
The Artist's Way: 25th Anniversary Edition
Julia Cameron
4.8 on Amazon
8 HN comments

The Power of Positive Thinking
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale
4.6 on Amazon
8 HN comments

The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You
Elaine N. Aron
4.6 on Amazon
8 HN comments

Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds
David Goggins, Adam Skolnick, et al.
4.8 on Amazon
7 HN comments

Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men
Lundy Bancroft
4.7 on Amazon
7 HN comments

Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World
Tim Ferriss, Kaleo Griffith, et al.
4.6 on Amazon
7 HN comments

Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life
Nir Eyal, Julie Li, et al.
4.6 on Amazon
7 HN comments

When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
Pema Chodron
4.7 on Amazon
7 HN comments

The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life's Perfection
Michael A. Singer and Random House Audio
4.6 on Amazon
6 HN comments

The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are
Brené Brown
4.7 on Amazon
6 HN comments

A Course in Miracles: Combined Volume
Foundation For Inner Peace
4.7 on Amazon
6 HN comments

The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life
Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander
4.6 on Amazon
6 HN comments

Mating in Captivity: Reconciling the Erotic & the Domestic
Esther Perel and HarperAudio
4.6 on Amazon
6 HN comments

The Rational Male
Rollo Tomassi
4.7 on Amazon
6 HN comments

Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life
Christie Tate
4.4 on Amazon
6 HN comments
ahoyhereonOct 28, 2010
You can't let your family run your life, or you'll always be miserable. Decide on your own if you will support them. And then do it with your whole heart. Don't sit there and tell us you "have" to because it's "expected."
Don't stay in college just because you don't know what you'd do otherwise -- figure it out! Make a plan! And then leave. Leave before you end up more miserable, with falling grades, and are kicked out... or you graduate, with a degree having strangled every ounce of passion out of you, and end up in a job that is just as bad.
Nobody is going to intervene and fix this for you. The pain you are feeling is because you are living somebody else's life for them. You have to find & choose to live your OWN life.
That may end up including college. You may decide, after weighing how you feel, that you should support your family, too. Choosing to do what you consider to be the right thing can feel wonderful. But not if you're only doing it because you don't want to feel guilty.
So, that, and pick up a copy of of When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron. If possible, the audio book. Listen to it and do what it says. I promise you, it'll help.
leohonDec 28, 2019
"Stoner" by John Williams; fiction; this book knocked me on my butt and I read it all in almost one sitting; about an English professor who refuses to relinquish his integrity in the face of great adversity
"Light Years" by James Salter; fiction; inexpressibly beautiful novel that takes place largely on the Hudson River above New York
"Narcissus and Goldmund" by Hesse; fiction; a fun yet literary adventure novel about the importance and fun of living life with integrity
"When Things Fall Apart" by Chödron; non-fiction; Chödron proposes that leaning into suffering, experiencing it as directly and fully as possibly and without resistance paradoxically leads to profound relief from suffering
"Enlightenment Now" by Pinker; non-fiction; proposes, convincingly, that life nhas drastically improved for nearly everyone on earth due to a shifting philosophical orientation towards enlightenment values; proposes that although much is problematic, there is reason for great hope, too
ahoyhereonMay 19, 2010
Stick with it. It's tough sometimes, but it'll only get better!
EDIT: I recommend starting with "Wherever You Go, There You Are" -- then following up with "When Things Fall Apart" by Pema Chodron, be sure to get the audiobook AND the paperback. Really listen to it/read it. Then any book that teaches you to be responsible for yourself, you can pick from a million, straight up from Thoreau.
I don't agree with 100% transparency of every little thing in relationships, but I believe that feeling that you COULD is critical. Learning that you don't have to hide who you are, that you can form relationships by being open, is tremendously liberating.
ahoyhereonJan 12, 2013
ahoyhereonFeb 6, 2013
http://www.amazon.com/When-Things-Fall-Apart-Difficult/dp/15...
ahoyhereonFeb 6, 2013
My #1 go-to recommendation is the AUDIO book (not the written version) of When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron. Don't worry if you're not going through what sounds like a crisis… the audiobook is accessible for even minor issues, like "being a human."
http://www.amazon.com/When-Things-Fall-Apart-Difficult/dp/15...
ahoyhereonJan 26, 2013
This is always my go-to recommendation for friends who are hurting, and without fail, if they listen to it and try it, they tell me it's been transformative for them, too.
BTW, I had a LOT of things to regret (most of them a lot, lot worse than the list you shared with us… not to trivialize yours, but I was reliving the ways I'd hurt people badly and caused disasters that effected them 5, 10 years before).