Quit Obsessing
Yet this is a long way from a depressing conclusion. It is a treatise for acceptance, one that states that I am who I am, and now let’s tackle the future. Although even here we have to be careful. Obsessing about anything – the past, the future, us, them – is unhealthy and can steer us down a dark path to nowhere.
Certainly, this is the contention of psychologist Paul Pearsall in his attack on the self-help industry called The Last Self-Help Book You’ll Ever Need (2005). Self-absorption, says Pearsall, can magnify your problems until they feel unmanageable. Pearsall’s contention is that there is “not just one good life” so you should stop looking for it and look for “a good life” instead. His view is that discontentment cannot ...
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