The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World by Alan Greenspan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a must read for people who want to know what's going on economically in the world, since Greenspan's career spanned that of five presidents. Greenspan's insights into national and international economic trends is a must in these most turbulent of times. View all my reviews >> The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth by M. Scott Peck

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Every human on earth needs to read this book. All Dr. Peck's books. All books like his. Over and over and over and over and over again. People are people. They aren't Gods. They aren't walking on water. We all need improvement. Regardless of who you are, how well adjusted you think you are, you need this book.

Consider the following, according to Peck, life is difficult. Something we all know. The problem is that few are courageous or perceptive enough to understand the need for help. But once an understanding begins, it is up to the individual to keep her understanding going through constant vigilance of character and the changing circumstances surrounding her.

True joy in life comes through discovery. Discovering the great truths that lie within and without each human being. As these discoveries are made and applied (BIG word here) life becomes wonderful. Manageable. More and more meaningful. Full. Even ecstasy arrives and enlivens our lives as we discover minor to great truths. As we become courageous and uncover these truths (they lie in waiting for the brave and hard worker) life takes on remarkable brilliance. There is nothing like living a fully conscious life--or at least one of great consciousness.

Dr. Peck informs us what we need to do so that we are not only healthier and healthier as we move through life (something very few do after mid-life, according to Peck) but that we pass on this remarkable blessing of understanding, this greater if not more fully informed life to our children or any others.

View all my reviews >> Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars The title tells you what the significant point of this book is. It is when Frankl and the others caught in the continuous horror and boundless misery find love. Yes, they find love. This is significant because it is only when one is deprived, when one runs up against extreme circumstance, when one is pushed to the brink does he or she fully appreciate and understand that which is most significant in life or what is most meaningful. And as one encounters these extremes, he or she finds great insight, wonder, miracles even, in the most bizarre and unusual light.

Frankl discovers in the concentration camps that those of great intellectual life, the reflectors, the thinkers, the meditaters even, are the ones who "survive camp life better." It is the "less hardy" who fair better than the "robust." What does this mean? Those who have prepared themselves emotionally, spiritually, are the ones who have the greater strength to deal with the utmost difficult times, not necessarily those who in easy times appear under control, the loud, the braggart, even the profane. The spirit protects while the flesh rots.

To continue, Frankl in thinking on his wife, sees love for the far greater thing that it is than one may ever see in settled, comfortable times. It is within this abject horror that Frankl is blessed with a vision of the significance of man and his purpose for being, for he states, "The truth--love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire." Later he states, "Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive acting, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way--an honorable way--in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words, "The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory."

The sanctity of the woman, marriage and its central importance to not only society but eternity is made whole and evident here. It is this sanctified nature of the human race of which the angels speak.

Love: when asked what the meaning of life is Mother Teresa said to love and be loved. When speaking to my wife tonight she mentioning that "people come in hundreds," that at any point in time you can stop and say, "None of us will be alive 100 years from now." Putting that into perspective with the endless eons that have and will pass, the insignificance of our mortal lives beyond learning things eternal is shown pointless. Those who aim for monetary, material, social, political, or any temporal or transitory success is insignificant beyond measure in the face of what Frankl learns amongst the appallingly endless torment that in actuality only lasted an insignificant spit in the cosmic bucket of time. His great temporary suffering revealing pearls of wisdom, priceless even, vision of the third eye beyond the veil into the eternities.

Where is there significance? When is it discovered? In our most harrowing moments; the real reason why we are here, for it is in these moments, and maybe only in these moments, that we learn best or learn things eternal: "I knew only one thing--which I learned well: Love goes very far beyond the physical person of the beloved. It finds its deepest meaning in his spiritual being, his inner self. Whether or not he is actually present, whether or not he is still alive at all, ceases somehow to be of importance" (Frankel).

It has only been in my hours of despair, amongst the suicidal depression, the endless days / months / years of hopelessness, the destructive anger, abject fear experienced through losing all my money and material items, confronting cancer and living with a bad heart, lungs, feat, and more probably to the end of my life that has propelled me, blessed me, opened me up to the vision of the eternal love that resides in all of us, the great hope that bristles underneath the pointless pursuits of the world, and the love, love, love, waiting to bless us as we become obedient to the true purpose of our existence. Love and the seeking of all that it entails.

View all my reviews >> Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki

My rating: 5 of 5 stars This has the basics about how to think outside the box of college, job, retirement. Today, it is critical to know about the tax advantages of owning a business and investing. And with the advent of the Internet, 1 in 6 Americans get it and own a business. Kiyosaki has some eye opening news for those steeped in the tradition of "Go to college, get an education, and obtain job security." In today's economy, such thinking is not only archaic but dangerous. View all my reviews >> Cashflow Quadrant: Rich Dad's Guide to Financial Freedom by Robert T. Kiyosaki

My rating: 5 of 5 stars The much maligned Robert Kiyosaki is here to open your eyes to the new age of finance. The age in which great sums of money are needed just to survive into retirement. Do you realize that if you're in your 20's now you'll need approximately $2.5 million to retire on? Just look at how quickly those gas prices are going up and imagine the cost of living 45 years from now.

Kiyosaki believes that the government and business are conspiring to keep the general public down by advocating education as the end-all and cure-all to the American Dream. As a former educator at the college / university level, I can tell you that an education will get you a direct ticket to debt if you don't look to your financial betterment and learn how to invest in business and real estate. This book is a must read for people who don't want to struggle financially all their lives or end up working as a Wal-Mart greeter at 75.

And if you think, like many of my former students, that a $100,000 salary will bring you wealth and security into retirement, think again. Considering that half that money will go in taxes (income, property, sales, etc.) you've got a miserable $50,000 left over. That should cover your mortgage, now what?

Kiyosaki and others on the cutting edge, realize that today one cannot rely on the government or one's employer for their financial present or future and that owning a business in some capacity is the wave of the future. And more and more people are jumping on the bandwagon, home based business on the rise (interesting that the majority of new entrepreneurs are women).

This is a must read for current and future providers.

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