How to Survive Your Childhood Now That You're an Adult: A Path to Authenticity and Awakening - Book Review

Have you ever wondered how childhood experiences shape our lives and contribute to the person we see everyday in the mirror? Most of us carry fears, prejudices and a way of viewing the world that were programmed into us as children. Usually unbeknownst to us, these experiences shape our perception of the world and those around us. While many of the programs that operate in our subconscious can be positive, there are also programs that are fearful, anxious, impatient and counterproductive to living a fulfilled life.

In Ira Israel's newest book, How to Survive Your Childhood Now That You're an Adult: A Path to Authenticity and Awakening, we are led to examine our beliefs, subconscious programs and assumptions that might be preventing us from experiencing the life we truly desire. Through wisdom gained from over thirty years of studying consciousness, the author has identified many tools we can use to alleviate suffering and keep us at the higher end of our happiness spectrum. If you are curious as to how to surf the paradoxes of life, shed fears and prejudices, learn discipline, effectively connect with others, identify constructive activities to vent frustration and live a fulfilling life amidst constant change, then this book will be of immense value to help you navigate the diverse challenges of life. The first half of the book explores our "level of awareness about subconscious beliefs or assumptions so we can get some insight into our 'way of being' in the world." The second half of the book provides valuable tools and steps we can take toward our path of awakening.

More often than not, we are able to examine and identify the methods our parents used in our upbringing that we feel were effective or non-effective. If raising our own children, we might choose to discard methods we feel were ineffective or counterproductive and keep only methods that are empowering and helpful. Conscious parenting is a recent field of study that has resulted in the publication of books that broaden our awareness and facilitate new perspectives that allow us to not only make better decisions as parents but allow us to experience our own personal growth in tandem with our children. By understanding the dynamics and implications of our own childhood, the author invites us to heal ourselves and take a deeper look at the long lasting effect our actions have on our children and those  in which we interact.

Forgiveness is a key component of our happiness. By recognizing that all who have wronged us were doing their best with the level of consciousness they had to work with, we are able to release resentment and heal ourselves. The author states that, "The goal of this book is to help us become conscious of each of our individual paths and provide new tools for procuring the unconditional love we crave, so that we can avoid being ardent and cruel - to ourselves and others - on our journeys."

There are many valuable aspects of this book to contemplate regarding authenticity and embracing your shadow self. How do you blow off steam and keep your life manageable? We all have our own methods of dealing with stress. Are we able to choose positive methods of dealing with stress like meditation, yoga, exercise, art or music, or do we choose addictive unhealthy behaviors that simply sweep the problems under the rug to be dealt with at a later date? This book "is devoted to helping you decide who you want to be and what life you wish to live, and to giving you tools to accomplish your goals."

"Buddhism today is best regarded as a prescription to help us alleviate the suffering our minds inadvertently create when they try to prolong ephemeral pleasure and avoid inevitable pain," says the author. By utilizing eastern philosophy and Buddhist wisdom, How to Survive Your Childhood Now That You're an Adult provides us with context, understanding and methods to not only make sense of life but to thrive and add value to it.  

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Grab your copy of How to Survive Your Childhood Now That You're an Adult  here.

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