4thace reviewed Life on purpose by Victor J. Strecher
A crushing loss informs life advice from this author
4 stars
This is another one of those books describing how to find values that are meaningful to you in life. But the big difference is the experience the author had when his daughter was born with a congenital heart defect and how that played out over decades. It was a condition that even the medical experts had problems coming up with really very reliable prognosis for the treatment. So over an extended period of time the author's family went through a series of episodes of despair and hope regained and some normal stretches of time which were interrupted by declines. Although his daughter did outlive the first estimates given by the doctors she did eventually succumb to her illness, leading her father to rediscover meaning in life afterwards. He describes a dramatic story of a time when he had lost all sense of life being worth living, which culminated in an …
This is another one of those books describing how to find values that are meaningful to you in life. But the big difference is the experience the author had when his daughter was born with a congenital heart defect and how that played out over decades. It was a condition that even the medical experts had problems coming up with really very reliable prognosis for the treatment. So over an extended period of time the author's family went through a series of episodes of despair and hope regained and some normal stretches of time which were interrupted by declines. Although his daughter did outlive the first estimates given by the doctors she did eventually succumb to her illness, leading her father to rediscover meaning in life afterwards. He describes a dramatic story of a time when he had lost all sense of life being worth living, which culminated in an almost mystical experience that made him change his mind.
The author works as a professor of public health, but beyond that, he took his renewed mission in life to help people discover what the true important things in a worthwhile life. By getting to know this author as a person it is easier for a reader to understand the familiar advice books of this kind tend to advocate. These include advice to avoid those illusory pleasures and things that take us away from lasting contentment, to find the value in deep relationships with others, to take care of your own health even though you know it is not something that will last forever. To use money instead of letting your money control you, to really get to know yourself through meditation and mindfulness techniques - these represent the wisdom of the ages. Nothing in the way of new ground is being broken here, but it's all valid and it's good to hear.
The author got to know spiritual teachers and ask them direct questions about what happens at the time of death. He has some useful tips on how to keep up with a commitment to daily meditation. By the end, a long time after the loss of his daughter, he takes on a hopeful tone describing a new sort of happiness. I would recommend this book for anyone who has either experienced or anticipates having to cope with grief and desolation.