How to Live: What the rule of St. Benedict Teaches Us About Happiness, Meaning, and Community

Get into the habit of being happy! We may all have different abilities, interests, beliefs and lifestyles, beliefs but there is one thing that we all have in common: We want to be happy! Happiness shows you how to be happy by adopting lifelong “happiness habits” that bring and fulfilment and pleasure to your days. These habits will help you manage life’s inevitable ups and downs; consistent practice will develop your happiness abilities and help you live the happy life you want. Aristotle believed that happiness was comprised of pleasure and a sense of life well-lived. Today’s research agrees, suggesting that “happiness” is defined by your overall satisfaction with your life as well as how you feel from day to day. This book shows you that happiness is a skill made up of a particular set of habits that you can bring in your life starting today. Identify your own, personal definition of “happiness” Learn why we need to be happy and what often gets in the way Develop habits that help you create and maintain happiness long-term Learn how to be happy when you’re stuck in an unhappy situation Discover the often-overlooked happiness that surrounds you every day While happiness is not feeling good all the time you do have the ability to control how you feel Happiness gives you the skills and perspective to recognise happiness and pursue a happy life—whatever that may mean for you.

The Rule of St. Benedict (the rule) arose in an era when a great civilization was threatened by violence, economic forces that favored the wealthy, political leaders that lacked the trust of the public, and rampant xenophobia. The events that occurred in sixth-century Rome were much those like on the nightly news.Benedict was not a priest or religious official. He was just a young man disillusioned by a corrupt society that lacked compassion. He had a vision of a society in which human values reigned supreme; a vision of compassion, harmony, and hope.This is a book about living—not just surviving. It is a book about how to live a balanced, meaningful, and conscious life rooted in the ancient and time-tested wisdom of the rule.Valente's book reflects her training as a journalist. The narrative is engaging, conversational, and filled with anecdotes. It reflects the sensibility of someone who has struggled with balancing work and family with finding true meaning and happiness that is not dependent on externals. In 21 chapters, she explores the key elements of the rule and clearly demonstrates how incorporating this ancient wisdom can change the quality and texture of our lives. Included here are discussions of humility, waking up, silence, simplicity, trust, prayer, forgiveness, building consensus, listening, and living with awe. These fresh and profound explorations are inspiring, thoughtful, and motivational.This book is aimed at beginner and mature spiritual seekers alike. It should also appeal to non-traditionally spiritual people—the so-called “nones” (people who list “none of the above” as their formal religion), who are seeking a saner way to live in an increasingly violent, divided, and confusing world.

We live in an age of perfectionism. Every day, we're bombarded with the beautiful, successful, slim, socially-conscious and extroverted individual that our culture has decided is the perfect self. We see this person constantly in shop windows, in newspapers, on the television, at the movies and all over our social media. We berate ourselves when we don't match up to them - when we're too fat, too old, too poor or too sad. This cycle can be extremely bad for us. In recent years, psychologists have even begun to think that many people take their own lives because of the impossible standards that are set for who they ought to be. Will Storr began to wonder about this perfect self that torments so many of us. Who, actually, is this person? Why does it hold such power over us? Could it be humanity's deadliest idea? And, if so, is there any way we can break its spell? To find out, Storr takes us on a journey from the shores of Ancient Greece, through the Christian Middle Ages, the encounter groups of 1960s California and self-esteem evangelists of the late twentieth century to modern-day America, where research suggests today's young people are in the grip of an epidemic of narcissism. He'll tell the strange story of the individualist Western self from its birth on the Aegean to the era of hyper-individualistic neoliberalism in which we find ourselves today. Selfie reveals, for the first time, the epic tale of the person we all know so intimately . . . because it's us.

In our daily lives, the rule of law matters more than anything and yet remains an invisible presence. We trust in the rule of law to protect us from governmental overreach, mafia godfathers, or the will of the majority. We take the rule of law for granted, often failing to recognize its demise—until it is too late. For under attack it is, not only in the growing number of authoritarian countries around the world but in Europe, too. As a citizen’s guide, this book explains in plain language what the rule of law is, why it matters, and why we have to defend it. The starting point is to ask why EU efforts to promote the rule of law in candidate countries have succeeded or failed, and what this tells us about what is happening inside the EU. The authors move on to suggest ways of strengthening the rule of law in Europe and beyond. This book is a call to action in defense of the most precious human invention of all time.

Teens talk to adults about how they develop motivation and mastery Through the voices of students themselves, Fires in the Mind brings a game-changing question to teachers of adolescents: What does it take to get really good at something? Starting with what they already know and do well, teenagers from widely diverse backgrounds join a cutting-edge dialogue with adults about the development of mastery in and out of school. Their insights frame motivation, practice, and academic challenge in a new light that galvanizes more powerful learning for all. To put these students' ideas into practice, the book also includes practical tips for educators. Breaks new ground by bringing youth voices to a timely topic-motivation and mastery Includes worksheets, tips, and discussion guides that help put the book's ideas into practice Author has 18 previous books on adolescent learning and has written for the New York Times Magazine, Educational Leadership, and American Educator From the acclaimed author of Fires in the Bathroom, this is the next-step book that pushes the conversation to next level, as teenagers tackle the pressing challenges of motivation and mastery.

We live in an age of perfectionism. Every day, we're bombarded with the beautiful, successful, slim, socially-conscious and extroverted individual that our culture has decided is the perfect self. We see this person constantly in shop windows, in newspapers, on the television, at the movies and all over our social media. We berate ourselves when we don't match up to them - when we're too fat, too old, too poor or too sad. This cycle can be extremely bad for us. In recent years, psychologists have even begun to think that many people take their own lives because of the impossible standards that are set for who they ought to be. Will Storr began to wonder about this perfect self that torments so many of us. Who, actually, is this person? Why does it hold such power over us? Could it be humanity's deadliest idea? And, if so, is there any way we can break its spell? To find out, Storr takes us on a journey from the shores of Ancient Greece, through the Christian Middle Ages, the encounter groups of 1960s California and self-esteem evangelists of the late twentieth century to modern-day America, where research suggests today's young people are in the grip of an epidemic of narcissism. He'll tell the strange story of the individualist Western self from its birth on the Aegean to the era of hyper-individualistic neoliberalism in which we find ourselves today. Selfie reveals, for the first time, the epic tale of the person we all know so intimately . . . because it's us.

’The vegan Jamie Olivers.’ The TimesSave the Planet and Feel AmazingBOSH!, the pioneers of simple, easy and delicious plant-based cooking, are here to make a sustainable and ethical lifestyle accessible to everyone.BOSH! How to Live Vegan will help you make a few positive changes that will have a huge impact on the world around you. It covers all aspects of vegan living, everything from food to toiletries to travel. Should you be eating avocados? Is it still ok to wear an old leather belt? What do you tell your friends when they offer you a glass of non-vegan wine? Henry and Ian will answer these questions and more in this fully-comprehensive guide to the how and the why of a plant-based lifestyle.Henry and Ian answer all the questions and more, with easy tips and simple hacks to help you live a more sustainable life. Whether you’re already vegan or just about to start on your vegan journey, this is all the inspiration you need.

Get a good education without massive debt, and enter a field that's actually hiring In coming years, millions of great jobs will be opening up in growth areas like advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, health care, information technology, and sustainable energy. These jobs can pay as well as, or much better than, the average income for four-year college graduates. They generally offer high levels of day-to-day satisfaction. And the path to all of them begins in the community colleges. In The Community College Career Track, Tom Snyder gives young people and their parents, as well as mid-life career changers, a practical, inspiring guide to taking that path and completing it successfully. The old model of a bachelor's degree leading to a good job and career has broken down for large numbers of young people, many of whom graduate college only to work in a career that doesn't require a degree. Meanwhile, millions of productive American white collar and blue-collar workers have been laid off and need retraining for second careers. This book helps you find a new way forward. Offers insights on how to save money over a lifetime through an affordable college education that provides high-paying jobs Author Tom Snyder is the president of Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana's statewide community college system and the largest singly accredited community college system in the country Author Tom Snyder has confronted the education-jobs mismatch from both sides, first as a highly successful business executive and now as an award-winning educator. Follow his efficient, affordable, and rewarding path to a great career and a satisfying life.

A short, sharp intervention in the crucial debate about the future of democracy, which has been brought to a head by events from Brexit to the Trump phenomenon.We live in strange days in the history of democracy.Every serious politician in the Western world supports democracy. Yet when the EU Referendum and American Elections both delivered the ‘wrong’ result, elites challenged the merit of the people’s will, and some even tried to block it. Preferring unelected institutions, from technocrats to the courts, self-appointed higher minds questioned whether voters are fit to be trusted with their own futures. Ours is the age of “I support democracy, but…”And yet the answer will never be to impose limitations. Popular democracy must offer better choices, rather than removing choice altogether. It’s time to defend democracy and fight for more it, with no ifs, buts or backtracks.

This is the dramatic story of how a noted tech venture capitalist, an early mentor to Mark Zuckerberg and investor in his company, woke up to the serious damage Facebook was doing to our society and set out to try to stop it.If you had told Roger McNamee three years ago that he would soon be devoting himself to stopping Facebook from destroying democracy, he would have howled with laughter. He had mentored many tech leaders in his illustrious career as an investor, but few things had made him prouder, or been better for his fund's bottom line, than his early service to Mark Zuckerberg. Still a large shareholder in Facebook, he had every good reason to stay on the bright side. Until he simply couldn't. Zucked is McNamee's intimate reckoning with the catastrophic failure of the head of one of the world's most powerful companies to face up to the damage he is doing. It's a story that begins with a series of rude awakenings. First there is the author's dawning realization that the platform is being manipulated by some very bad actors. Then there is the even more unsettling realization that Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg are unable or unwilling to share his concerns, polite as they may be to his face. And then comes Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, and the emergence of one horrific piece of news after another about the malign ends to which the Facebook platform has been put. To McNamee's shock, Facebook's leaders still duck and dissemble, viewing the matter as a public relations problem. Now thoroughly alienated, McNamee digs into the issue, and fortuitously meets up with some fellow travellers who share his concerns, and help him sharpen its focus. Soon he and a dream team of Silicon Valley technologists are charging into the fray, to raise consciousness about the existential threat of Facebook, and the persuasion architecture of the attention economy more broadly – to our public health and to our political order. Zucked is both an enthralling personal narrative and a masterful explication of the forces that have conspired to place us all on the horns of this dilemma. This is the story of a company and its leadership, but it's also a larger tale of a business sector unmoored from normal constraints, at a moment of political and cultural crisis, the worst possible time to be given new tools for summoning the darker angels of our nature and whipping them into a frenzy. This is a wise, hard-hitting, and urgently necessary account that crystallizes the issue definitively for the rest of us.