Gentle Roads to Survival: Making Self-Healing Choices in Difficult Circumstances

Rating:
Summary: A wise,gentle book about self-transformation through living.
Review: I came to this book after a period of struggle and loss. Auw's definition of survivor includes anyone who prevails over life's traumas and tragedies. This is no superficial new age "self-help" book; it is a profound meditation on the possibilities of the transformation of a human life. Auw writes clearly, drawing from a lifetime of his own experiences, and what he has learned from his clients through counseling. He articulates "life's lessons" in a way that invites the reader to consider what we have learned to resist and dismiss ... that loss may be opportunity, and failure a message; that those of us in the "helping" professions must first of all be honest about our motives, and allow for our own humanity. In his discussion of fear and resistance, Auw points our that after close self-scrutiny, we may learn that the signal BEWARE that drives us reactively may be reframed as BE AWARE. These Zen-like suggestions sparkle in the mind and create courage. I would recommend this deceptively simple book to anyone who has begun an assessment of life with fairly open eyes. Savor this book - one small chapter a day will fill you up!

Rating:
Summary: A wise,gentle book about self-transformation through living.
Review: I came to this book after a period of struggle and loss. Auw's definition of survivor includes anyone who prevails over life's traumas and tragedies. This is no superficial new age "self-help" book; it is a profound meditation on the possibilities of the transformation of a human life. Auw writes clearly, drawing from a lifetime of his own experiences, and what he has learned from his clients through counseling. He articulates "life's lessons" in a way that invites the reader to consider what we have learned to resist and dismiss ... that loss may be opportunity, and failure a message; that those of us in the "helping" professions must first of all be honest about our motives, and allow for our own humanity. In his discussion of fear and resistance, Auw points our that after close self-scrutiny, we may learn that the signal BEWARE that drives us reactively may be reframed as BE AWARE. These Zen-like suggestions sparkle in the mind and create courage. I would recommend this deceptively simple book to anyone who has begun an assessment of life with fairly open eyes. Savor this book - one small chapter a day will fill you up!