Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need to Know Now

Rating:
Summary: Lovely Book For Thinking Adults
Review: Although it shares shelf-space with "Purpose Driven Life" and Mitch Albom, this book is actually a more insightful, deeper-reaching look into what is most important in life, a subject we don't really appreciate until our 40s and 50s. Well-written and hopeful in spirit, a joy to read. My other favorite book about how to appreciate your life is the less well-known "I Sleep At Red Lights: A True Story of Life After Triplets," by Bruce Stockler, a moving, richly-detailed and hilarious account of a Dad who juggles, work, marriage, finances, sleep and trying to become a successful writer--with his growing desire to spend more time with his kids.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: As a 30 year counselor educator, Dr. Livingston's book is a gem. It will be required reading for my future grad students in counseling. It is also an excellent stimulus book for 'courageous" people IN counseling. Dr. Bill McCrone, Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C.

Rating:
Summary: Wish I Had Read This Younger
Review: I am not, in general, a fan of advice books, but Dr. Livingston is the "real deal." Having survived the suicide of his own son, he has great credibility in advising the rest of us about how to deal with disappointments and tragedy. But he also provides sage words about how to get on with living joyfully. If you've gone through some rough times--and who hasn't?--read this book for inspiration.

Rating:
Summary: How to have a joyful life full of purpose
Review: The minute anyone realizes good intentions just don't cut it, that it's only actions that make me "me," life is immediately more fulfilling, more challenging, more fun. The difference between a person who becomes who they want to become, and a person who doesn't, can be found in their willingness to take real steps every day. Want to be someone who speaks another language? Get a book and teach yourself. Want to be the kind of person who is appreciated and valued at work? Review your work ethic and your interactions and make positive changes. Want to be healthier? Actually exercise every day instead of just planning to do so. The world can tell who you are by how you act, and if you don't like what it's seeing you're the only one who can fix it. In addition, realizing that the people around you aren't who they say they are, but who they act like they are, is a lesson I wish I'd been exposed to and had been able to comprehend in highschool.


Rating:
Summary: Not what I had hoped for..........
Review: The title sounded inspiring. I thought that by reading this book, I may be inspired by the wisdom of someone who has traveled lifes road ahead of me. But, the majority of what I read was clouded in what seemed like despair. A quote- "our ability to experience any pleasure requires either a healthy denial or courageous acceptance of the weight of time and the prospect of ultimate defeat". Even with that dim perspective and tone, I understood the point the author was making, and hoped to put that particular quote aside. However, most chapters left me with the same feeling......that I was listening to someone with a somewhat discouraged look on life. I wonder if at my young age of 34, I am not discouraged enough by life to feel "lifted up", "hopeful" or "inspired" by this sort of look at life. I must say, I hope that will always be the case.

I gave it 3 stars because there are sections that I felt were somewhat insightful. Even if those chapters still had the underlying "gloomy" tone they did make me "think".

If someone were looking for a book that could offer some insight, some feeling that you can infact be the author of the life you desire, and become a better person- I would suggest reading "the four agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz. That book is empowering and insightful.