Embracing Uncertainty: Breakthrough Methods for Achieving Peace of Mind When Facing the Unknown - Hardcover

Jeffers, Susan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312309554 ISBN 13: 9780312309558

Publisher: St. Martin's Press, 2003

Synopsis

Author of Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway

From the multi-million bestselling author of Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway comes a powerful and healing book designed to offer a safety net in a world of never-ending change. It may be one of the most comforting and life-affirming books you will ever read.

With her invaluable insights and exercises, Susan Jeffers gives you the tools you need to deal with all the uncertainty in your life with a sense of peace and possibility. You will learn:
- Forty-two exercises to help make your life an exciting adventure instead of a continuous worry
- How to lighten up and put problems into a life-affirming perspective
- The amazing power of the word "maybe"
- And much more.

You will discover that there is a wondrous, joyous, and abundant life that can exist in the presence of uncertainty. The question is, "What do you need to do to reach this wonderful state?" And the answers abound in Embracing Uncertainty..

About this title

About the Author

Susan Jeffers, Ph.D. is the bestselling author of many internationally renowned books. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Reviews

Jeffers, author of several books including Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, offers a program designed to help readers achieve greater peace of mind and optimism in today's troubled times. Jeffers believes that too many people spend needless energy and effort trying to control every aspect of their lives-career, health, finances, etc. Since no one can control the future, Jeffers encourages people to accept three major principles: "The only certainty is that life is uncertain"; "Once you surrender to the fact that you are unable to control the uncertainty, you will, at last, be able to breathe a sigh of relief"; and "A `deep' acceptance that life is uncertain opens the door to a powerful way of living." Essentially, Jeffers wants people to be more optimistic and enjoy whatever is happening at the moment without excessively worrying about the future. Instead of playing the endless variation of "what ifs," people should focus on the positive aspects of their lives. She suggests people try to give back to others, which in turn will bring more love and positive events back to them. While readers looking for innovative strategies may be disappointed by Jeffers's somewhat simplistic suggestions like "Lighten up. Play with Life. Laugh a Lot," her comforting, no-blame tone may strike the right chord among those looking for a calming perspective in today's stressful world.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction How Do You Choose to Live?

Now, more than ever, we need something enduring to hold close, something that won't wash away in the furious tides of change.
--Walter Cooper

Embracing Uncertainty is a book about sleeping better at night . . . about easing the pain in our brain that comes from trying to control the uncontrollable . . . about making life more of an enriching adventure than a continuous worry. It is about providing that "something enduring to hold close, something that won't wash away in the furious tides of change."

The wise philosopher, Alan Watts, points out that there is the feeling that we live in a time of unusual insecurity. He attributes this feeling to the many new technologies with which science and industry are bombarding us. He also attributes it to the many long held traditions that have broken down relative to family life, religion, and the world of work. Now here's the surprise . . . Watts made these observations in 1951!

I would venture to say that the feeling of insecurity has greatly escalated since those seemingly "good old days"! Since then we have lived through many events that have further eroded our sense of security, none more startling and upsetting than the destruction by terrorists of the World Trade Centers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington on September 11, 2001. So many people from all over the world lost their lives. And so many lost people they dearly loved. What happened on this historic day has had the effect of putting the entire world on a state of alert. For how long? Only time will tell.*

*This horrific terrorist attack took place just as I was completing this book. I remember thinking to myself that if there was ever a time when the world needed to learn how to embrace uncertainty, this is certainly it.

Copyright © 2003 Susan Jeffers, Ph.D.

Edition details

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312309554
• ISBN 13: 9780312309558
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320