Cover of Overcoming Life's DisappointmentsThe book is about many things, but uses Moses as the model for the way in which we need to recognize that the stuff that happens to us, as my cousin LAE says, 'everyone has their shit,' is not about us. It happens to all of us, so get over it.
But, he's not crass or rude about it. He's sensitive about it in the sense that in our individual suffering we have the ability to connect with others who have similar experiences and that enriches all of us.
He also challenges us to come to terms with the fact that as we hit mid-life, we have to recognize that many of the dreams of our youth were simply unrealistic or not destined to happen. And, that's ok, but how you react is critical.
He talks about this in the realm of marriage as well. Everyone thinks that they will "live happily ever after," like in a Fairy Tale or as my ex-cousin Marla once said to me, "no one gets married thinkiing they will get divorced." Sometimes, obviiously that doesn't happen.
But there was one line in that section which really stuck out for me. He quoted Freud saying,
"in every marriage, there are 4 people. The woman, the man she thought she was marrying, the man, and the woman he thought he was marrying."Kushner speaks well to me. I really enjoyed and learned a lot from "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" and :"Living a Life That Matters," (which the NFO also recommended.)
Towards the end, he talks about commitment. We achieve a degree of enlightenment in our ability to live up to the commitments we have made to others.
A powerful concept indeed.
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