Dorothy Rowe - Dorothy Rowe’s Guide to Life

To my publisher and friend

Mike Fishwick

Some five hundred years before the birth of Christ the Greek poet Xenophanes wrote,

The gods did not reveal, from the beginning,

All things to us; but in the course of time,

Through seeking we may learn, and know things better.

But as for certain truth, no man has known it,

Nor will he know it; neither of the gods,

Nor yet of the things of which I speak.

And even if by chance he were to utter

The final truth, he would himself not know it;

For all is but a woven web of guesses. 1 Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

Albert Einstein wrote,

As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality. 2 Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

Cover

Title Page DOROTHY ROWE Guide to Life

Dedication Dedication Dedication Epigraph 1 The Secret of Life 2 Life – What You Can’t Change and What You Can 3 You and Your Own Truth 4 You and What ‘You’ Is 5 You and How You Feel About Yourself 6 You and Tour Priorities 7 You and Your Life Story 8 You and Death 9 You and Depression 10 You and Other People 11 You and Emotion 12 You and Power 13 Is It All Your Fault? 14 You and Communication 15 You and the World 16 You and Time 17 Living Your Own Life 18 If You Want to Learn More Notes Index Acknowledgements About the Author Praise for Dorothy Rowe: By the Same Author Copyright About the Publisher To my publisher and friend Mike Fishwick

Epigraph

1 The Secret of Life

2 Life – What You Can’t Change and What You Can

3 You and Your Own Truth

4 You and What ‘You’ Is

5 You and How You Feel About Yourself

6 You and Tour Priorities

7 You and Your Life Story

8 You and Death

9 You and Depression

10 You and Other People

11 You and Emotion

12 You and Power

13 Is It All Your Fault?

14 You and Communication

15 You and the World

16 You and Time

17 Living Your Own Life

18 If You Want to Learn More

Notes

Index

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Praise for Dorothy Rowe:

By the Same Author

Copyright

About the Publisher

THE SECRET of life is that there is no secret.

All that you need to know about life is there for you to see. All you have to do is open your eyes and recognize what you already know.

However, down the centuries, many people wanting power have tried to keep the secret. They have created their theories and their jargon, and told us that they and they alone know the secret of life. These are the people who have claimed to be the wisest of the wise. They have called themselves philosophers, theologians, clergy, doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, counsellors – in short, experts on life and living. Jungians say we are all part of the collective unconscious, while psychiatrists say that we are the product of our genes. Each of these theories is a way of describing and explaining certain parts of human experience, but no one theory can describe, let alone explain it all.

Some of these people have always known that there is no secret, while others have insisted that they and they alone know the Secret Truth About Life.

Down the centuries a few of these experts have dared to reveal that there is no secret, and, consequently, have been reviled by their colleagues. How dare such renegades say that each of us can sort things out for ourselves! How dare they threaten the experts’ power, prestige and wealth!

The experts always protect themselves by forming themselves into an elite and guarding the entrance with a formidable barrier of examinations and rituals through which only a chosen few can pass.

When the selected few do get through the barrier they are faced with a choice. Do you now tell yourself that you are initiated into the Secret Truth About Life? Or do you bear the disappointment of your discovery that what you might have is simply a collection of useful research results (for instance, we now know that babies are born with the ability to distinguish faces from all other phenomena) and, if you look for it, the kind of wisdom in living which has always been available to every generation.

Amongst the experts this wisdom has been more known than used. On the whole, the personal lives of experts are far from edifying. Some experts do live wisely but most (I’m speaking from years of observation) manage their lives no better than the rest of us. They’ve been so busy being experts they haven’t learnt what they need to know.

The secret which is no secret is that there is a body of knowledge which concerns how to live wisely. This wisdom is available to all of us. You don’t need a brilliant intelligence and a superb education to understand it, absorb it and use it.