Seize the Day!

Amazon.com: Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death: Irvin D. Yalom: Books

This is a tough book to get into. That's not a knock on Yalom, whose writing is engaging and warm throughout despite a chilly topic. But who really wants to ponder their own mortality for 300 pages?

But this is a book that, once you get into it, can change your life. I finished it two months ago, and I am reviewing it now because I've finally had time for it to sink in. I challenge you to read this book and not come away reconsidering your priorities, questioning whether the choices you have made in life are the right ones, wondering if you're letting your fears dominate your life.

So much of what we fear, Yalom argues, is really our fear of death, of the transitory nature of existence, of the one way flow of time. And only by facing up to these realities, and to the possibility that this is all there is, can we wake up, grasp what a gift it is to be alive, and seize the opportunity we have in whatever time we have left.

In short, this seemingly morbid little tome can wake you from your slumber and get you pursuing happiness again. Give it a shot.

This review has been posted on Amazon.com. Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death was provided for review as part of Amazon's Vine program.