Hi all, I (25f) am looking for a good self-help book! I have decided it’s finally time to reinvent myself, face past traumas, and have an overall better outlook on life. I’m pretty depressed and anxious 99% of the time and I think more so about the future. I’m a senior in college and graduate next Spring. I am engaged and hope to have children within the next 5 years. My fiancé and I are the poorest we’ve ever been and I just am not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel… I just am overall feeling lost.
I really want to figure out who I am to my core and not just the product of both of my parents.
If anybody has any suggestions on any books that would help address some or all of my concerns, that would be great!
by shmoopybubba
3 Comments
Subtle art of not giving a fuck
The obstacle is the way
A classic is the Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck. It was written before he became a born-again Christian, but the advice and anecdotal stories are so…he has a special way of making things make sense and feel not so scary to change and improve and build the life you actually want. I highly recommend it. Bell Hooks took her definition of love from that book for her book All About Love.
Also, The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts. It’s not as casual reading, not academic either, but Watts did not water down his writing to be more palatable. He does make eastern spirituality, specifically zen buddhism and taoism accessible for western audiences. And he’s actually quite clever and witty. Just his writing style is very calming.
Finally, for a novel, Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. It’s a fictional imagining of a Buddha’s life (not the Buddha, but he does meet him at a point). Very calming and inspirational. And it reads kind of like Proverbs if biblical literature tickles your fancy.
Thanks for sharing, one book that I recommend to people is Self Compassion by Kristin Neff. It’s a good place to start since I think we can default to self-criticism. Also, when we feel lost it can seem like we are the only one and Neff really talks about common humanity.
Some other books are the Courage to be Disliked by Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimi and Living an Examined Life by James Hollis.