I Am On a Self Improvement Journey
Well - I'm starting off by saying - I'm currently working on a book about self-improvement. It's based on realism and contentment, not on positivity or positive thinking. I have over 200 pages written so far - and I'm planning on releasing the book sometime in Fall 2017. I figured I would share this introduction for people to get an early preview of the book.
It's been quite a journey writing this book, and it's given me enormous insights into life, myself and how my life experiences might be able to help others in their journeys towards balance, realism and contentment.
If you're interested in learning more about the book, send me a message, but for now, here is the introduction:
Introduction
"You don't have to be the Dalai Lama to tell people that life's about change." - John Cleese
I wondered what to write that would introduce me and what I’m writing about to other people. By which I mean sincerely - what does one say to introduce oneself to countless people? I’m a person who has had to struggle with many issues, most particularly Asperger’s Syndrome and PTSD. Each of those two major issues separately, can be debilitating and life altering. I don’t want to be pitied though, I just want to be understood and respected.
From those struggles, I have learned much about life, balance, meaning, resilience, tenacity and endurance. I’ve seen the best and worst of human nature in my thirty plus years alive. After spending a great amount of time in pursuit of self-improvement, I've come to intrinsically understand certain truths about human nature. I've read hundreds of books in pursuit of something; anything to understand life itself. Often times, this quest has been fruitless, but I occasionally catch glimpses of what I’m seeking and based on those small windows, I’ve come to see life itself in inexplicable and unexpected ways.
Human beings aspire to better ourselves and that's part of human nature, along with the duality of creativity and destruction, curiosity about the universe, most of all a desire for purpose and meaning in our lives. We tend to seek a deeper understanding of the universe, but a majority of the time that eludes us. With hard-won insights and understanding, I’ve seen the darker elements of life and truth in our existence. With those elements in mind I've come to recognize the truth of what Nietzsche once enigmatically wrote:
"When you look into the abyss, the abyss looks into you."
I believe what Nietzsche meant is that when you learn certain truths about life and are able to observe things, individual lives, and events on a critical level, then the inquisitor of life's knowledge cannot merely just observe anymore - we have to interfere! We have to share our newfound knowledge because if we chose not to do so would be the same as not having that knowledge in the first place. The consequences of not using this hard-won knowledge for the betterment of other people often weighs heavily on me. While I’ve used this knowledge on an individual personal basis, I hope that what I’ve learned can find a much larger audience when written into a book to help others.
Self-improvement is such an interesting genre, because we each arrive at crossroads in our lives and wonder where to go from there. All human beings struggle at points in our lives. We stumble, fall and get ourselves back up again. There can be multiple reasons for losing our path and purpose in life: family issues, divorce, death of a loved one, losing a job, major illness, and still yet more reasons known to yourself only.
I wish that we could each just tap our shoes together three times and be back in Kansas, like Dorothy in Wizard of Oz. In truth, there is no magic solution to all of our problems. Of course, there are many books which purport to have a solution for you, a cure-all-solution. However, books in this genre of self-improvement that fail to really help you walk the path of change (i.e., when you’re at a crossroads questioning everything in life), have a simple utilitarian value for you as a person: keep them in a pile in your bathroom just in case you run out of toilet paper.
I’m hoping that what I’ve written is relevant to you, but maybe it’s not. At least, it may put you in the proper mindset to start unravelling what brought you to self-improvement. Honestly, if there was ever a purpose I’ve found in my own life, it’s helping people to sort out their lives. And to help people understand the balance between simplicity and complexity of life? Well, that’s my soul purpose and reason for being.
Author, Spring of 2017
It's been quite a journey writing this book, and it's given me enormous insights into life, myself and how my life experiences might be able to help others in their journeys towards balance, realism and contentment.
If you're interested in learning more about the book, send me a message, but for now, here is the introduction:
Introduction
"You don't have to be the Dalai Lama to tell people that life's about change." - John Cleese
I wondered what to write that would introduce me and what I’m writing about to other people. By which I mean sincerely - what does one say to introduce oneself to countless people? I’m a person who has had to struggle with many issues, most particularly Asperger’s Syndrome and PTSD. Each of those two major issues separately, can be debilitating and life altering. I don’t want to be pitied though, I just want to be understood and respected.
From those struggles, I have learned much about life, balance, meaning, resilience, tenacity and endurance. I’ve seen the best and worst of human nature in my thirty plus years alive. After spending a great amount of time in pursuit of self-improvement, I've come to intrinsically understand certain truths about human nature. I've read hundreds of books in pursuit of something; anything to understand life itself. Often times, this quest has been fruitless, but I occasionally catch glimpses of what I’m seeking and based on those small windows, I’ve come to see life itself in inexplicable and unexpected ways.
Human beings aspire to better ourselves and that's part of human nature, along with the duality of creativity and destruction, curiosity about the universe, most of all a desire for purpose and meaning in our lives. We tend to seek a deeper understanding of the universe, but a majority of the time that eludes us. With hard-won insights and understanding, I’ve seen the darker elements of life and truth in our existence. With those elements in mind I've come to recognize the truth of what Nietzsche once enigmatically wrote:
"When you look into the abyss, the abyss looks into you."
I believe what Nietzsche meant is that when you learn certain truths about life and are able to observe things, individual lives, and events on a critical level, then the inquisitor of life's knowledge cannot merely just observe anymore - we have to interfere! We have to share our newfound knowledge because if we chose not to do so would be the same as not having that knowledge in the first place. The consequences of not using this hard-won knowledge for the betterment of other people often weighs heavily on me. While I’ve used this knowledge on an individual personal basis, I hope that what I’ve learned can find a much larger audience when written into a book to help others.
Self-improvement is such an interesting genre, because we each arrive at crossroads in our lives and wonder where to go from there. All human beings struggle at points in our lives. We stumble, fall and get ourselves back up again. There can be multiple reasons for losing our path and purpose in life: family issues, divorce, death of a loved one, losing a job, major illness, and still yet more reasons known to yourself only.
I wish that we could each just tap our shoes together three times and be back in Kansas, like Dorothy in Wizard of Oz. In truth, there is no magic solution to all of our problems. Of course, there are many books which purport to have a solution for you, a cure-all-solution. However, books in this genre of self-improvement that fail to really help you walk the path of change (i.e., when you’re at a crossroads questioning everything in life), have a simple utilitarian value for you as a person: keep them in a pile in your bathroom just in case you run out of toilet paper.
I’m hoping that what I’ve written is relevant to you, but maybe it’s not. At least, it may put you in the proper mindset to start unravelling what brought you to self-improvement. Honestly, if there was ever a purpose I’ve found in my own life, it’s helping people to sort out their lives. And to help people understand the balance between simplicity and complexity of life? Well, that’s my soul purpose and reason for being.
Author, Spring of 2017
36-40, M
