Life Lessons (Book Review)
...theme:
In this book, Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross teamed up with
end-of-life specialist David Kessler to write for the
first time about life and living. The authors present
fourteen lessons passed on to us from the dying to
help us deal better with the issues we face in life.
Both authors consider the dying as great teachers
because, "it's when we are pushed to the edge of life
that we see life more clearly" (Kessler & Kubler-Ross,
2000, p15).
Rather than writing in one unitary voice, the two
authors speak separately on personal experiences and
case histories, with each writer's portion of text
starting with their initials. Each lesson is comprised
within fourteen chapters, starting from authenticity
and ending with happiness. The authors also go into
detail about the lessons of guilt, fear, loss, anger,
power, surrender, forgiveness, love, relationships,
patience, time and play. Behind this book is a drive
to get the reader to gain more awareness of him or
herself in order to enjoy the experience of life.
Not all the lessons presented are enjoyable and
mastering them all is quite impossible. However,
learning these lessons can enrich the texture of our
lives. In fact, their purpose is to prevent us from
having any "unfinished business" at the time of our
death. "The more lessons we learn the more business we
finish, and the more fully we live, really live life."
(Kessler & Kubler-Ross, 2000, p 12).
How this book relates to the overall course:
This book is unique because of its focus on life and
living. I appreciate the fact that the authors
emphasize on learning from the dying because I feel
it's one of the main goals of our class....
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