A Life Cycle, Nicole Asherah's debut book, follows the introspective process of transformation after emotional hardship through poetic language. Asherah serves as a guide through the sections of her book while also allowing the readers to see the words as their own. A Life Cycle is broken into sections after a traumatic event that represents the final tipping point. What follows is The Shattering: a deep dive into the suffering of fully losing one's sense of self and safety, The Healing: a journey through processing layers of trauma to reach the root hurts of childhood, Light Shines Through: an exploration of reigniting hope and learning to find joy, and The Loving: a discovery of what love is and how the act of loving has much more to do with one's self than the person receiving the love.

This book transcends the genre of poetry because of its ability to universally help people process and name feelings that often elude words. This book is for anyone developing, hurting, healing, or becoming new versions of themselves. She knows this because that is exactly what she was doing when she wrote it: healing childhood trauma, processing a sexual assault, and learning how to experience joy.

Excerpt From The Healing Section of A Life Cycle:

#1

Sometimes losing yourself really means letting go

Of who you used to be.

You are not lost.

You are simply stumbling upon a version of you

You could only see in dreams

And more than anything you are mourning-

Mourning the girl you used to know.

For better or worse,

She's never coming back.

Let yourself grieve the innocence lost

And celebrate the wisdom found.

It is time to become the you that is now.

#2

Empathy lies patiently in the quiet.

It will not push through crowds

Nor demand attention.

It needs the form of a soft caress

From a vulnerable soul

To be accepted into the light of day,

But once accepted

It will plant seeds of hope

Produce plentiful harvests of love and trust,

Even when it wilts,

It only falls to the ground to rebuild.

And maybe empathy doesn't reach light often,

But once it feels its first glimmer of sun

It can never go back.

Winner of the LIVING NOW BOOK AWARD

Winner of the INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER BOOK AWARD

A New Now: Your Guide to Mastering Wisdom Daily, Achieving Equilibrium, and Empowering Your Nobler Self is your chance to step into an omnipresent reality, a new now in which you can readily navigate your life successfully, happily, easily. Working with this guide, you can become a new you so that situations, people, thoughts, and desires are more easily negotiated moment to moment.

You have an untapped reservoir of awareness that you can learn to access to become wiser, achieve a state of equilibrium, and develop a clearer and stronger sense of your purpose for each day and this lifetime. The benefits awaiting you are many. Just a few are: clarity of mind, enhanced intuition, development of spiritual strengths and virtues, contentment and happiness, and knowing and achieving your purpose.

If you embark on this journey, here is some of what you will learn as you experience your New Now step by step:

- The treasure of 33 wisdoms, including the 11 Loving Wisdoms, the 11 Guiding Wisdoms, and the 11 Evolutionary Wisdoms

- The 10 Keys to Achieving Equilibrium

- The 5 Sources of Wisdom

- The 5 Prerogatives of Equilibrium

- How to empower and be your nobler self

About the Author
Goddart, Michael: - Michael Goddart, MFA, is the author of In Search of Lost Lives: Desire, Sanskaras, and the Evolution of a Mind&Soul, a winner of the American Book Fest Best Book Award, the Living Now Book Award, the Body Mind Spirit Book Award, and the National Indie Excellence Award. Soon after his family moved from Illinois to California when he was 10 years old, Michael started actively searching for the truth about death and how to attain everlasting bliss. He began daily meditation at age 19, and at 21 began to meditate for over two hours daily. His work as an international tax consultant and his spiritual quest have taken him to over fifty countries. Since 1974 he has journeyed thirteen times to India and also numerous times to England, Greece, Canada, Spain, and within the United States to be with those rare teachers whom he considers to be fully realized humans. Michael Goddart took his MFA in Creative Writing at Bowling Green State University, Ohio. His other books include BLISS: 33 Simple Ways to Awaken Further and Spiritual Revolution: A Seeker's Guide, which the Hollywood Spiritual Film and Entertainment Festival named Best Spirituality/Self-Help Book. Kindly visit www.goddart.com for interviews, excerpts, and endorsements.

"KC Love has written a must-read for anyone interested in learning the depths of Agape love. Agape teaches others how the smallest act of kindness can change a life. Read this book!!" -Mallory Beard, President, Beard & Associates LLC

Agape is a Greek word meaning love. There are numerous ways to describe this love, but in the Christian tradition, it is known as agape, or the love of God for humanity. In modern life, we can think of agape as a broader love-the love for humanity itself and the love for everyone facing the one thing we all have in common: the struggle of living.

• Readers will learn the importance of LOVE
• Readers will learn how to Let Our Virtue Emerge
• Love Never Fails
• Show that we have more in common than not

Who am I and what do I have to give? How do I find my people—my tribe? What are the keys to creating amazing female connections?

Connecting with women can be complicated. Finding a female tribe that supports and appreciates each other for a lifetime? Well, that can feel impossible. But we need a tribe to live our best lives. In fact, research tells us that we live longer, healthier, and happier lives when we connect with other women. We need these relationships, and we want them to last—so where do we start?

Leah Dean is a tribe formation expert with a simple, yet powerful formula for building a tribe that stands the test of time. In Assemble the Tribe, Leah shares this formula and shows you how to shift to a tribe mindset by first discovering the value that you bring to every connection you make. With time-tested research, educated insight, and true stories from Leah's own tribes, you'll learn how to find your tribes and thrive while making an impact. This book provides you with the first step toward positive change—for yourself, your tribes, and the generations who will follow in your footsteps.

Author Bio:
Leah Dean is a coach, author, speaker, and former chief human resources executive who has worked with leaders throughout the world to build high-performing teams, or tribes, for twenty years. A passionate believer in assembling tribes for greatest impact, Leah is the founder of numerous programs and events designed to help women and girls find their tribes and do great things. Leah lives in Bermuda with her husband and two children. 

Whether you are stuck in the distress of life, or appear like nothing's wrong, you may have faced trauma or incredible stress or suffocating fear. Maybe you wonder whether those emotions, memories, and experiences are blocking you from being as fulfilled and happy as you could be. Maybe you're stuck in patterns that simply no longer work for you.

What if you could change it all? What if you could feel safe and solid and secure inside your own body? What if your life could be peaceful and centered and fulfilled?

In Becoming Safely Embodied, Deidre Fay shares from her 35 years of psychotherapy and spiritual practice to provide a truly practical way to integrate modern neurobiology and ancient wisdom to finally and completely heal from emotional trauma, no matter how deep or faint, how long ago or recent you experienced the pain.

Throughout her years as a therapist, Deirdre noticed that clients would make progress while in a therapy session and then revert to old patterns between sessions. What people need is a set of skills and practices to support ongoing healing and wholeness.

That's what this book will help you with. You'll discover:

What "trauma" is and why you might have had a hard time healing from this pain,

Why shame is an attachment wound and how to harness self-compassion to truly transform suffering,

What to do when you feel like you're easily "triggered" by a certain person or situation in your life so that you can stay centered and safe,

Instantly effective methods of breath work for brain change and emotional regulation so that you can calm your mind or energize your body,

The nine core skills that can help you to be more at home with your internal world and cultivate a body that's a safe place for rest, reflection, and wellbeing,

Simple daily practices that (like brushing your teeth) promote ongoing healing in your body, mind, and soul,

And much, much more.

Whether you are healing from abandonment issues or from pain or from grief--or whether you are helping someone else to heal--Becoming Safely Embodied is your map and guidebook to finally becoming at home with your internal world, cultivating a body that's a safe place for rest, reflection, and wellbeing, and creating the life you want to live, instead of living in the life your history catapults you into. You may be wondering, "Is it possible for ME? Can I change? Is it possible for me to shift these painful patterns into a more fulfilling life? Can I truly organize this crazy inner world?" The simple answer is, "Yes," and your journey to becoming safely embodied begins inside the pages of this book.

About the Author
Fay, Deirdre: - Deirdre Fay, MSW has decades of experience exploring the intersection of trauma, attachment, yoga and meditation, and teaches "a radically positive approach to healing trauma". Deirdre founded the Becoming Safely Embodied skills groups, the basis for this manual, and is the author of Attachment-Based Yoga & Meditation for Trauma Recovery and co-author of Attachment Disturbances for Adults, as well as the co-author of chapters in Neurobiological Treatments of Traumatic Dissociation. A former supervisor at The Trauma Center, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute trainer from 2000-2008, certified in Internal Family Therapy, qualified trainer in Mindful Self-Compassion, former board member of the New England Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, and trained in Self-Awakening Yoga and LifeForce Yoga, Deirdre is a respected international teacher and mentor for working safely with the body. She currently resides in Boston, MA.

"We only have one life, it is precious, and sleep is an essential component in it. Readers, I urge you to take advantage of the life and experiences of this knowledgeable expert in this field, and embrace this essential guide. Not only will it improve your sleep, but also you can utilize the information it contains and take stock of your own personal journey, evaluate what is important to you as an individual, and then using the tools given in this book, go forward with the rest of your life in a balanced and healthy way. Highly recommended! —Susan Keefe, The Columbia Review

Did you know that sleep is a key component for a happy life? Research shows us it is. But with all of today’s technology and stresses, many people are getting less sleep or experiencing poorer quality sleep. This can negatively impact mood, concentration, productivity, physical health and, yes, even happiness.

As a practicing physician for more than twenty years, Dr. Venkata Buddharaju (known as Dr. Buddha to his patients) has extensive experience treating patients with sleep problems. And the number of patients he is seeing with sleep disorders is on the rise. 

In Better Sleep, Happier Life, Dr. Buddharaju teaches seven simple, practical, and natural methods to help you get better sleep in order to refresh your mind and body. Filled with wisdom from his years of experience as well as simple lifestyle changes, Better Sleep, Happier Life can help you find rest and refreshment in the midst of your busy life…and reap the benefits. 

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More Reviews:

“Dr. Buddharaju dissects the most complex sleep science into simple practical strategies that can be put to use by anyone!” —Murali Ankem, MD, MBA, Associate Dean School of Medicine at University of Louisville

“Dr. Buddha provides a much needed integration of science, patient experience, and common sense to guide both professionals and lay people in this underappreciated influence on our productivity, health and happiness.” —Sean R. Muldoon, MD, MPH, MS, FCCP, FACPM, Chief Medical Officer at Kindred Healthcare Hospitals

“Concise, easy to read... All you ever cared to know about sleep is incorporated in this fascinating book by Dr. Buddharaju, a well accomplished sleep specialist. A must-read for all.” —Kizito Ojiako MD, FWACS, FRCS (Eng), FCCP, Vituity Medical Director, Critical Care Medicine, Amita Health Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center, Chicago, IL, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, Chicago, IL

“Dr. Buddha gives readers exactly what they care about and need to hear--an easy-to-understand and practical outlook not only on how sleep impacts our physical health, but also how it strengthens our passions, mindset, and creativity.” —Shubha Vedula (Shuba) American Idol Semifinalist and Recording Artist

Author Bio:

Dr. Venkata Buddharaju (or Dr. Buddha, as his patients call him) is a fellowship-trained physician at the Albany Medical Center in Albany, New York. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine from the American Board of Internal Medicine.

He now teaches and consults at hospital intensive care units and pulmonary units as well as sleep medical practices. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and teaches medical students from UIC, Chicago Medical School and Internal Medicine resident trainees at Weiss Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

He directs the Sleep Disorders Center and Clinic at Thorek Memorial Hospital in Chicago and serves as a Section Chief of Pulmonary & Critical Care at AMITA Health Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center Chicago where he teaches Internal Medicine and Family Practice Residents while working in ICU as an Intensivist. Additionally, he is president of the medical staff at Kindred Chicago Lakeshore and Central hospitals. Dr. Buddharaju has numerous medical-device patents and is working to develop more patient friendly medical devices. Throughout his career, he has conducted clinical research, published his work in various medical journals, and worked to develop and implement high quality patient-care policies. He believes strongly that balancing natural healing practices with traditional medicine is important for the future of effective health care.

Book Excerpt:

Introduction

Over the decades, humans have gradually reduced the time they spend in quality sleep and are awake longer in a twenty-four-hour time cycle. According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other studies, about 35 percent of US adults are not getting the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep on a regular basis. Even teenagers, who need extra hours of sleep (eight to ten hours), are spending less time sleeping. According to a 2006 National Sleep Foundation poll, 87 percent of US high school students get far less than the recommended eight to ten hours of sleep.

Some of the consequences of poor sleep are anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart attack, excessive daytime sleepiness, poor concentration, and an increased risk for motor vehicle and other accidents. In addition to these worrisome health consequences and sleep deprivation’s impact on the body and mind, America’s lack of sleep is costing billions of healthcare dollars.

Humans live an average of sixty to eighty years, depending on where they live on the planet. People live much longer in some parts of the world than they do in others. The people of Okinawa, Japan, report one of the world’s highest life expectancies. In general, across the world, human life expectancy has steadily increased with advances in infection control, technology, and medicine. However, one thing that has not changed is the medical community’s recommendations for sleep time and duration.

We spend approximately 40 percent—a third of our lifetime—asleep, which we don’t remember, except for occasional dreams. At sunset, our brain releases a chemical substance called melatonin, which makes us sleepy and helps us get into sleep mode. Wake-promoting hormones decline at this time of day, and sleep-promoting substances increase

with the onset of sleep. Caffeine, alcohol, or other substances we consume can interfere with this balance and cause sleep difficulties such as insomnia and poor sleep quality.

Our brain clock, called the circadian rhythm, wakes us up at sunrise, bringing us to a conscious level so that we can function optimally throughout the day. The longer we are awake, the higher the concentration of adenosine, a sleep-promoting neurotransmitter that we need at the end of the day.

This sleep-wake cycle has evolved over thousands of years in various species, including humans. This cycle continues unabated unless interrupted intentionally by activity, diet, stress, or other health conditions.

A good night’s sleep prior to a major performance—such as a musical concert, athletic match, important academic test, or corporate presentation—is key for optimal performance. A well-rested brain and body feel more positive and perform much better. On the other hand, students who stay up too late and sleep only a few hours prior to a major exam, do poorly on the test due to their lack of ability to focus. That’s because the information that was learned during their awake state is stored in memory centers of the brain during sleep, particularly in deep Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, which is when most dreams occur. They have not given their brain enough sleep time to process the information that they learned during the day. As a result, they do not retain the information they have learned.

The vicious cycle of sleepless nights and daytime worry due to less than optimal performance makes things worse. The two feed one another. But, by making small changes to your lifestyle and eliminating distractions, you can open up the door for more focused attention. This will lead to increased productivity at work and more success at both work and home. These changes should bring needed sleep and a chance to live a happier life. Lifestyle modification involves removing distractions. I hope you will find the information in this book valuable and helpful in bringing about the necessary yet simple changes to get better sleep and lead a happier life.

Chapter 1: Sleep Basics

Nature amazes me. As I sit writing this book, I wonder how the Earth is at a perfect distance from the sun, so that life here has just enough light and heat. I marvel at how the Earth has rotated around the sun for more than four billion years, creating our seasons, while continuing to spin on its axis, which causes day and night.

Nature plays a vital role in shaping sleep patterns for all creatures on Earth. Birds, butterflies, fish, mammals, and even plants respond to light-dark cycles. Humans can’t ignore nature’s long-established sleep patterns, either. Before digital technology, humans awoke with sunrise, spent most of their time in nature, and rested after sunset. They maintained natural circadian rhythms.

While other species have continued to follow natural patterns, human curiosity has caused us to seek improvements to our lives. We have invented comforts like artificial light, televisions, computers, and cell phones. But exposure to natural light at the right time of day is crucial to maintaining a proper circadian rhythm. Unfortunately, we are now constantly exposed to artificial light and technology inputs throughout the day and night, making it difficult for many of us to fall asleep.

What is Sleep?

Sleep is a need-based, reversible, unconscious state induced by changes in the brain. For sleep, people typically assume a supine or sitting posture, become immobile, close their eyes, and experience decreased response to external stimulation. Brain waves, eye movements, and muscle tone can be very different during the various sleep stages.

Sleep is as natural as drinking when thirsty. We can voluntarily postpone sleep in order to fulfill our daily obligations. We can yawn, move around, walk, talk, and even drink caffeinated beverages to fight our need for sleep. However, we can only do so much postponing before nature steps in to take over.

When we sleep well all night, we feel good the next morning and are happy and ready to handle life’s daily tasks. On the other hand, we can feel miserable, irritable, and not so happy after a night with fewer sleep hours or poor sleep quality. Ideally, people need a longer, uninterrupted, deep night’s sleep to achieve their best during their wake periods.

Without adequate sleep, life becomes miserable and we risk high blood pressure, stroke, and heart attack. We may also experience poor decision making and memory, feelings of stress, and be more prone to accidents. Studies have shown that the flu and pneumonia vaccines are more effective when someone sleeps well the night before the vaccination is given.

Sleep and the Brain

Interesting things happen in brain circulation during sleep, especially during deep sleep stages. Accumulated proteins, called amyloids, and other waste products and toxins are slowly washed away via a system of interconnected structures called the glymphatic system.

Sleep restores the mind and body so that we have the energy we need, can focus during the day, and are capable of cognition. While awake, the brain accumulates several waste products. Scientific studies have shown that sleep clears them. If not cleared, they may lead to neuronal damage and increase the risk of dementia.

A recent Boston University study that was published in Science Journal showed that water-like fluid surrounding the brain, called cerebrospinal fluid, pulses like waves during sleep and may help to flush out toxic, memory-impairing proteins from the brain. This study and others have shed light on how sleep disruption and lack of sleep can contribute to memory-impairing conditions like Alzheimer’s and age-related memory loss.

Bits and pieces of what we learn during our waking hours are stored in the brain in memory banks during sleep. This is called memory consolidation. It is one of the main reasons that learning happens primarily during deep sleep.

Sleep Stages

Sleep is divided into two main states: non-rapid eye movement sleep (NREM) and REM sleep. NREM is further divided into three stages. Normally, we enter into stage one of sleep 10 to 20 minutes after closing our eyes. It lasts a few minutes and then flows into stage two, which is another lighter sleep stage that lasts a little longer than stage one. Finally, the deeper sleep, also called slow wave sleep, of stage three arrives. This is when most of the body and mind restoration happens. NREM and REM cycles alternate every ninety to one hundred minutes with approximately four to six cycles during a seven-to-nine-hour adult sleep period.

NREM sleep comprises 75 to 80 percent of sleep time. It dominates the first third of the sleep period, with gradual progression from Stage 1 to 3 in slow wave sleep.

REM sleep, which accounts for 20 to 25 percent of sleep, occurs sixty to ninety minutes after sleep onset, and dominates the last third of the sleep period.

Sleep Duration

Most of the scientific community that studies sleep recommends 7-9 hours of sleep duration for young adults and adults (18-64 years of age) to maintain good health. Older adults (65 and above still need 7-8 hours of sleep, where as teenagers (14-17 years) need 8-10 hours of sleep, school age children (6-13 years) need 9-11 hours, Preschool age children (3-5 years) need 10-13 hours of sleep.

According to research, people who sleep six hours or less have significantly more lapses in psychomotor vigilance testing. Yet, according to the National Sleep Foundation (NSF),only 10 percent of American adults prioritize sleep over other aspects of life.

I once had a patient who was a cab driver. He worried about losing his driver’s license due to his declining health. He worked long hours, his blood pressure and blood sugar were elevated, and he had gained weight eating a high carb diet and not exercising or sleeping regularly. He drove a cab to pay for his son’s college tuition. Work up and evaluation found no sleep disorder. He simply wasn’t sleeping the required number of hours. After counseling on sleep, he was able to make changes to his priorities, able to sleep better and returned to a happy and healthy life.

When sixteen-year-old Mytrae Meliana and her family emigrate from India to the U.S., she is determined to avoid the arranged marriage her family expects her to have, and to create her own destiny. But when she falls in love with an American man, her family drags the talented graduate student back to India and keeps her hostage.

Mytrae suddenly finds herself heartbroken and trapped in her homeland, where women's fates are decided for them. But that isn't her only challenge. She must decide: live a lie and keep the secret she'd rather forget, or dare to break with centuries-old tradition and forge a path of her own.

This multicultural inspirational memoir by an award-winning writer is about how family loves and wounds each other, about how immigrants are torn between cultures, and about leaving everything to find yourself. At times heartbreaking, at times triumphant, Brown Skin Girl is a testament to freedom, love, and the magic that finds you when you follow your heart.

Author Bio:
Mytrae Meliana (pronounced my-thray-yee) is an award-winning writer, spiritual teacher, speaker, and holistic psychotherapist. She leads workshops for women who desire to heal from trauma, liberate themselves from patriarchy, connect with the Divine Feminine, and create true, bold, inspired lives. Her own life experience and 15-year career as a psychotherapist shaped Mytrae's professional approach. She increasingly sought ways her clients with trauma could heal quickly so they could live their dreams. When she had a miracle healing from Lyme disease, she was ushered into a paradigm of Spirit and vibration where change can happen at the speed of light. Mytrae is Founder of Temple of Sound Healing and teaches individuals and organizations the practice of sound, story, and Spirit medicine for trauma. She channels healing music transmissions on the piano and has recorded two CDs. She is also a spiritual channel. When she isn't working, you might find Mytrae hiking by the ocean and on hillside trails, traveling, or discovering restaurants with friends in the San Francisco Bay Area. Connect with her at www.mytraemeliana.com.

Carry Your Own Backpack is a self-help guide to emotional well-being from award-winning mental health coach and psychotherapist Holly A. Schneider.

Based on two simple principles-what you pay attention to grows, and what you carry builds strength-this powerful book will help you choose what to carry and what to let go to lighten your journey through this world.

By defining your healthy emotional boundaries, you'll learn the difference between what belongs to you, what belongs to others, and what belongs to God. Better yet, you'll learn how to apply those boundaries, even under the most difficult circumstances, to protect your own mental health.



Throughout these pages, Holly A. Schneider bravely unpacks the experiences of her past, showing you how to unpack your backpack to become the best version of yourself. As you apply these emotional, cognitive, and behavioral skills in every aspect of your life, step by beautiful step, your heart will lighten in a way you never thought possible.

About the Author
Schneider, Holly A.: - Holly A. Schneider, LCSW, has twenty-six years of expertise in strengths-based systemic cognitive behavioral and dialectical behavioral clinical frameworks. Today, she works as an Organizational Life Coach and Culture Trainer for the employees of Delta Defense, LLC, in West Bend, Wisconsin, promoting mental health well-being. In 2020, Holly won a moral courage award through the Wellness Council of Wisconsin for her mental health coaching in the workplace. Known by her clients as a toolbox therapist, her mission is to help others become the best version of themselves, regardless of what they carry in their backpacks. She is married to her high school sweetheart, and together they have raised three daughters.

This book was inspired by a request from a colleague. He suggested I write an evidence-based book for the millions of people across the globe who have needle fears and phobias. The sad reality is there are simply not enough trained mental health professionals to offer individualized treatment for those fearful of getting vaccinated, visiting their dentist, or having blood withdrawn.

Conquer Needle Phobia was written to offer you practical tools that you can use whenever you face getting your next shot, receiving a needle injection, or having your blood drawn. Use this book as a reference and resource companion to gain greater knowledge, reduced anxiety, and increased confidence. Facing your fears is never easy, but the hope is that after reading this book you will at very least find the prospect of getting injections of any kind more tolerable.

About the Author
Martin, Marty: - Dr. Marty Martin is a practicing Clinical Health Psychologist, specializing in phobias and sleep disorders. Martin's work has been recognized by USA Today, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, and numerous other media. He enjoys translating his clinical and academic work into keynote speeches, in-service training, and public speaking. When not working, he enjoys spending time with his family, walking his dog Monty, and roller skating. He is currently doing a deep dive into mindfulness as a personal practice, and as a tool for his clinical and coaching clients.

2021 American Book Fest Best Book Awards Finalist for Health

UGLY... It's a word we recoil from, the thing we don't want to be. But what if liberation, peace, and forgiveness could be found when you Embrace Your UGLY?

In a world of picture-perfect lives that are just a scroll away, perfection has taken on importance like never before. As women, we’re told success is found in a flawless body, career, family, and home. But we all know the truth. None of us are perfect. Most of us survive while carrying around past pain and trauma.

L.L. Anderson knows this struggle. She’s wrestled with a negative body image, a learning disability and the pain of abuse within her family. Damage that could have easily put a roadblock between her and success. But Anderson, now a successful certified life coach, found ways to break through that baggage. Here she shares her strategies for living your best life long-term. If you’ve suffered trauma, are trying to push through the pain, but feel stuck in a loop without progress, Anderson’s approach is designed for you. You can’t live the life you were meant to live if you don’t face your trauma and embrace the ugly.

Sounds scary? Have no fear! Anderson, an experienced workshop leader deliberately designed the process to be fun, empowering, and approachable. Motivation can lag and habits can fail, which is why these tangible solutions are always here, when you need them, keeping you on the right track.

Ready to Embrace Your UGLY: Unique, Genuine, Love, and simply You? YES! Let’s do this.

Author Bio:

Latisha Anderson is a wife, mother, and business owner. However, she's also a survivor and a former victim of childhood trauma. Her expertise comes from sitting where you sat, seeing what you saw, and surviving despite how her life started out! Her truth has allowed her to evolve into what you see today! Latisha is simply an example that you can make it. She does not tell you to embrace your ugly, she has talked the same walk and knows YOU can.

“In today's world where we seem to have the answers to everything at our fingertips, trekking into the unknown reminds us to question everything. Because we are the only ones who hold our answers. Ayelet Baron guides you as you learn to say yes to life and experience it as never before.” —Tim McDonald, speaker, guide, and former Community Director at The Huffington Post

At a certain point in your journey, you may not know where you’re headed but you become more curious and courageous to experience life and all it has to offer. Your heart knows when you’re ready to take the first few steps. And once you do, nothing will ever be the same. No one can do this work for you; it’s your job to become fully aware that you are standing at a juncture of possibilities. Are you entertaining thoughts about a healthier direction in your life? Are you ready to experiment and try things on to see what actually fits you?

Through all of the knowing and unknowing, the visible and invisible, facts and mystery, loss and gain, sanity, and insanity of it all—you are here. Trekking into the unknown takes courage because it forces you to realize how much you don’t really know. F*ck the Bucket List inspires you to ask questions, dig deep, and create your own meaning. The story starts and ends at your own pace. 

This isn’t just another self-help book, spiritual book, or memoir—it’s an experience, beyond categories and labels, that asks each of us to tap into the universal wisdom that says we can live our lives our own way. This book is for anyone who is ready to question everything, and simply say f*ck it—or whatever words you choose to use—when something in life no longer serves you. Are you ready to discover the wonder of you (Book 1, for the Soul), trek into the unknown (Book 2, for the Adventurer), and trust your heart (Book 3, for the Health Conscious)?

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“F*ck the Bucket List for the Adventurer is a monumental read, that rare book which speaks to your deepest self. For anyone beginning to challenge the path they've been on, this book is a blueprint for changing your life, an excursion into wisdom and awareness that gets richer with each step.” —Lynnda Pollio, multi-award winning author, author of Trusting the Currents

“This book dispels common myths of what holds us back in our growth and dispenses practical wisdom for anyone on a personal development journey and who is asking the deeper questions. Ayelet cuts through the noise and helps the reader find the necessary focus to make peace with the past in order to truly stand in the present.” —Rick Snyder, CEO, Invisible Edge and author, Decisive Intuition

“F*ck the Bucket List for the Adventurer: Trekking into the Unknown is a primer for the courageous heart on the journey to true self-discovery. Ayelet does not do the work for you in this process of divine discovery but she points the way across the threshold. As she says, the way forward involves action and commitment to a goal which might seem hazy but she is there as a companion to accompany you on perhaps the greatest adventure of your lifetime. The journey to YOU!” —Flicka Rahn, musician, author, sound healer and educator

“Ayelet Baron speaks directly to that still, small voice in your head whispering that your life could be healthier and more meaningful. Read this book and step into the adventure that is your life.” —Anne Janzer, author of The Writer's Process

Author Bio:

Ayelet Baron is a visionary author, healer, and global futurist. She was recently recognized on Forbes as one of the world's top female futurists. In the midst of a very successful career as a global strategy executive at Cisco Systems, she went through her own transformation. She wrote this book trilogy because she wished she had this universal guidance when she started on her own journey. Her dream is to help unleash millions and millions of people, who are ready to do our inner work, and become the architects of humanity.

Book Excerpt:

Introduction: There is Another Path

The wind is a powerful force of nature that we cannot actually see—but we can experience it in other ways. We only become aware of the wind when we hear the trees swaying against it, or see waves rippling in the ocean, or feel a breeze caress our faces. The wind reminds us not to deny or ignore the natural human impulse to explore the unknown with curiosity. The wind, like our breath, reminds us that we’re alive.

Imagine, for a moment, that you’re a magnificent apple tree. You have deep roots that are constantly seeking minerals and water to keep you alive. You’re deeply connected to the Earth and trust in its guidance as you connect and communicate with other trees, fungi, and plants underground. Some of your roots break away and follow an unknown path as you continue to nourish yourself—and in that one act of expanding, you find yourself choosing a different direction. Your roots battle through some extremely hard soil and break through to survive.

The people who walk by on the sidewalk notice that your roots have created cracks in the concrete. They talk about cutting you down, ridding the sidewalk of the messy tree that doesn’t understand its place. A debate begins on what to do with you, and your life depends on their decision. Some see you as a hazard and want to take you down for disturbing their pathway. But there’s Ruth, a wise woman who sees you and reminds everyone that you provide delicious fruit

and much needed shade. “In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations,” she says. “Maybe it is we who need to become aware of the cracks in the sidewalk and adapt accordingly?”

When we live in a concrete jungle, nature feels separate and becomes a place where we schedule walks or time to breathe. But when we realize that we’re always living as part of nature, there is no separation. We have the opportunity to go within ourselves through healthy practices that help us reflect deeply on who we are. In nature, time stands still, as there is only the light of the day and the darkness of the night to become familiar with.

It is easy to meditate in a quiet room or on a mountaintop, but can you meditate in a crowded space? Jiddu Krishnamurti, a twentieth century philosopher, helps us see that, “One is never afraid of the unknown; one is afraid of the known coming to an end. The more you know yourself, the more clarity there is. Self-knowledge has no end—you don’t come to an achievement; you don’t come to a conclusion. It is an endless river. You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance and write poems and suffer and understand, for all that is life.”

Living Out Loud

This isn’t just another self-help book, spiritual book, or memoir—it’s an experience, beyond categories and labels, that asks each of us to tap into the universal wisdom that says we can live our lives our own way. I’d like to share upfront that this book is not for everyone. It’s for those of us ready to start questioning everything, and to simply say fuck it—or whatever words you choose to use—when something in life no longer serves you. This book will help you become more aware of the choices you make. It will help you come to truly know yourself and understand your purpose as a living, breathing, healthy creator of your life. We were born to color with vivid imaginations and live like never before in unity—not conformity or uniformity. Are you ready to discover the wonder of you (Book 1, for the Soul), trek into the unknown (Book 2, for the Adventurer), and trust your heart (Book 3, for the Health Conscious)?

The F*ck the Bucket List book trilogy has been created not to dictate meaning, but to inspire you to ask questions, dig deep, and create your own meaning. The story starts and ends at your own pace. Once you connect with your own rhythm, you can go on an adventure of a lifetime. These books, like a journey, are a collaboration with the expansiveness of the universe. There are many expeditions we will explore together when we step into the unknown. These expeditions will encourage you to acknowledge the invisible bars that may be holding you captive, allowing you to free yourself from some of the most constricting barriers you’ve built. These barriers aren’t made from material like steel, but rather are infections of the mind, such as believing fear-based stories that jail you in an invisible prison of misbelief.

This book will guide you toward accepting that there is always a way to live a life of meaning. It’s up to each of us to become aware of this, accept it, and weave our lessons into an integrated web of life. No one can do this work for you; it’s your job to become fully aware that everything’s here to be discovered when you let your kindness, beauty, truth, and power shine through with your abundant natural light.

You stand at a juncture of possibilities. Are you entertaining thoughts about a healthier direction in your life? Are you ready to experiment and try things on to see what actually fits you? By doing so, you’re opening yourself up to opportunities that were not available until you acted on them. Every action you take, and every thought that precedes it, ushers you into a connection of probabilities and experiences that were not available before. It’s up to you to take the action necessary to better understand what’s healthy and toxic for your wellbeing. By just taking a few small steps, you can (and will!) get closer to understanding who you are and why you’re here. You have within you every capacity to create. Imagine a life where you have nothing to prove to anyone but yourself. Imagine what might happen if you decided to adopt the bold mindset of an adventurer and trek into the unknown. The possibilities are endless.

Are you prepared to take some brave and adventurous steps toward changing restrictions in your life and opening up to a broader range of imagination and transformation? If so, you might discover the universe encouraging you to address your own darkness and guiding you to step into your own light. In doing so, you will find yourself clearing away parts of your life that have caused you pain and hardship. You very well may experience some mind-boggling breakthroughs or mystical moments as you reach deeper into the wisdom and abundance of your soul.

Isn’t it interesting that we have constructed our current healthcare system to mainly focus on our physical bodies and assess whether they’re ill or healthy? Much of the medical community addresses depression, burnout, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and other mental health issues, as well as a host of physical issues, with chemicals or psychiatric solutions. This is, of course, because there’s more money to be made by dispensing medication to people suffering from a host of diseases. But what if there was a natural alternative to holistically healing ourselves?

Physicists like Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstein and Max Planck introduced the quantum world, which we cannot physically see, filled with vibrations and frequencies. Planck invited us to become aware of the connectedness of our universe when he said, “Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.”

We accept, in faith, a whole world that is invisible through smart devices, microwaves, radio and television waves, and now, the Internet. What if we started accepting what is in our hearts and let our intuition and deep knowing serve as our internal compass? Our bodies need a balance of the physical and the spiritual to live in harmony. Without this, life falls out of whack with our soul, and we lose our connection to both the visible and invisible worlds around us.

Trekking into the unknown is not just a physical journey—it’s about getting in touch with your courage and humility and discovering what has been hidden or suppressed within you. This means exploring both your light and dark sides. It means addressing some of your biggest fears, wounds, and subconscious programming—as well as your unrealized potential. Trekking into the unknown means embarking upon a journey of seeing the weaknesses and the gifts that you’ve been hiding deep within yourself, out of fear of criticism or rejection.

One of the reasons I’ve dedicated my life to sharing these universal messages is that I wish I’d had books to tap into when I got lost on my path of trekking into the unknown—simply to let me know that I wasn’t alone and I wasn’t going crazy. I read, talked to a lot of people, and forged unlikely partnerships, but what I found still left me mostly depleted. This trek often took me down rabbit holes searching for answers, or somebody to guide my journey, only to find people trying to convince me they knew everything when they didn’t. I had a hard time when they told me they knew how I felt or that they had been in my shoes. They may have believed they knew what I needed, but in the end, they didn’t have a clue. They were not me, and I was not them. And we were all doing our best.

I am a voracious learner and when I recognized that they were making shit up or were too focused on “saving” the world, I simply took the action to walk away. They would talk about the vast importance of love, yet they struggled to express it, and clearly had their own traumas to deal with, like everyone else walking the earth. With some, I experienced firsthand the challenging relationships they had with their own children, and the pain that surrounded their own inability to access the love they talked and preached about. I listened intently, but too often, their actions didn’t match what they were saying. This helped me learn to identify who was toxic and who was healthy for my wellbeing. This helped me move away from the hero, victim, and villain stories of our time so I could experiment with what was possible for me.

I didn’t want to fight for my life anymore in a world designed for division, suffering, and just survival. I wanted peace and a renewed sense of sanity in a world where I felt I was simply going crazy. There was no one to talk to openly about what I was going through, and I lost many friendships and relationships along the journey in pursuit of living life my way. I realized that some people had never been healthy for me, though I had once thought they were. But the people who matter deeply to me are still here. Every day is another opportunity to learn as I step into my own uncharted waters without a manual, referring only to my internal compass and the currents to guide me to live out loud in my own way.

My own journey has raised many questions, and I’ve gained wisdom from questioning the different expeditions I’ve experienced. This is what inspires me to encourage you to venture beyond your perceived safety or comfort zone and understand the invisible bars that may be holding you back—and the doors and windows that are waiting to swing open when you’re ready to acknowledge them and live out loud in your own way. No longer needing to mask who you truly are.

Every single one of us experiences challenge, trauma, and heartbreak. No one is spared the opportunity to fully experience life. But how we choose to respond is personal. As we wonder, imagine, and expand our hearts and minds beyond what we can physically see and perceive, we’ll be able to access more information from within ourselves and our natural surroundings. There is a flow to life, and one of our biggest opportunities is to be curious enough to explore the unknown.

We were born into a natural world where the earth, air, space, water, and fire harmoniously play with each other. Beyond our physical environment, humankind created man made systems like the military, the government, education, business, and many more that we’ve been taught to adapt and conform to. Is it really so insane to believe that we could live in a world without war and conflict? Or in a world with an alternative means of education or healthcare?

This is one of the biggest challenges we each face today: resisting the societal conditioning that tells you that you must accept and save these existing systems that no longer serve the vast majority of humanity. Are you going to continue to believe in the programming our ancestors created when it was based solely off self-preservation and survival? What about thriving? Isn’t that more appropriate, now that we have evolved as far as we have? Isn’t it time to question everything about your current reality? Isn’t it time to find your roots and discover with healthy eyes what programs, beliefs, and systems are hurting you at the core? Isn’t it time, most of all, to begin imagining and creating healthy systems that truly support you and lift your spirits with pure joy?

By aligning with nature, you may choose to explore whether the Earth has started a major reset without us. We are each at a point in time of healing and letting go of what no longer serves us. Many of us are already striving to become more aware of the unhealthy aspects of our lives. Identifying those unhealthy aspects can empower you to step into the role you play in creating a healthy, fulfilling life for yourself—where you’re thriving instead of merely surviving according

to an obsolete playbook. If you’ve begun this journey or are looking to start, a great way to begin is by making conscious choices about what you consume.

Trekking into the unknown means facing yourself and what’s possible for you as a creator of a healthy life. When you start following the compass of intention, curiosity, and courage, nothing will lead you astray. Are you constantly living in the past and playing the same character or role in someone else’s comedy, musical, drama, thriller, mystery, tragedy, or horror show? Like the Earth, are you entering a time of reset? Being curious about the unknown and focusing on your opportunity to create—without the external divisions of old systems and societal programming—allows you to experiment with healthy scenarios for yourself with other adventurers who are willing to question, experiment, and co-create.

Some Walks We Take Alone

Wherever you go, there you are. This saying reflects our tendency to constantly want to be going places, as though escaping to a different location will change our reality. But no matter where we go or what we do, we take ourselves and all our baggage with us. When you feel restless or stressed, it might be helpful to channel your feelings into going inside yourself rather than filling your time with external distractions. Sometimes, you may just need a change of perspective, and that’s what many of us are being called to do now. We are relearning how to embrace joy and balance in our lives. This is an opportunity to question whether you’re being true to yourself or

compromising in some way. This journey asks you not to be afraid to be your true self and express yourself in whatever way feels healthy to you.

True freedom is experienced when you unleash your full potential by going deep into the corners of your mind and freeing it from the known. I hope that these words that were entrusted to me can help you apply practical ways of developing your personal power. The universe is here to give whatever level of push you may need, so you can move in whatever direction you feel called to take.

Life is different for each of us. You are at your own stage of understanding why you’re here, and how to use the gifts you’ve been given. It is the trek of a lifetime, and there is no overnight formula for success. It’s personal and fluctuates as you grow and learn how to nurture your body, mind, and soul. Nothing remains stagnant. There’s a physical and spiritual evolution that is unfolding when you become fully aware of reality and step into the unknown.

The true human journey is one of love, forgiveness, compassion, imagination, courage, and a deep connection to the intelligence of nature. The Greek philosopher, Plotinus, reminds us, “The stars are like letters that inscribe themselves at every moment in the sky. Everything in the world is full of signs. All events are coordinated. All things depend on each other. Everything breathes together.”

Through all of the knowing and unknowing, the visible and invisible, facts and mystery, loss and gain, sanity, and insanity of it all—you are here. While you may go to bed dreaming of paradise or wake up from a nightmare where you visited hell, you must always remember that every experience is an opportunity to understand your state of mind. For many of us who are busy living our lives or making a living, trekking into the unknown may mean being still—a place we’ve been unconsciously avoiding because we fear what we might discover.

Being yourself is a gift. When you choose to invest in yourself, you can also begin to transform your mental models by accepting that what seemed to work in the past may not be the healthiest way to engage in the future. You may have been taught not to burn bridges, but life teaches us that some bridges take us nowhere and that it might be more beneficial to abandon them altogether.

All you need to pack on your journey is curiosity and courage. A young person may decide that she wants to leave the big city she grew up in to create a community around a healthy way of living—which is also very ancient. Her dream may be to focus on regenerating the land by tapping into what’s truly essential in her life and those she cares for. It may be an extremely foreign choice for her family and friends to understand, and some may call her crazy, but it takes the crazy ones who marvel at the wonder of possibility to trek into the unknown. Our world is calling us to create individual and collective visions, aspirations, and realities that we have within us. We are being guided into the unknown to forge healthy paths, accept each other, respect varying perspectives and, above all else, to care deeply about ourselves, each other, and the planet.

When you accept that no one really knows what is best for you, things will break open and fall apart. Our culture has claimed that success can only be achieved when referring to decaying principles and obsolete ideologies, such as relying on authorities for answers instead of looking inward and asking yourself what feels healthy for me.

When you don’t comply with the status quo and societal norms, you’re often shamed, blamed, and ridiculed. Isn’t it interesting that you were most likely taught loyalty to others before yourself? Why have so many of us placed our faith, trust, and loyalty in the hands of politicians, business leaders, brands, influencers, philanthropists, musicians, movie stars, and celebrities? How could anyone, outside of you, possibly know what’s best for you? And why do you believe they have your answers? It’s healthy to shed limiting beliefs and the toxic people in your life who are holding you back. It’s healthy to abandon bridges that go nowhere and clear a path to trek into the unknown. There’s no manual where you’re headed, because you don’t need one to get to where you’re going. Curiosity, courage, and the mindset of an adventurer is all you’ll need to venture into a journey of a lifetime.

Trusting Ourselves Creates Alchemy and Synchronicity

We choose whether or not to consume healthy or unhealthy beliefs, foods, and products, and to excuse hurtful behaviors and allow people to treat us in healthy or unhealthy ways. Our beliefs, and the way we have been conditioned, help us justify these choices, while turning our backs on healthy behaviors, beliefs, and people that can enrich and support us. There are millions of reasons why we can’t align our minds with our hearts and continue to do what’s deemed “right” and “good” at our own expense. But once we become aware that there is another way, we must take responsibility for how our lives are orchestrated. Being responsible means that we’re fully accountable for whatever we create—be it healthy or unhealthy. There will be more revealed about this throughout the book as we explore the power behind being the architects of our own lives.

We have the power to choose to not be what others want us to be, regardless of how angry or disappointed they may become. Society, government, friends, and family seem to have a clear idea of how we should live our lives, but that doesn’t mean we must yield to that idea. When we choose a path, we learn whether it’s healthy or unhealthy for us, and continuously make course corrections and upgrades. When we continuously reach into the past and take the same paths we’ve always taken, we stay stuck in our rut and can only see the shadows reflecting in our caves. Life is for the living, and while there’s sadness, grief, and heartache, loneliness is a choice, as we explored in F*ck the Bucket List for the Soul. Life can also flow with abundance when we allow ourselves to experience health, joy, and play.

When you believe that you will never be or have enough— whether it’s money, food, emotions or something else entirely—you will experience thoughts and actions that stem from a place of lack. Unlike society, which teaches a scarcity-mindset, nature teaches us there’s enough for all of us as we experience the warmth of the sun, the radiance of colors, and the intelligence of trees and fungi beneath our very feet. In his book, Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures, Biologist Merlin Sheldrake states that he was drawn to fungi because they consist of a variety of humble yet astonishingly versatile organisms. By simply doing what they do regularly, such as, “eating rock, making soil, digesting pollutants, nourishing and killing plants, surviving in space, inducing visions, producing food, making medicines, manipulating animal behavior, and influencing the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere, fungi are a truly fascinating thing. Fungi’s work is transformational—for instance, they turn biomass into soil and recycle dead organic matter back into organic life. They also

have a dark side, with poisonous varieties. And yet, they are mostly invisible to us.”

What mindset are you bringing with you every day? What baggage are you carrying around? Can you see what’s scarce or abundant in your life and the universe? You can look for the demons in the shadows, call out the evil ones, and judge yourself for not being good enough. Or you can become aware of what you’re creating and allow yourself to take a step into the unknown. As the architect of your life, you have the power to shift your thought process to better assess what and who is healthy or unhealthy for you. What type of life do you want to create? What world do you want to co-create? Here you now are—aware and curious enough to dare. What do you choose to bring with you on this journey and what will you leave behind?

Albert Einstein reminds us that, “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.”

Are you ready to embrace your adventurous side and take a walk into the unknown?

Enjoy your adventure!

With deep gratitude,

The Universe with Ayelet

“Ayelet Baron is fierce with faith that to buck the system and trust our hearts is an act of radical self-care. Forget fear, frustration, formulas and false beliefs. Find fortitude within these pages to follow your heart to a more fulfilling, health future. Full of provocative questions and expeditions, F*ck the Bucket List for the Health Conscious will reframe your sense of what’s possible for yourself and our collective courageous future.” —Shelly L. Francis, author of The Courage Way and Founder, Creative Courage Press

You are being invited to the biggest transformation on the planet today and it’s up to you to take the first steps. You may not know where you’re headed, but you’re becoming more courageous and curious to experience life and all it has to offer.

When you are health conscious, you become a dynamic creator of your life. You can no longer afford to sit back passively and complain or blame the world or anyone outside yourself for your problems. Why? Because you can no longer be satisfied with the world the way it is now. You consciously choose to step out of being told how to live your  life. 

F*ck the Bucket List for the Health Conscious serves as a wake-up call for anyone who is no longer satisfied with the way things are, and an inspiration to anyone who is trekking into the unknown.

There’s no going back when you’re walking through a gateway of awareness. You can easily lead yourself into a healthy world of possibilities. You are already on your way if you’re engaging with this trilogy. The rest is in your hands. What if by tapping into your heart you’re already here, and you allow yourself to play and experiment as a health-conscious creator? What then? What’s whispering to you? Are you ready to listen?

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More Reviews: 

“‘You are not alone,’ Ayelet Baron assures us in this heart and mind-blowing third book in her visionary F*ck the Bucket List series. If you are becoming more awake and aware, this book is an insightful call to action, a compelling invitation to take charge of your own life from someone who walks the talk.” —Lynnda Poliio, multi-award-winning author, Trusting the Currents

“Ayelet’s book(s) is a roadmap for those seeking to challenge their norms and achieve enlightenment. A must-read for powerful creators who care deeply about the world around them.” —Ahad Bandealy, founder & CEO, Get A-Head

“For years, if I stumbled and lost my way, I have turned to the writing and wisdom of Ayelet Baron to find my way back to myself again. She masterfully guides us to trust ourselves, and to travel our most purposeful path. In this powerful, insightful, and essential third leg of the F*ck the Bucket List trilogy, Ayelet invites us to dance with the possibilities pre-built into our lives—to shift from being a consumer to being an adventurer and creator. If you are seeking to enhance how you trust yourself, pursue meaningful work, and open your heart to completely new possibilities, this book was written just for you!” —Bill Jensen, best-selling author of Simplicity, The Courage Within Us, and The Day Tomorrow Said No

“Our heart wants only the best for us. Ayelet’s third book in the F*ck The Bucket List trilogy compels us to go within to uncover the deepest desires within our hearts. Trekking into the unknown is about trusting our inner voice, the calling within our heart. No one else knows what is best for us. Only we know what is best for us. We are the creators of our destiny. We must let the magic of our hearts guide us to create happiness, joy, and freedom consciously.” —Carol Chapman, Host of Hearts Rise Up Podcast and Community, heart-centered guide, author, speaker

“Sometimes you come across a trilogy of books that speak to you deeply and personally. Except to nod your head in agreement, feel the challenge of going against the grain and the exciting pull of personal adventure. Ayelet Baron will take you on a trek into the unknown, one from which you will never want to come back.” —Kay Newton, author and midlife strategist

“The timing of this book couldn’t be more perfect. As our world continues to change, so many people, myself included, have been forced to look deeply at the ways we work and live, at how we relate and connect with one another, and how we choose to take care of ourselves. Already so many norms have been blown apart, giving us a huge opportunity to change our course. What do we keep? What do we leave behind?

As the leader of a community of female founders where we regularly connect, collaborate and co-create, this book is particularly valuable for me, as I suspect it may be for others. It is a guide to not only how to ensure you care for yourself, but also in exploring new ways of caring for each other as we build new paths together.

F*️ck the Bucket List for the Health Conscious is an excellent guide to the questions we will have as leaders of the new world. It opens up possibilities for us all as to what’s next. Don’t miss the opportunity to have Ayelet as your guide.” —Jenn LeBlanc, author, Changing Tides: Powerful Strategies for Female Founders and Launching for Revenue, and founder, Changing Tides Movement and ThinkResults

“Ayelet Baron’s trilogy of F*ck the Bucket List is truly an empowering read. Ayelet poses questions that are critically important for this time in our evolution and more importantly-for our survival. Many of us have been so conditioned to giving our power away by yielding it to the status quo that we have lost our individual voices and as a result, compromised our collective future. Ayelet reminds us that we each have a voice and provides the space to explore what that is and to unapologetically use it. A must read!” —Tammy McCrary, artist advocate, author, and founder of Artistology

“F*️ck the Bucket List for the Health Conscious: Trusting Your Heart helps us examine the unhealthy role fear plays in our world by exposing stories of influencers and experts we have been conditioned to trust. It helps us discover, at our own pace, what and who is for us, and who isn’t, by listening deeply and questioning everything. We learn that we don’t need to stay in a divided world of winners and losers. We begin to see the abundant opportunities that lie in front of us. This may be the last book in the trilogy, but just the beginning of creating what’s possible in our lives and our communities.” —Tim McDonald, former Director of Community, The Huffington Post 

“F*ck the Bucket List trilogy is a primer for the courageous heart on the journey to true self-discovery. Ayelet does not do the work for you in this process of divine discovery but she points the way across the threshold. As she says, the way forward involves action and commitment to a goal which might seem hazy, but she is there as a companion to accompany you on perhaps the greatest adventure of your lifetime. The journey to YOU!” —Flicka Rahn, musician, author, sound healer, and educator

“F*️ck the Bucket List for the Health Conscious is an extraordinary ‘radically change your life’ curriculum to listen to the ‘whispers of your heart’ and finally be bold enough to live YOUR unique and beautiful life. Grab a pencil and paper because you’ll get busy doing imaginative and inspirational practices in the first few pages of this fabulously written book! 

Ayelet, with the Universe, gives us a ‘Divinely Disruptive’ story about what’s not working in our human design. She exposes the fears that drive our decisions in health, relationships, love, money, and what we’ve constructed in this ‘Houston we’ve got a problem’ reality. And then she offers up the ‘Medicine’ from both her very personal life experiences and many beautiful people who have undergone their own transformation to provide potent truths that instantly enhance your life.

Ayelet’s years of being a sought after corporate wiz to a futurist with wisdom borne from loss, faith, trauma, truth and most importantly selflove and service to help others thrive is a gifted guide. In each Chapter/Expedition, you’ll find ways to ignite the True You. And through your imagination, boldness and courage, you’ll take the steps right here right now to manifest your Soul’s purpose. And how to reconnect to your best friend ever—Nature! A key ingredient for living in deep love and unity with Grand Earth and each other.

Take your time on this best ever summer read! I felt myself getting so excited to get to the next Expedition because something magical happened to me on my own journey to live a wildly spontaneous and joyful life! The F*ck the Bucket List trilogy inspired me on such a deep personal level that I now have a grazing plan to restore Bison habitat near the New Mexico border to heal the soil and Soul of GrandMother Earth on the land I call Oniya, which means ‘to breathe.’ This book guided me to go deep inside myself and continue charting the course for a healthy life filled with possibilities.” —Tara Sheahan, founder, Conscious Global Leadership LLC Oniya ‘Restoring Bison and Biodiversity to heal GrandMother Earth’, and Breathelab ‘Natural nose breathing to rewire for happiness’

Author Bio:

Ayelet Baron is a visionary author, healer, and global futurist. She was recently recognized on Forbes as one of the world's top female futurists. In the midst of a very successful career as a global strategy executive at Cisco Systems, she went through her own transformation. She wrote this book trilogy because she wished she had this universal guidance when she started on her own journey. Her dream is to help unleash millions and millions of people, who are ready to do our inner work, and become the architects of humanity.

Book Excerpt:

Introduction: Listening to the Whispers of Your Heart

When we set out on a journey, we usually know where we’re going—often we think we do, when we don’t really have a clue. In November 2016, I took a leap of faith and left San Francisco to start a new adventure. I moved to a remote town with people I thought I trusted. I had never heard of Lund or the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia before, but during my first visit, I fell in love with its natural beauty, expansiveness, and tranquility. Living close to the ocean had always been a dream of mine but living in a rural community was entirely unknown to me. I had spent much of my life in large urban concrete jungles (cities) and was accustomed to having easy access to anything I desired, be it work, entertainment, art, healthy food, or friends. But I left it all behind to trek into the unknown—to explore possibilities.

The intention of creating something purposeful was exciting, and my enthusiasm and trust blinded me from truly seeing that the people I had bet on were not healthy for my well-being. They talked a good game, and I allowed myself to be hooked into their vision, but when it came to actions and creating what was most needed in unity, there were always excuses and reasons why we couldn’t do it. The talk was louder than the ability to execute something meaningful, together, in community. And it wasn’t anyone’s fault that it all fell apart. But the real reason I came to this town was not to build something with them but to have a place deep in the rainforest to connect with nature, become health conscious, and let these three books flow out into the world.

Sometimes our biggest gifts are disguised as what society calls failures and disappointments. Healing is an inside job. Challenges become problems when we allow ourselves to react without taking the time to think and feel through situations. Sometimes our heart is calling us to weed out what is obstructing the energy at our core, and many of us have learned not to listen to its call. But strength comes from facing our challenges and moving away from the norm by transforming them into our greatest opportunities. When we can look at a challenge and examine its root cause, we take a step toward self-awareness and mastery. We are always free to choose our own experience and adventure, even at times when the external world is calling us to take sides and fight for our lives—which is the current story of our times.

I had two choices: stay in an unhealthy partnership or listen deeply to the warnings my heart was whispering. I did not know at the outset of this expedition that I had come to this peaceful little town to get in touch with my own roots, learn from nature, and heal. And in 2020, when the global pandemic was unleashed, I felt gratitude to the universe for providing me with these choices, because if I had been successful with these partners, I would have ended up with a conscious leadership academy at the edge of the world that no one could travel to because of the lockdowns. And once again, I tapped into the universal wisdom that there are no accidents. Maybe the Universe conspired to help me practice my ability to adapt to change?

Nature teaches us that deviating from the norm and staying in flow is how we thrive. And it need not be a battle of survival. The natural world thrives when it adapts to change by becoming stronger and more resilient. While the hungry bear may have climbed the plum tree in our yard and snapped a branch with its weight, a new branch is waiting to emerge and flourish with new fruit. A healthy tree will always find a way to birth new fruit despite the hardships it faces. Each of us has been gifted and wired with this same potential, and our heart is simply waiting for us to tap into our true abilities and flow with our natural rhythms.

Living in the midst of nature entirely changed my life and provided an opportunity for me to learn from her pure fierceness and beauty. I learned to connect with the heartbeat of the earth and listen to the deep whispers of my heart. I was reminded that we are not separate from nature and that there’s a natural flow to everything. But by no means has it been easy. Like any of us, my inner self was waiting patiently for me to begin a healthier chapter in life and unlearn much that had been stuffed inside me by those who had walked their own paths before me and felt they knew what was best for me. I learned to ask questions and get to the source of everything, because no one had my answers, especially people who didn’t bother to find out what my questions were because they had a predetermined agenda of their own.

Sometimes our destination is not clear, and it’s hard to face the unknown because we’ve been led to believe that we should always have clear goals in order to achieve success in life. Why else do so many of us greet every New Year with resolutions? Why would depression, burnout, loneliness, and stress-induced diseases be spiraling so high among so many of us? Why have we been brought up to believe that we’re here to achieve more and more success? Why have we been taught that happiness itself is a destination, and we’re seen as “losers” when we fail to attain it?

When we travel along our path, we can become increasingly aware that there is no destination in life—just life itself. Many well-known authors have written about being present and appreciating the moment—a task that has proven to be challenging for many of us, as it’s out of alignment with societal pressures to achieve and become a “someone” who is celebrated and known.

One Day You Break Free 

You may not know where you’re headed on your path, but at a certain point you become more courageous and curious to experience life and all it has to offer. And this is where you may find yourself right now. The rest of your journey is in front of you, mysterious and unknown. The darkest hours can be behind you when you do your work and choose to trek into the unknown. And to do so, you jump into the third leg of our journey where you wholeheartedly begin to trust your heart, your intuition, and the deep whispers of the universe. When you start listening and becoming fully aware of what’s healthy and what’s toxic for you—when it comes to the people you put in your heart, the beliefs you put in your mind, and the food and products your body consumes—you become a healthy, conscious creator of your life.

As more of us awaken to the voice deep within us, we will understand that when we come together in unity, not conformity or uniformity, our collective journey on this planet will also transform. There are stories in this book of courageous people who are transforming education, fashion, health, and agriculture, for example; they are included simply to make you curious enough to connect with them and with others who are creating healthy systems. Instead of trying to save or fix our broken systems, there is an opportunity to create what is needed most.

Each of us is here to do our work in addressing our wounds and traumas in our own way; we dove into this in the first two books of this trilogy. You are the only one who can lead yourself out of your own darkness to live a healthy life. What if you could have more joy, less stress, and more energy to play? What would it be like to no longer frantically obsess over “achieving” or winning the good life?

We are all fumbling along, doing the best we can with what we know and have. As we explored in the first two books of this trilogy, it’s up to each of us to direct our attention and energy toward what and who is healthy and away from what and who is toxic for our mental, emotional, and physical health. Intentions are key as we take our first steps in being consciously aware of whether people have healthy intentions beneath their words and actions. And we are always seeking to understand the root cause of our own intentions and actions. We have an opportunity to become increasingly aware of whether we are acting out of fear, guilt, shame, or a sense of having to be responsible. This is where living in alignment and tapping into our heart guides and directs us into healthy actions and outcomes and away from stressful situations and people.

Had I not moved to Lund, I would never have met my friends Janet and Rob Southcott, who are part of a local community creating Blueberry Commons, a cohousing and food security cooperative in Powell River. They are beautiful, heart-filled people who have brought joy into my life. Rob was a paramedic for many years and is now on the local city council, and Janet is a talented artist and writer. It was serendipity that we met, since I have mostly kept to myself and have not integrated into the local community, except for most of my wonderful neighbors.

Over long dinner conversations, we explore the edges. We talk about how our current reality is based on values and assumptions that we are separate individuals competing for our very survival and success. In this story, we are victims of the world where there are heroes who will save us from it all, if we choose to put our trust and faith in them. But what if we choose to take a different path and deeply question this construct that no longer makes sense to many of us? What if we looked inside ourselves and saw the beliefs, values, and assumptions buried there and questioned whether they were really ours? What if we no longer believed that we are victims of a system that is making us sick and truly understood our capacity to cocreate what is needed most right now? What if we became aware that we don’t have to be victims of a dying system but can create what we need?

The old structures are falling apart, and it’s a divine opportunity to become aware that anything that separates and divides you from yourself and others is unhealthy. When you remember you are part of nature and start listening to your heart’s internal guidance and igniting your imagination, then what emerges will be healthy thinking, a healthy ego, and healthy living. Do you realize that you didn’t come to this planet only to suffer, survive, achieve, and fight for your life? This is an old soundtrack that no longer serves many of us, and isn’t this a great opportunity to listen to something that resonates with who you truly are?

No one is coming to save you. No one has your answers. And think about it: if they did, would our world look the way it does today? There is a false belief on the planet that our political, financial, legal, health, education, and many other systems are the ones you must adhere to. But in reality, most of those no longer serve the vast majority of us. And until you go on your own journey and unlearn and uncondition from what no longer serves you, you stay trapped in a divided world, rather than choosing to spend your life writing healthy stories for yourself.

Leadership is not outside yourself, and it’s your time to understand that you don’t need false prophets, leaders, or profits to have a full life. It’s time for health-conscious souls to take our place in history and step into our power. Were you not born for these times? Can you see yourself stepping out of the manual of how you were taught life should be, to trek into the unknown and follow your heart’s calling?

This isn’t just another self-help book, spiritual book, or memoir— it’s an experience, beyond categories and labels, that asks each of us to tap into the universal wisdom that says we can live our lives our own way. I’d like to share up front that this book is not for everyone. It’s for those of us ready to start questioning everything and to simply say “fuck it”—or whatever words you choose to use—when something in life no longer serves you. The F*ck the Bucket List book trilogy has been created not to dictate meaning, but to inspire you to ask questions, dig deep, and create your own meaning.

Each one of your stories starts and ends at your pace. Once you connect with your own rhythm, you can go on an adventure of a lifetime. These books, like a journey, are a collaboration with the expansiveness of the universe. I hope you take many things out of them that help you lead a healthy life by questioning everything. It’s up to you to realize whom you trust and where your power lies. As for me, I can no longer afford to put my trust in the hands of politicians, philanthropists, business leaders, or any one person. A hero-or-victim society is simply not for me. I want to cocreate and weave with deep compassion, knowing that there is another way to live a healthy life than what I was sold and taught.

 

Can You Dance with Possibilities?

Life is shaped from the inside out, and much is possible when we dance with the possibilities it abundantly offers us. For some reason, we’re taught not to hurt others but that it’s okay to imprison ourselves in a world of never-ending fear and conflict. “Courage,” Plato wrote, “is knowing what is not to be feared.” And that’s what I love about truly being human: feeling into everything—from joy to grief—and becoming consciously aware of who and what we’re consuming and creating with. As we amass life experiences, with the richness of our own adventures in failure and success, we learn not to sweat the small stuff by squandering our energy on things that don’t matter or that are toxic to our well-being.

My hope is that you discover what matters most to you, when no one is looking or judging, and listen to the deep whispers of your heart while standing grounded in Mother Earth. Living each day from your heart, regardless of how young or old you are, is the boldest and most authentic journey you’ll take. The philosopher Confucius, in The Analects, depicts the cycle of life as a journey that takes you closer to your own heart and the Divine. “At 15 I set my heart on learning. At 30 I took my stand. At 40 I came to be free from doubts. At 50 I understood the decree of heaven. At 60 my ear was attuned. At 70 I followed my heart’s desire without overstepping the line.” Can you change your story and follow your heart, at any age, and dance in possibilities?

It’s up to you whether you layer more items on your bucket list or simply slow down, pause, feel deeply into your being, root in the ground, connect with yourself, build your community, and share your natural beauty with the world. There’s no real need to struggle during your journey when you realize there’s no destination and that “getting there” is playing a part in someone else’s story. What if, by tapping into your heart, you’re already here, and you allow yourself to play and experiment as a health-conscious creator? What then? What’s whispering to you? Are you ready to listen?

Enjoy your journey!

With eternal gratitude,

The Universe with Ayelet

“More often than not we forget we're on a journey of our own choosing. This excellent book gives us a compass for finding joy, meaning, and fulfillment on our own terms.” —Jonas Koffler, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Hustle: The Power to Charge Your Life with Money, Meaning, and Momentum

The universe is full of wonder and wisdom… and so are you.

All around us—in nature and deep within our hearts—exist endless opportunities to learn, create, unlearn, overcome, contribute, love and be. You find yourself wondering whether there’s much more to life than you were told. But often, we are so immersed in the chaotic pursuit of “success” as defined by society that we simply don’t make time to experience the universe’s wonder and wisdom and to trust our inner connection to it. If you are ready for this to do your inner work, then join us on a journey of a lifetime.  

• Would you like to unlock the vast possibilities of your life?
• Are you willing to question everything in order to unleash the power of your own imagination? 
• Are you open to living a more intentional life in which you consciously decide what is uniquely healthy for your mind, body, and soul, and let go of what is unhealthy?

Leave behind the exhaustion, overwhelm, burnout, stress, anger, fear, blame and judgement of society’s decaying systems and reveal yourself to the universe in all your wonder. Life will never be the same. The journey will be intense. It is not for the faint of heart. But as you learn how to access and trust the universal wisdom within your own heart, your life will begin to shift dramatically. We are here to create, not suffer through outrage and despair. We are born to color the world with our vivid imagination and live in unity, not conformity or uniformity. Come and learn how to unlock your calling. Join author, futurist and healer Ayelet Baron, in the first of a series of three books, as she takes you on a journey deep inside yourself in which you will learn to trust the currents, live the life you were meant to live, and become the courageous pioneer our world needs right now.

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More Reviews: 

“This book is especially timely in this volatile era where living a healthy, meaningful, and uplifting life by understanding more deeply one’s self and thus one’s ability to do so makes this book a must-read. I was touched by the specific, actionable insights and examples Ayelet Baron provides to put us on that path.” —Kare Anderson, Emmy-winning journalist, author and TED speaker

“I LOVE the book! Have you been trying to shut out that voice in your head telling you it’s time to make a change? Sure, it’s scary, but isn’t it scarier if you don’t listen? Can you see yourself staying in the same ol’ same ol’ forever and really feeling fulfilled in your heart and soul? Read this book and Ayelet will help you find the answers you’ve been seeking to live your fullest life. The big secret? It’s been right there, within you, all along. Your own curiosity will be the catalyst for the change you know you need.” —Janet Fouts, Mindfulness Coach, Speaker, Author, When Life Hits the Fan

“Ayelet Baron’s trilogy of F*ck the Bucket List is truly an empowering read. Ayelet poses questions that are critically important for this time in our evolution and, more importantly, for our survival. Many of us have been so conditioned to giving our power away by yielding it to the status quo that we have lost our individual voices and as a result, compromised our collective future. Ayelet reminds us that we each have a voice and provides the space to explore what that is and to unapologetically use it. A must read!” —Tammy McCrary, Artist Advocate, Author, and Founder of Artistology

“Written in the language of the heart, F*ck the Bucket List is a wake-up call for all who are awakening. F*ck the Bucket List is a destination you might not have known you were seeking until you arrived here. Ayelet Baron explores the illusions of a failing world and asks us to step into another potential, one rooted in the heart of courage and emerging self-awareness. Reading F*ck the Bucket List was like speaking to the best part of myself, the part who truly knows who I am and what is healthy for me.” —Lynnda Pollio, Multi-award-winning Author

“In this book, Ayelet Baron offers us powerful life lessons to inspire and guide us. Recommended!” —Ross Dawson, Futurist, Entrepreneur, and Author

Author Bio:

Ayelet Baron is a visionary author, healer, and global futurist. She was recently recognized on Forbes as one of the world's top female futurists. In the midst of a very successful career as a global strategy executive at Cisco Systems, she went through her own transformation. She wrote this book trilogy because she wished she had this universal guidance when she started on her own journey. Her dream is to help unleash millions and millions of people, who are ready to do our inner work, and become the architects of humanity.

Book Excerpt:

The Beginning: Introduction

F*ck the Bucket List was created to help you become aware of whether the beliefs, people, and lists that you bring into your life are healthy, or unhealthy, for you. It’s dedicated to those of us ready to do the most rewarding work imaginable—asking you to face your fears, your wounds, and become more aware of opportunities around you. It will challenge you to experiment with the vast possibilities of your life, suggesting that each and every one of us has the ability to create a healthy life—despite the deep societal conditioning that tells us otherwise—when you step away from how you should live your life, and step into your own power with curiosity, compassion, and courage.

I was told readers usually take fewer than sixty seconds to decide whether or not you will read a book, so I’d like to state up front that this book is not for everyone. It’s for anyone ready to start questioning everything, and to simply say fuck it—or whatever words you choose to use when something in life no longer serves you. It will help you become more aware of the choices you make, where you’ll truly know yourself and understand your purpose as a living, breathing, healthy creator of your life.

I wrote this series of books because I wish I’d had this guidance when I began my journey in 2012. As author Toni Morrison’s wisdom advises us, “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” This isn’t just another self-help book, spiritual book, or memoir—it’s an experience, beyond categories and labels, that asks each of us to tap into the universal wisdom that says we can live our lives our own way. We’re facing a timeline split right now, and how we each respond and navigate our life is critical, as many of us are hurting and at the same time being asked to let go of the current programming and build the bridges that are needed. There’s no one coming to save us. What we need most right now is to tap into our power and remember that we’re powerful creators. Futurist Buckminster Fuller’s words are here to remind us that “we are called to be the architects of the future, not its victims.”

There is wisdom when you become increasingly aware that this is the era of living in higher levels of awareness and unity, and what and who you choose to consume matters deeply. No one has your answers since they don’t know what your questions are, and learning how to ask questions and explore possibilities is part of the way to creating what is possible for yourself, your community, and the planet.

There’s another way to address our wounds and fears, and what you’ll discover is how you can heal, share, build, and create healthy paradigms like community networks and systems, for example, that serve us. Sometimes the only love that exists is the one we create for ourselves. If you are reading this, you’re most likely one of the courageous pioneers our world needs right now. You may be ready to put down your sword because you understand that in the world we’re creating there’s no reason to war within yourself or with others.

An eye for an eye simply keeps us divided and blind. Martin Luther King Jr.’s energy joins us here: “It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny … Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” 

A Journey Filled with Lessons and Deep Gratitude

We were born to color with a vivid imagination and live like never before in unity, not conformity or uniformity. Are you ready to discover the wonder of you (Book 1 for the Soul), trek into the unknown (Book 2 for the Adventurer), and trust your heart (Book 3 for the Health-Conscious)?

Life always provides us with opportunities to learn—when we choose to embrace them. I am grateful for the lessons I’ve learned by facing the challenging people that have shown up on my path. I’ve come to understand that while people are simply doing their best, some are not for me. I’ve had many opportunities along the way to learn what and who is healthy for me—and when to simply walk away (and sometimes run) from toxic people and situations.

I am as thankful for the tough times as I am for the openness, generosity, and love that I’ve received as I continue pursuing my life’s work of opening hearts and minds in a world where every living being on the planet matters. I’ve come to understand that it requires a shift in how we think, how we behave, what we consume, and how we create. It starts with journeying within ourselves, exploring how we can begin living as creators while remembering how to fully connect with others in community—with a vivid imagination, strength of conviction, the curiosity of an adventurer, and the spark of pure, authentic love.

You hold great power and an inner ability to navigate your life. The noise and chaos in the external world continues to increase but the true question is whether you are able to trust yourself and let go of deep seeded fear, sadness, or anger. It’s okay to feel into each emotion but freedom comes when you learn to let them pass through you. When you hold on to the past with everything you have, you will experience more of the same. The unknown can be frightening or exhilarating. By breaking through false safety nets and entering uncharted waters, you reclaim your power and freedom. Letting go means making space for your wildest creations.

The wisdom of our elders continues to shine a bright light in our world. In The Republic, Plato shared, “The beginning is the most important part of the work.” Are you ready to get started?

Chapter 1: Initiation: Embarking on a Health Path Takes Guts

It’s 8:30 a.m. You’re rushing to catch your morning train to work. From the moment you woke up, things haven’t gone as planned—the yolk from the egg you were wolfing down while rushing out the door dripped on your shirt, the milk for your coffee was sour, and you missed your train when you got delayed in unbelievable traffic. All of these events could lead to starting the day with a negative state of mind, inspiring you to feel as though you should have just stayed in bed since nothing was going “right.”

A crappy mood might then influence every moment of your day—unless you choose to shake it. You can bring it along or you can choose to see that the vast majority of things around you are actually working and you’ve simply hit a few bumps in the road. You may be relieved that you changed out of your egg-stained shirt when you later realize your client was wearing the same exact one. You also ran into an old friend you haven’t seen in years when you took the later train, and the world was still intact.

Now, it’s six months later and you get up to go to work. But this time, you must stay in your house and not go outdoors. There’s a lockdown that prevents you from taking a train and being in traffic. Everything in your life has changed in a flash, as life often will, and you’re missing your local coffee shop, getting dressed up, and the hustle and bustle of your “normal” life. You have more work than ever before because everyone is at home and you may now be responsible for your kids’ every need, caring for your elders, cleaning the house, and everything else that you need to take on, because there is no one else to do it. But perhaps being indoors will create an opportunity to pause so you can go on a journey inside yourself and question everything.

We would be delusional to imagine life as a never-ending ordeal, but that doesn’t mean we should not feel our frustrations and disappointments. This whole notion of being happy and positive all the time is not healthy for anyone, as there are real bumps along the path that are here to teach us how to truly be human. Just like we can become aware of our state of mind and choose to shift it, we can imagine what we want to create in our world and make it real when we begin to become aware of the importance of trust, relationships, and community as the key currencies of our time. We don’t have to run away from it all; our opportunity is to face it all with a sprinkle of healthy fear, wonder, and awe.

When we forget that we control the volume of our lives, the noise around us will get out of control. Observe the news programs you’re watching, take note of the stories you’re listening to and the friends and colleagues you’re hanging out with. Do these sources share stories of inspiration? Or are these stories ones of fear and sadness about atrocities and injustices going on in the world?

By consciously changing the channel or selecting different people to befriend, we make a choice regarding what we allow into our lives and surround ourselves with. It doesn’t mean we ignore what’s happening in the world, but rather that we are opting to live with higher levels of awareness in terms of our own role in the choices we’re making, fully aware that the external noise will continue to increase for a while.

Each of us is standing at the intersection of the present moment and future possibilities. We each have our own initiation to life. I would guess that when you were old enough to start asking questions about why you’re here and what the meaning of life is, those questions mostly went unanswered—and probably all you were taught was to trust those older than you because they know what’s right and wrong, what’s good and bad, and how to be successful in life.

You were most likely conditioned to believe that being positive was more appropriate than sharing what was truly going on inside of you. Someone might have told you that to be a responsible human being, you must get to your job on time and your morning routine shouldn’t have any glitches. The glitches were your failures on the road of perfection, predictability, and productivity. But did anyone make an effort to understand you and answer your questions? And are you still asking these questions with renewed curiosity?

BOOK YOUR LIFE JOURNEY

We invite you to join the journey, as a leader of your own life, to discover the wonder of you—where life is simply an adventure and work is just a part of it. Enter the gateway of possibilities and leave the manual of how life is supposed to be behind, saying “fuck it” as often as you need to.

There are many of us on this journey, each at our own intersection. It all starts with the conscious decisions we make about our lives—and the most important decision is not buying into the notion that what we do for a living defines who we are. On this path, we’re able to sit back and experience the journey as it unfolds, as nature is here to teach us that change is constant and there is never a need to rush.

Change doesn’t need to be scary. It can, and often does, bring rich experiences into our lives. Remember that what got you to where you currently are may no longer be useful to you on your journey forward—and don’t forget to look out the window during the journey, as you may see something spectacular or scary that you want to experience, or something you are passionate about creating.

What’s most important is understanding that humans did not create the earth or the ocean, but we did create the concepts of education, work, employment, retirement, health care, leadership, business, money, justice, fairness, ownership, and success. We set the price of gold and coal. We placed prices on our natural resources from fuel to soil. We’ve genetically modified our food sources. We’ve created borders and property lines. And now, we decide whether we work to live or live to work. And maybe there’s even a third option that we have yet to imagine about how we could live our lives fully that has nothing to do with employment?

Many of us have been so engaged in the hustle and bustle of pursuing a successful life that we have simply not had the time or energy to be aware of the choices we’re making or what we’re assigning value to. And we may be exhausted, overwhelmed, burned out, stressed, angry, humiliated, scared, and simply spiraling within the very decaying systems society has created, forgetting that we are capable of creating a healthier alternative for ourselves and each other. We have the power to choose how we invest and engage with life. We get to say yes and usher in what’s healthy, and we get to reject what’s unhealthy with a “Hell no, thank you!” We have the power to trust our intuition and connect deeply with what’s meaningful for us.

When we choose to prioritize a healthy way of life, it’s in our power to do just that by reimagining and creating it ourselves. It’s far from easy, but we can start trusting the currents of life: swimming upstream and downstream with curiosity and grace. We have to be honest—not just about what we want, but what we are actually prepared to create. Every person who takes action to create a healthier life for ourselves shifts the collective environment. It truly is powerful to know that by changing our own lives, we’re contributing to the change of our society—and world—as a whole. Isn’t it time to reimagine what is possible?

We’re witnessing the breakdown of many of our institutions and systems, and many of us are feeling helpless and lost. How do we take the first step out of the conditioning that has led us to have mentalities of outrage, judgment, fear and criticism of what is happening in the world? A constant need to fight for our lives and survive. But we can become aware and realize that blaming and shaming only creates deeper divides and doesn’t serve anybody. Our opportunity is to become increasingly aware of the veil of reality, and begin trusting our guts when something doesn’t feel natural or healthy. And there’s a lot that is being revealed in this moment, which has always been here, as there’s nothing new under the sun.

Many of us have not yet fully awakened to the possibilities and opportunities that surround us. Many of us are still stuck in the programmed belief of fear, ingesting news of doom and gloom broadcast to us from every part of our world, and everything that this fear-based mindset brings to our planet. We may also have experienced our parents fighting or have gone through some trauma early in life, which made us very fearful and shut us down. It created a fear that we must fight for our life and simply survive. This teaches us to go to war every day, trying to solve our problems by applying flimsy Band-Aids to deep wounds, unsure of how to look inward and identify how we got injured in the first place.

We’ve been taught to suck it up to fight the next battle or live in a delusion of making this world “better.” Billions of lives, money, and resources have already been sacrificed to save this world and yet the same hatred, fear, anger, and struggle pour through its veins. The fight for our lives keeps us trapped in a divided world (by design), repeating our history over and over. In a winner-takes-all paradigm, no one truly wins for very long.

It is highly unlikely that whatever we resist can simply transform into something peaceful. In a podcast about his groundbreaking book Winners Take All, journalist Anand Giridharadas shares that “We talk about doing more good, but we never talk about doing less harm. We talk about giving back, but we never talk about how much these people take and the structures of taking. We talk about changing the world but we never talk about the ways in which they are shoring up the status quo that benefits them and predictably and reliably shuts other people out.” When all of our energy is used up fighting, what is left for us to actually birth? Why take sides when we can create something in the world that exemplifies what we envision?

Do you want to spend your precious life fighting, competing, and winning at all costs? If you do, then you are simply not ready for what this book has to offer, and that’s perfectly okay. Part of the journey is becoming aware of what is and what is not for you. There’s no reason to perpetuate more fighting, judgment, or blame. But if you are here to be the best you can be and are curious to start letting go of what no longer serves you, this is the start of an adventure that will take you where you’re ready to go.

2020 Colorado Authors' League Finalist

Author Bio:

Kim Murdock is a writer, editor, and coach who has made it her mission to help those dealing with the loss of a loved one, particularly a spouse. After becoming a widow at 42, she didn't want people to tell her how to heal or that everything happens for a reason. She just wanted to know that her feelings were normal. In a candid and heartfelt way, she expresses what many-maybe even most-grieving people feel and experience in her debut book, Feeling Left Behind. Kim has an MBA from the University of Denver and a BS from the University of Colorado.

 

A heartbreaking doctor's visit. A fate she never saw coming. She'd dig deep for the strength she so desperately needed...

Seattle, 2015. Jenny Lisk was happy with a perfectly normal, busy life. But after the usual bustling week, Friday night turned from downtime into mild alarm when her forty-three-year-old spouse shared that he'd been feeling dizzy. And after ten days of his condition steadily worsening, she still wasn't prepared for the stunning news: He was terminally ill.

Reeling from his diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor, Jenny suddenly became not only a wife, mother, and career woman, but also a cancer-patient caregiver and parent of grieving children. And her many fears and uncertainties swirled around one relentless question:

Did she have what it takes to help her young family survive?

Through a vulnerable, honest account of preparing for the death of a loved one, Jenny shares tips and information about childhood grief, how to be there for mourning friends, and ways online communities provide essential support. And for those who feel lost and alone, or are grappling with any kind of loss, her deeply personal journey provides a universal beacon of hope.

Future Widow: Losing My Husband, Saving My Family, and Finding My Voice is a brave and raw narrative that doesn't pull any punches on the realities of caregiving and bereavement. If you like captivating stories, authentic inspiration, and understanding the grieving process, then you'll find encouragement in Jenny Lisk's touching memoir.

Buy Future Widow to rebuild a life today!

"It's Carrie Bradshaw meets Brené Brown, and we're here for it. Heart Boss is the laugh, the cry, the hug, and the spark we all need right now." —Katya Libin and Amri Kibbler, co-founders of HeyMama

Women are doing it all: running companies, nurturing marriages, raising kids, volunteering on boards, and still making Pinterest-perfect cupcakes for the class party, thank you very much.

But we're exhausted.

We're running on hamster wheels and popping Xanax, and in our most private moments, we're wondering the scariest question of all: "Is this it?"

I've been that woman. The harried workaholic. The unhappy wife. The frustrated mom. I was even in a passionate relationship with a woman for two years before marrying my husband. Life is complicated, friends.

The point is, I found my way off the treadmill. This book is me extending my hand to help you off yours.

You are not alone. You are worthy. You are powerful. And you can own your life in such a way that you'll stop asking "Is this it?" and instead start saying "This is it "

Heart Boss is the story of how I learned to let my heart be boss. And, hopefully, it's a story about how you can get there too.

More Reviews:

“Regan is a renegade leading us back to our original boss—our heart, the ultimate voice of authority. Heart Boss is pure entertainment. It's equally inspiring and aspiring." —Amy Jo Martin, investor, Founder/CEO, New York Times bestselling author, and host of the Why Not Now? podcast

"Heart Boss is like reading the diary you never had the guts to write yourself. It's a raw, honest, soulful coming of age, complete with childhood wonder, family hysteria, drunken nights, good sex, falling for the wrong ones, finding the right one, and letting go of everything you should have been to become exactly who you are. Love, love, love." ­­­—Leslie Morgan Steiner, New York Times bestselling author of Crazy Love, Mommy Wars, and The Naked Truth

Author Bio:

Regan Walsh is an executive coach and life coach who finds joy and fulfillment in helping women worldwide lead lives that sizzle. She has worked with thousands of women from Nike to Wall Street and has been featured by media outlets nationwide, including Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Today, Fast Company, and more.

Regan’s own journey has been fraught with self-inflicted stress, unsatisfying busyness, and plenty of needless striving. Thankfully, it has also been a journey of intentional searching and incredible transformation. Regan believes life’s greatest honor is to be exactly who you are, whoever that is. Regan helps women realize that person, be true to her, and find not just happiness, but contentment.

 

Independently published with Houndstooth Press

"Carroll weaves her vast experience in long term care insurance and personal insights into the MUST-READ book! It is jam-packed with helpful information families and professionals need to know in order to make informed decisions about aging planning." -Annalee Kruger, President of Care Right Inc., and author of The Invisible Patient: The Emotional, Financial, and Physical Toll on Family Caregivers

Who's going to be the physical, emotional, and financial caregiver in your family (no matter how you define family)? Few of us understand or are prepared for the breadth of lifestyle implications that come with that role. On the flip side, what if it's you that needs care?

Meet the Jones family, a multigenerational example of how it all works in the real world. Follow Jodi and her family as they suddenly must deal with her parent's extended care needs. Tension, guilt, and a lack of information start to impact Jodi's health, happiness, job and family, relationships. Follow along as this multigenerational family uses my three-step process to create a Care Guide, a Care Squad, and a Care Planning Team. Learn how to establish a framework to start and continue conversations, minimize tension, and gain an overview of several planning options to fit almost any budget so you're ready for tomorrow.

"Carroll truly hits the mark by first identifying an issue virtually all of us will have to deal with, and then using practical, sensible, and insightful ways to approach this delicate balancing act! Kudos to her and her willingness to provide a much needed reality check." -Peter Gelbwaks CLTC Chairman Emeritus - The National LTC Network, Past Chairman - The National Alliance of Insurance Agencies

Experience is an excellent teacher-but it can be a harsh master. We are living longer, and aging takes its toll on our ability to remain totally independent. No matter how you define "family," you will find yourself in the role of caregiver, caring for a caregiver, or being cared for by a caregiver. Life doesn't stop while you're caught up in caring and juggling your own life. With no real training for this multi-faceted, multi-generational role, you must find a path that doesn't destroy relationships or create financial havoc.

Carroll S. Golden's three simple steps kickstart critical conversations. They offer a path of discovery. Each step provides an easy-to-use format to speed your progress. Lists, links, references, and an abundance of information guide you along. The result is an actionable, realistic plan so you don't tear your family and relationships apart. Uncover a financially stable plan for you, your family, and the people you love. Moving through the steps is inclusive, not exclusive, minimizing family discord and confusion. In the end, you have a plan for someone you love, a support system in place, a practical financial approach and something to hope for... harmony.

Read the ultimate guide to getting published from the author of HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL and the JACOB WONDERBAR series.

Ready to pursue a deal with a Big 5 publisher or try your hand at DIY self-publishing? Author and former literary agent Nathan Bransford shares everything you need to know about how to navigate the publishing process and choose the path that's right for you.

PRAISE FOR HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK

Nathan Bransford's advice on publishing a book was our go-to during the daunting journey from unrefined idea to published novel. Bransford's advice is easy to follow, gives a comprehensive overview of the process, and makes the entire experience exponentially less intimidating. We send every aspiring writer we know to him for his clear and detailed guide to publishing a novel. - New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling authors Christina Lauren

I tell EVERYONE about Nathan's Query Mad Libs, and his guide is full of great tips to help you find your way to publication. - Literary agent Jenny Bent, The Bent Agency

The most important thing to know about writing a novel is this: You can do it. And if you've already written one, you can write an even better one. Author and former literary agent Nathan Bransford shares his secrets for creating killer plots, fleshing out your first ideas, crafting compelling characters, and staying sane in the process.

Read the guide that New York Times bestselling author Ransom Riggs called "The best how-to-write-a-novel book I've read."

MORE PRAISE FOR 'HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL:

"Nathan Bransford's primer is full of thoughtful, time-proven advice on how to write a novel. Nathan can sound both like a reassuring friend and a tough, no-nonsense coach. Whatever kind of novel you're writing, Nathan's insights will make you think about your process and help you find your own way to success."

- Jeff Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of DOWNFALL

"Nathan Bransford is sharp, thoughtful, and a must-read for all aspiring authors. His advice is not only funny and insightful, it's essential for writers at any stage in their careers."

- Tahereh Mafi, New York Times bestselling author of SHATTER ME

"Nathan Bransford's book on how to write a novel is smart, generous and funny as hell. Read it. No matter where you are in your writing life, whether you're on your first book or are a grizzled, multi published veteran, you'll find practical advice to help you through the process -- and plenty of wisdom to inspire you along the journey."

- Lisa Brackmann, author of ROCK PAPER TIGER

"Equal parts encouraging and butt-kicking, hilarious and wise, Nathan Bransford's no-nonsense manifesto talks you through the process of getting the book of your dreams out of your head and onto the page. Whether you've been writing for five minutes or fifty years, this is the guide for you."

- Sarah McCarry, author of ALL OUR PRETTY SONGS

About the Author
Bransford, Nathan: - Nathan Bransford is the author of How to Write a Novel, Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow, Jacob Wonderbar for President of the Universe and Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp. He was formerly a literary agent with Curtis Brown Ltd. and writes a popular blog on writing and publishing. He lives in New York City.

I needed to experience rejection so many times To embrace the stillness I had rejected

Pain is like a fire: at once destructive, creative, and revelatory. In her debut poetry collection, I HAD TO BREAK ME, Nisha faces the fires in her life and finds incredible beauty among the ashes.

You'll accompany the poet in her previous position as a healthcare provider, struggling to heal patients within a broken system. You'll journey to Nepal, the poet's place of birth, as she mourns the wreckage of the devastating 2015 earthquake and helps her community rebuild. And you'll bear witness as she silently reflects on past loves that brought her both heartache and self-discovery. On every page, the poet's sparse, cyclic language invites you to witness the very core of her heart-and, perhaps, to see yourself in each all-too-human struggle.

I HAD TO BREAK ME is a spiritual memoir in verse that celebrates both cataclysms and joys. At its deepest level, this collection insists that for every external battle we wage, what we truly fight against-and hope to win-is ourselves.

Winner of the LIVING NOW BOOK AWARD

Winner of the BODY MIND SPIRIT BOOK AWARD(R)

Winner of the NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE(R) AWARD

Winner of the AMERICAN BOOK FEST BEST BOOK AWARD

In Search of Lost Lives is Michael Goddart's unique memoir in which he recovers eighty-eight past lives and depicts spiritual experiences that ultimately prepared him to follow a path of soul liberation from the mind.

Unexpectedly in 2013, Michael Goddart began to recover exact, amazing details about his past lives. Recovering how his spiritual quest progressed over his most recent past lives, it became clear why in his current life in California he began his spiritual search at a young age. As life after life opened up, it also became clear how his inherent abilities and defining character traits in his current life, as well as idiosyncratic aversions and afinities and experiences of familiarity with people and places are sanskaras--that is, impressions from past lives--the result of specific experiences in particular past lives. He discovered who certain people in his current life were in former lives, including his "Cohort of Seven," the seven beings he was mainly with between lives.

Continuing to record what he recovered in his journal, lives came through from when he was an Atlantean and a Lemurian and ultimately lives when he dwelt on two other planets before Earth. He continued to recover past lives until he came to the life that was the beginning of his spiritual evolution when he was a woman with six children on his first planet.

In Search of Lost Lives: Desire, Sanskaras, and the Evolution of a Mind&Soul shows how desires and actions order transmigration to subsequent human and animal lives. Twelve lives show how hurtful actions resulted in a subsequent life as an animal or a sojourn between lives in a state of reformation. This singular account shows the spiritual experiences in numerous lives that were the many steps of his spiritual evolution that led to initiation onto a mystical path of freedom from reincarnation and reunion with God.

Read Michael Goddart's In Search of Lost Lives to:

• Discover precise, fascinating details of life in lost worlds.
• Marvel at how women were equal and empowered on the first two other planets on which he dwelt and also at the universality of homophile lives, twelve of which he depicts in wholly different times, countries, and planets.
• Learn new metaphysical terms and their different expressions, such as Notable Life, Significant Life, Overriding Desire of the higher mind, Great Love, key evolutionary experiences, the spiritual purpose of past lives, and instances when the spiritual being enhanced the human experience.
• Understand who are realized Saints and Masters and what they teach; the relationship of the soul and mind; and how the negative power, a.k.a. the Devil, rules his realms of existence.
• Illuminate the answers to the immortal questions of humankind: Who am I? Where am I going? What is God? What is the journey of the soul?
• Appreciate secrets of existence.

About the Author
Goddart, Michael: - Soon after moving to Marin County, California, just after he turned 11, Michael Goddart started actively searching for the truth about death and how to attain everlasting bliss. He began daily meditation at age 19 and at 21 began to meditate for two and a half hours daily. His work as an international tax consultant and his spiritual quest have taken him to over fifty countries. Since 1974 he has journeyed thirteen times to India and also numerous times to England, Greece, Canada, Spain, and within the United States to be with those rare Teachers whom he considers to be fully realized humans. In addition to endeavoring to progress daily on his spiritual path, throughout his life he's studied the writings of Saints and Mystics. Michael Goddart took his MFA in Creative Writing at Bowling Green State University and is the author of Spiritual Revolution: A Seeker's Guide; 52 Powerful Principles for Your Mind & Soul, which the Hollywood Spiritual Film and Entertainment Festival named Best Spirituality/Self-Help Book. He is also the author of BLISS: 33 Simple Ways to Awaken Further, which was also named an official semifinalist. Please visit www.goddart.com for readers' testimonials and more.

Resilience isn't inherited. It's a hard-fought skill forged by our ability to pick up the broken pieces of our past and remake them into something new.

Meet four-year-old Delicia, a poor but carefree child who is about to have her world shattered. Along with her seven-year-old brother Nile, she is kidnapped from her Los Angeles home by her estranged father and taken to Iraq, a foreign world she has never known. This is just the beginning of a string of traumas, hardships, and assaults Delicia will endure throughout her tumultuous childhood.

Now an adult living back in California, Delicia Niami bravely recounts how she survived the unimaginable in her debut memoir. Kissing Asphalt, the first in her memoir trilogy, ResilientAF, grapples with the power of resilience, acceptance, and self-love. She revisits her terrifying past with vulnerability, compassion, and the honesty of a true survivor. Hold hands with Delicia as she faces her childhood scars and learns how to confront her fears, accept her true value and identity, and embrace her unique gifts. It's a multi-decade roller coaster ride that is the beginning of her liberation, propelling her to live an inspired life and embrace her full human potential-a human potential she knows lives inside everyone, no matter what life has thrown at us.

For anyone who has struggled with childhood trauma, Delicia's unflinching journey through darkness and back to light will resonate. She has decided to share her story publicly in hopes that it will serve as a guide to the many who have suffered in silence and continue to struggle against the daunting weight imposed by childhood trauma.

"A gripping true story from beginning to end... It is intelligent, humorous at times, and overflowing with spiritual insights. One of the most thought-provoking books I've ever encountered." -Cathy Byrd, author of The Boy Who Knew Too Much

"I'm not a believer and I'm not a father. So why do I like Guidroz's book so much? Because Letters to My Son in Prison makes the grade as literature worthy of reading in depth. It's raw, straight from the heart. No treacle for effect. Ken has laid his heart and soul on the table and done it with unflinching courage." -David Booth, coauthor of Own the Room

"Guidroz shares his wisdom and insight in a relatable way. This makes it easy to connect with and feel invested in the story. If you are looking for a deeply moving and inspirational read, I highly recommend this book. It will renew your faith in love and redemption and give you a sense of hope." -Barbara Legere, author of Keven's Choice

Ken raised his three sons in a squeaky-clean suburb of Los Angeles. He envisioned fatherhood as coaching their sports teams, taking them to church (where he was the pastor), and visiting colleges one day. Instead, he got an education on the street names of opioids, fluency in rehab vernacular, and an insider's view of the California prison system, when his middle son, Lucas, accidentally killed a man with his car while high on heroin.

Ken was tormented by doubt. What did I do wrong as a dad? Will my son ever be okay? Will my marriage survive this trauma?

Estranged from his son, Ken strived to rebuild their relationship. Face-to-face visits made them feel like they were in a fishbowl and phone calls were interrupted with inmates screaming. Letter writing turned out to be the best way to connect. Writing the letters proved cathartic for Ken. And they were clarifying for Lucas, as he made sense of losing his way, ultimately writing a heart-wrenching apology to the widow of his victim.

The written word became the perfect medium for a father to reconnect with his son-and himself.

Ken is most revealing, however, about the impact all this had on his faith. To go from the podium to the back pew and then out the back door disoriented him. How could he redefine his faith outside the four walls of religion?

With a distinct voice and disarming honesty, Letters to My Son in Prison offers a candid snapshot of fatherhood, a refreshing take on marriage, and a creative vision of faith.

From the coauthors of the award-winning Wheels of Wisdom.

After pedaling thousands of miles throughout America, midlife newlyweds and cross-country adventurers Tim and Debbie Bishop offer eight powerful life lessons from the seat of a bicycle.

Do you need some inspiration or a nudge in your life? Whether you are bored, navigating unfamiliar terrain, struggling to get started, or just plain stuck, the epiphanies inside this book will bring focus to your journey.

With wisdom gleaned all the way from a twilight ride up an Idaho mountain to a bicycle shop in Delaware, Ohio, Metaphors in Motion provides enlightenment for your own travels through life.

Certain principles are universal.

About the Author
Answered prayers bridged hundreds of miles when Tim and Debbie Bishop discovered one another and became first-time newlyweds at age 52. Then, they hopped on bicycles, cycled over 10,000 miles throughout the United States, and lived to tell about it. They do just that in several coauthored books filled with encouragement, hope, wisdom, adventure, and fun. With backgrounds in business, teaching, and coaching, the Bishops bring a strong Christian foundation to their inspirational self-help books.

Profound wisdom for today's busy thinker

Are you a professional who is on a spiritual path but doesn't have much time for philosophical inquiry? An executive who gets things done at work but seeks higher joy? An entrepreneur who wants to make a dent not just in business but in the universe? Modern Wisdom, Ancient Roots is for you! In it, unconventional and highly successful coach Dr. Srikumar Rao distills and condenses valuable life lessons, from ancient sources, literature, and his own experience, into quick-to-read, easily digestible chapters.

Through Dr. Rao's compelling parables, you will learn how to:

• Achieve great success while remaining as serene as a Zen monk
• Feel radiantly alive every day and bursting with gratitude
• Bounce back from disaster so quickly that others didn't even notice you were down
• Jettison dysfunctional mental models that prevent you from soaring
• Banish the incessant mental chatter that is sapping your energy
• Bring joy into your life and annihilate your fears
• Help others reach heights they never dreamed possible

And this just scratches the surface. As a bonus, the book includes a self-assessment to help you implement the chapters' lessons. If you apply the concepts in it, Modern Wisdom, Ancient Roots will make you prosper in all areas of your life.

"A stirring book that offers an ideal blend of direction and comfort to fellow caregivers." —Kirkus

Pssst ... is your life being rearranged?

You are not alone. Alzheimer's and dementia will turn your life inside out and upside down. In fact, there are many days you won't know if you are coming or going. Susan Miller knows those days. Her husband was diagnosed with Early-Onset Alzheimer's. She became the long distance caregiver for her father's medical issues, followed by her mother's diagnosis of dementia and then a diagnosis of Alzheimer's for her mother-in-law. After decades of caregiving and years of widowhood, Susan met a wonderful widower, only to discover signs of dementia. My Life Rearranged gives voice to what many caregivers think, but are reluctant to admit.

You will discover:

• The issues of love, loss, responsibility, duty, and self-preservation while navigating the stages of the disease.
• What it's like to struggle with a disease that strikes terror in people's hearts and offers ways to come through intact.
• How to lessen the isolation and loneliness of caregiving, and bring honest insight into the life of a caregiver.

Imagine coming home from the store and laying your package down, only to find it gone thirty minutes later, nowhere to be found.

Imagine looking for your favorite cereal in the morning, not finding it anywhere, and only later when you go to do a load of wash, do you find it.

Imagine living with your spouse of many years, only to awaken one day and find he has turned into a child.

Imagine thinking you are living in a house of cards, or that you are imagining it all, or perhaps it's just a dream and you'll soon awaken, but it's not and you don't.

Imagine repeating this scenario over and over again.

My Life Rearranged will tug at your heart, touch your soul, inspire you, and help you believe in your capabilities.

Author Bio:

Susan Miller is a former caregiver, support group leader, lecturer and workshop presenter on the various facets of Alzheimer's for family and professional caregivers. She is a strong advocate for caregivers—the second victim in a disease that steals something from everyone it touches. Susan has walked the walk, and knows the steps along the journey. Her background, which includes wife, mother, school teacher, realtor, corporate trainer in both corporate America and the healthcare world, counselor, and outplacement specialist, reflects her impressive versatility. Susan has a master's in counseling. Combining her education and work experience with her personal caregiving experience, she brings extensive expertise and wisdom to the issue of caregiving, loss, and letting go. As a national speaker, she has traveled to Washington to present on behalf of caregivers, lectured at various Alzheimer's Associations, nursing homes and assisted livings. She and her past husband were featured in a CBS three-part series on this dreaded disease. When Susan is not speaking, you will find here in San Diego by the beach, where she and her dog, Lulu, spend hours walking and enjoying the calm the beach brings to one's soul.

This is a heart-wrenching and honest account of a family's effort to understand the journey of their son that led to his death from a heroin overdose, and how they dealt with their grief and sadness, their guilt and their anger at themselves, at others, and at God. More than a memoir, "Opiate Nation" is a crisis report. Jude and her husband John found themselves navigating the bewildering new era of bright young adults exposed to opiates before they have even reached the legal age to drink--or drive. They deftly pick apart the responsibilities of pharmaceutical companies, the benefits of Medication Assisted Treatments, the effectiveness of sober living houses, the way in which shame can isolate, and realize their Baby Boomer generation has trouble setting boundaries. Jude and John's 20/20 hindsight drives their commitment to tell the truth about their son's life and death. Th is is their invaluable gift to other families who hope to keep the opioid epidemic away from their homes and for those who must deal with addiction--or those who have experienced a death--in their own families.

About the Author
Trang, Jude Dimeglio: - Jude DiMeglio Trang is a landscape designer, creating gardens for clients in the beautiful Sonoran Desert. She has been writing personal journals, lyrics and music for decades and most recently, maintaining a blog addressing topics related to addiction. After losing their son to a heroin overdose, she and her husband John kept a daily journal for a year as a way to hold on to their son and their sanity and as an enduring memorial to document their grief. The decision to write a memoir based on their journal and their son's life grew from her desire to help reduce the overwhelming number of lives lost to drug addiction in the 21st century. Jude and her husband John live in Tucson, Arizona and part of the year in Melbourne, Australia with their daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughters.Trang, John M.: - John M. Trang, Ph.D., is a pharmaceutical scientist. During his tenure in academe, he served as professor and department chairman, and as an investigator on research grants and contracts. For the past twenty-five years John has provided independent research and consulting services to the pharmaceutical industry worldwide. He has published numerous research articles, chapters, and abstracts.

“Readers from all walks of life stand to gain something from Perfect. Readers will likely show up for the advice on overcoming the self-sustaining cycle of negativity, but it's Judi Miller's compelling, well-written narrative that will give them a reason to stay.” —IndieReader

Foreword by Marci Shimoff, #1 New York Times bestselling author, of Happy for No Reason and Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul

All her life, Judi was plagued by feelings of fear, of not fitting in, and of not being enough. Facing a crisis of purpose, she embarks on a transformational journey of self-discovery and uncovers a shocking past-life connection to someone dear to her.

She learns to open her heart, release her stories, and understand forgiveness in a whole new way.

This compelling and relatable narrative includes reflections and exercises to help you open your own heart and access forgiveness, even for the most painful acts. You'll come away with a profound understanding that despite—or perhaps because of—our perceived flaws and mistakes, we can all experience the world as it really is: Perfect.

Awards:

2021 International Book Awards Winner for New Age Nonfiction

2021 American Book Fest Best Book Awards Winner for New Age Nonfiction

2021 eLit Awards Gold Award Winner for Women’s Issues

2021 eLit Awards Bronze Award Winner for Autobiography/Memoir

2021 Independent Press Award Winner Spiritual Self-Help

2021 Speak Up Talk Radio Firebird Book Award Winner for Inspiration, Mind/Body/Spirit, New Nonfiction, & Personal Growth

2021 Literary Titan Book Award Silver Award Winner

More Reviews:

“…the perfect path to healing troubled souls. Fans of Chicken Soup for the Soul stories will love this book.” —Readers’ Favorite

“Judi Miller masterfully brings us along on her journey from an accounting professional with an inexplicable fear of the dark to a profoundly enlightened human with direct experiences of the perfection of the Universe. With her exquisite prose, Miller manages to touch us deeply while giving us insights as to why we are here on earth and how we can heal generations by opening our hearts.” —Debra Poneman, Founder and President, Yes to Success, Inc.

“…a must read for anyone who wants to transform their life and awaken to their true creatorship.” —Dr. Sue Morter, author of #1 Los Angeles Times bestselling book, The Energy Codes

“…a powerful and engaging story that invites readers to embrace their true greatness as they let go of limiting thoughts that no longer serve them…. This is a must read.” —Sonia Choquette, New York Times bestselling author of The Answer is Simple

“Perfect is a book that will open your eyes to a realm of new possibilities. By embracing these simple yet profound concepts, you are invited to a whole new way of living where a path filled with more possibility, passion and joy awaits you. It doesn't get any better than that!” —Janet Bray Attwood, New York Times bestselling author of The Passion Test and Your Hidden Riches

“This is an amazing story of a woman's journey of ultimate forgiveness and letting go. While Judi Miller's story is specific to her, it holds many lessons for us all. We can all be open to the evolvement of the soul through deep discovery and the willingness to listen to our intuition that delivers us signs all the time. Judi bravely listened and acted on her intuition resulting in her healing and ultimate freedom. God Bless Judi for sharing her story and the healing she experienced. She serves as an example for us to explore our own wounds and stories and find forgiveness.” —Lisa Garr, Host of The Aware Show

“An honest and raw account of a woman's journey into forgiveness through self-empowerment. Judi's relatable treatise inspires anyone who is ready for true transformation and is willing to move from shadow into light. Spoiler alert: Truth wins out.” —John Newton, Ancestral Clearing & Founder of Health Beyond Belief

“Perfect is a must read for anyone struggling to fit in and who is plagued by fear. This book illustrates the importance of facing our fears, trusting in the uncertainty of life, while surrendering to our intuition to heal…. Judi Miller courageously shares her story of how she miraculously healed a trauma that was passed down through her lineage. This book is a reminder that miracles can and do happen when we are willing to forgive and love all that is. Perfect beautifully portrays how love and forgiveness are the essential ingredients to heal and thrive in life!” —Jennifer Kauffman, Executive Producer of the four-time Emmy award-winning documentary, A New Leash on Life

“This beautiful book will open your heart and mind, leaving you full of wonder, hope, and possibility. A who's who among the top energetic and spiritual leaders of our time, this story teaches us that deep and lasting forgiveness is truly possible no matter the circumstance. Thank you, Judi Miller, for your bravery and willingness to write and share this profound and deeply enlightening story.” —Kasey Mathews, award-winning author of Preemie and A Mom's Guide to Creating a Magical Life

“This is one woman's incredible journey of healing and transformation. Judi Miller seamlessly weaves some of life's greatest truths into this compelling story of ultimate forgiveness. She provides readers with the tools and inspiration to embark on their own adventure of self-discovery where greater fulfillment, happiness and joy is in store. This is essential reading for those who want to learn to let go and experience greater peace in their lives.” —Suzanne Lawlor, Master Coach, Your Year of Miracles

“Fans of the works of spiritually minded authors such as Gabrielle Bernstein or Esther Hicks will be particularly drawn to Miller's book.… Her story of harnessing her own fears may embolden others to live more bravely, and embrace love, fun, and joy. An insightful spiritual self-help book.” —Kirkus

Author Bio:

For over 25 years, Judi has worked for some of the largest companies in the world helping others to succeed in a constantly changing environment. She knows what it feels like to be in the never-ending rat race to prove yourself. If you are feeling stuck, unfilled and unhappy, there is another way.

Judi is a certified coach, trainer and facilitator. She specializes in working with women who want to live their best life and experience greater joy, love and happiness in their work and in their lives.

Judi Miller is a best-selling and award-winning author, radio show host, and transformational coach. Her heart-centered and grounded approach helps others to experience true happiness and awaken to their inner greatness.