In these difficult times, we are all facing adversity, both individually and collectively. Enlightened Friendship: Befriending Yourself and Others Through Difficulty, provides guidance for not only going through difficulty but growing through it in a way that strengthens us, builds our self-confidence and improves our resilience to overcome future hardships.
Enlightened Friendship: Befriending Yourself and Others Through Difficulty, is uniquely organized to guide both those who are suffering as well as those who wish to help them.
Adults rarely get training in how to support other adults. While we may have empathy for another’s suffering, we may be so intimidated by our fear of not knowing what to do or say that we turn away when they need us most. This book resolves that problem and lays out the roles, boundaries, skills and techniques that help us support our friends with confidence. While growth is an ‘inside job’, support from compassionate friends helps us to fearlessly embrace our emotions while we learn from our experiences. Friendship can keep us on track and enable us to discover new (and sometimes surprising) solutions. This is a practical guide to show you how friendship can be extended in ways that are supportive and compassionate while honoring another’s process of grief and self-discovery. The guidance of this book will help you be better prepared and more confident to support your friends through their rough patches. We can all benefit from compassionate friends who are prepared to help when needed.
For those who are facing a change, ending, loss, or distress, this book provides constructive guidelines, techniques, checkpoints, and practices to help you participate fully and move more smoothly through your healing process. You will face your fears and learn from them. You will be enlightened by your setbacks rather than a victim of them. You will be empowered by making thoughtful decisions using emotional intelligence. You will learn to select the support you need. And ultimately, you will move through your difficulties with less suffering, more confidence, enriched, and at peace. Throughout our lives we face challenges; let us welcome the opportunity to navigate them with confidence.