What About The Big Stuff?

Author: Richard Carlson          

Goodreads Rating: 3.82

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

About: 

Finding Strength and Moving Forward When the Stakes Are High.

From the bestselling author of the Don't Sweat series comes a new book that offers advice on how to deal with life's bigger issues.

With more than 21 million copies in print, Richard Carlson's bestselling Don't Sweat series has shown countless families, lovers, and workers how not to sweat the small stuff. Now, in his soothing and wise trademark tone, Carlson takes a different approach and discusses life's bigger issues, including dealing with the death of a loved one, how divorce affects your family and friends, confronting illness, whether in yourself or others, and managing difficult financial situations. In chapters such as "Bouncing Back from Divorce," "Finding Life After Death," and "Feel Free to Grieve," Carlson offers healing insight and heartfelt advice on how to find inner peace and strength to deal with the big stuff.

Don't Sweat the Big Stuff, but instead:

—Learn from the Big Stuff
—Grieve Freely
—Ask Yourself the Question, "Will This Matter a Year from Now?"
—Reflect on What You're Going to Want to Say — Before You Need to Say It
—Prepare and Let Go

Face the Truth with Loving-Kindness

I've discovered that our thoughts, fears, and frustrations respond in a remarkably similar way. When they are met head on, face to face, with kindness, they will dissolve and become manageable all by themselves.

To me, this is the ultimate practice for the big stuff in our lives. We are all going to experience pain and grief. We will be separated from those we love. We will experience change and uncertainty. We will all experience loss, disappointment, and failure.

The question becomes, what will we do when it happens? To me, the answer is difficult, but simple. When we lose something or someone we love, we will look directly at the pain. That way, instead of the pain coming at us, consuming us, and bombarding us from all directions, sneaking up on us at unexpected times, we will know right where it is because we'll be looking right at it. —Richard Carlson, Ph.D.

Richard Carlson, Ph.D., is the author of the bestselling Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff About Money, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff with Your Family, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Teens, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff for Men, and co-author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff in Love. He is a frequent guest on many national television and radio programs, and lectures to enthusiastic audiences around the country and internationally.