3.25/5. Read this back in 2019 and did not review it back then. I don't remember enough about it to give it proper feedback.

Thank you New Harbinger Publishing and Netgalley for an ARC in return for my review.

This was a powerful book, written by a counsellor / life coach, Nic Higham. Nic clearly explains how, in times less desirable in life, we can get caught in thought patterns and behaviours that inhibit our growth and contribute to deeper feelings of loneliness and isolation. Through different tools and using mindfulness Nic provides a way to start seeing things from a different lens while using self compassion.

An easy to read and understand book that will benefit many.

The author did a great job of providing strategies, including mindfulness, to help the reader that may be struggling with loneliness. The author laid out reasons and behaviors that lead to these feelings of loneliness.

In various seasons of life, we may wish that parts of our lives (or even the whole thing) were different. Most of us have compared ourselves to others, felt alone, or have been confused about who we are, negotiating life.

So we suffer. We try to make life better. That's common to all of us. But how do we respond to difficulties?

If you believe each person has been created as a unique creation, you are confident that we have been set into the world for a reason. God centers us in his wholehearted love and asks us to love and serve others (Jesus: Mark 12:30-31). Therefore, life has great meaning. Christ-followers seek to understand our special personhood and our personal contribution to the world.

This book comes from a different direction. A Western Buddhist, Higham attempts to explain humanity as a vast cosmic flow moving through meaningless cycles of reincarnation. He explores human suffering and aloneness, where a cultivated mindfulness can endure suffering without strivings or passions.

In Zen Buddhism, life at its best means cultivating emptiness, where our efforts bring escape. Attaining nirvana means life's candle winks out into cosmic nothingness. But there's no great attraction for me in viewing humanity as our ultimate limitation (in contrast to viewing humans as God's ultimate and beloved creatures.)

The life and teaching of Jesus offer a radically different path. Jesus said he came to bring "life in abundance" (John 10:10). For his followers, life on earth and into eternity is a gift of utter fullness to be enjoyed by savoring the love of God and others. I'm passionate and thrilled to be alive! not trying to dampen this wonderful and sometimes-terrible life into nothingness.


I believe all truth is God's truth, so in Higham, you will find insights into how a self-centered and emptied life can seem desirable for some people. The book offers a closer look at some aspects that may be present or absent in our lives. Personally, ongoing cycles of reincarnation and escapism in order to attain nothingness make ZERO sense to me. I find nothing attractive in trying to escape from another life cycle, attempting to set aside passions and striving, and ideally gaining less and less meaning with each return. WHHHHAAAT? That's no fun and not meaningful (which is, I guess, the point.)

This book may help you may understand the pull of Westernized Buddhism for those trapped by materialism and over-the-top consumerism. I found this glimpse into a very different vantage point very interesting indeed.

Hmm. A very powerful and thought=provoking book on how to deal with existential anxiety. It makes no apology for its roots in Hinduism and Buddhism and essentially says that when you connect with your sense of being alive (which exists prior to all the beliefs and emotions you have) you become calmer. Once you accept you are alone you become connected. And so on. Paradox leads to completion.

I think that a lot of people not of these persuasions are going to have trouble getting through this. It's not hard to follow but I, for example, as a Christian do not subscribe to the belief that everything is Brahman and therefore do not accept I am NOT part of Brahman. It goes against my beliefs.

However, I do believe according to the Bible that every man is made in the image of God and therefore an expression of Him. We have his breath in us. Therefore, I can adopt the concepts to get a similar result and I have. It has been wonderful. For those who understand that we are all made of energy a similar understanding can be made. So, coming to the end - if you are happy with your current belief system and believe you can learn from material from other religions and ways of life- you will benefit from this book. I love it for broadening my mind.

This is a great self-help book to help you live your best life. Highly recommended.