfelt plea for self-love is much-needed medicine.” —Jeff Foster, author of Falling in Love with Where You Are When you feel isolated and alone, the world can seem like an enormously unfamiliar, confusing, and scary place. You may get caught up in your own thoughts and feelings, and even avoid connecting with others out of fear of being criticized, misunderstood, or uncomfortable—which only leads to more isolation and loneliness. This cycle can be hard to break, but you are not doomed to endure this painful condition of feeling lost and alone. This book can help you find authentic peace, confidence, and connection with all that is, right here and now. Living the Life That You Are examines the modern-day dilemma of loneliness, revealing that its root cause is the belief that we’re all separate individuals bound by personal limitations. We feel disconnected and incomplete, assuming that life’s fullness exists somewhere out there, and that we must be, do, or have more for lasting fulfillment. But the truth is, despite our limited appearance, we are actually boundless. There is no divide between our internal and external worlds. This is the ancient philosophy of non-duality—we are the wholeness we are seeking. The life that you are is all that is right now: every texture, flavor, fragrance, sight, and sound in their abundance. Using radical mindfulness—a combination of mindfulness and non-dual self-inquiry—this book will guide you toward awakening to the transformative truth and love that is your foundational being. By learning to observe, acknowledge, and question your experience without censorship or prejudice, your sense of being lost and alone will give way to an enriching and comforting state of communion with all. Includes music downloads for a radically mindful soundtrack
Download or read book This Particular Happiness written by Jackie Shannon Hollis and published by Forest Avenue Press. This book was released on 2019-10-01 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Knowing where your scars come from doesn’t make them go away. When Jackie Shannon Hollis marries Bill, a man who does not want children, she joyfully commits to a childless life. But soon after the wedding, she returns to the family ranch in rural Oregon and holds her newborn niece. Jackie falls deep into baby love and longing and begins to question her decision. As she navigates the overlapping roles of wife, daughter, aunt, sister, survivor, counselor, and friend, she explores what it really means to choose a different path. This Particular Happiness delves into the messy and beautiful territory of what we keep and what we abandon to make the space for love.
Download or read book Simple Lessons for a Better Life written by Charles E. Dodgen and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the unique experiences of nursing home residents, an empathic psychologist derives lessons for living a better life, demonstrating how people find happiness, peace, and fulfillment despite challenging circumstances. Perfect for readers who seek inspiration for living a better life at any age and who enjoy books on inspiration/motivation, wellness, psychology, self-improvement, wellness, and issues of aging. The desire to live a good life is timeless. And, sometimes, insight into what really matters emerges from where we least expect it. Even the most challenging circumstances can have a surprise silver lining. This perceptive and inspiring book shows that anyone can learn valuable life lessons from the unique experiences of nursing home residents. Using illustrative vignettes of his interactions with people facing serious physical, mental, and social challenges, the author derives twenty-eight simple, yet profoundly important, lessons for living a richer life-lessons that apply to people at any age. Dr. Dodgen, a clinical psychologist who has worked with this population for eighteen years, has discovered that when the surplus trappings of lifestyle are cleared away and lives are stripped to their most essential components, people discover new paths to happiness, peace, and fulfillment. Dodgen shares stories that demonstrate how love, meaning, purpose, and contentment can be found even in far-from-ideal circumstances. Offering deeply thoughtful reflections in an easily digestible format, this book affirms that no matter our physical, economic, or social limitations, we can remain rich in life. Readers looking for ways to improve relationships, understand and manage feelings more effectively, cope well with challenges, mitigate suffering, and discover greater serenity in their own life circumstances will find a wealth of insights in these concise, enlightening chapters.
Download or read book Living the Mindful Life written by Charles T. Tart and published by Shambhala. This book was released on 1994-08-16 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Being awake. Why is something that sounds so simple the primary goal of so many of the world's great wisdom traditions? In this workshop-in-a-book, Charles T. Tart shows why: the seeming simplicity of the awakened state belies its transformative effect on the lives of those who strive for it. His easy-to-use exercises put within everyone's reach the elusive art of "waking up" to life in the glorious present moment.
