Learning from the Heart: Lessons on Living, Loving, and Listening

Wow, what a moving and beautifully written book! Recommended for anyone living with a chronic illness or condition, and their caretakers. A perfect book to share and re-read. Loved it!

i loved it, and think it is a useful read for anyone who needs a reminder of what is important in life.

Dan Gottleib, host of Voices in the Family and author of this book is a true inspiration no matter who you are, what you do or think. I can't recommend this book or advocate listening to his show enough. Voices in the Family.
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Daniel Gottlieb's LETTERS TO SAM was one of the best
books that I've read over the past few years . . . so when I
saw that the author came out with something new, LEARNING
FROM THE HEART, I rushed to get hold of it.

And was I ever glad that I did . . . I was hooked after
just seeing the cover and the subtitle: LESSONS ON
LIVING, LOVING AND LISTENING . . . Gottlieb, a practicing
psychologist, presents this information via short
essays on a wide variety of topics . . . best of all,
he brings in his own personal experiences and openly
shares them.

I especially liked his view about not always having to be
best in everything:
* I've ended up feeling a great deal of gratitude for my failures. Of
course, there are people who don't believe me when I tell them
I belong in the last seat in the second row. They challenge my position
by reminding me of books I have written and the many wonderful
accomplishments I've been fortunate to achieve. Over the years I have
learned that there are some aspects of my humanity--perhaps my
kindness and my ability to understand others--that probably belong
in the first row. But there are many other aspects of Gottlieb that belong
in the last row--technical skills, attention span, and
memory (to name a few).

Gottlieb also got me thinking about how good life can be--and is--when
he related this account of a friend's visit:
* I do believe in coincidence, and I was involved in a quite a fortunate one
when my friend Amy came over to visit just two days before that phone call.
At one point, she asked if I believed in heaven. Without giving it any thought,
I said, "Yes. You're in it right now."

I saw the dazed look on her face that I often see when I make proclamations,
so I went on: "What were the chances of that sperm fertilizing that egg and
producing your life? And what were the chances that you would have lived all
the years you have lived in relative good health? And what were the odds that
you would have so many people in your life whom you love and who care
about you? And what were the possibilities that you could look out of almost
any window and see the beauty of nature? Heaven? You bet."

Of course, my version of heaven is not the perfect one we read about in
mythology or that many believe in. There is great pain and suffering and loss
in this particular heaven. But deep inside, most know it-heaven, life-is
precious. It just takes some careful noticing.

Lastly, the author had me laughing when I read passages such as this
one:
* Even trauma like my accident carries good news and bad news. I suffer,
still get frustrated and sometimes depressed, and yet there is good news
about being a quadriplegic.

The good news about being quadriplegic?

Well, first, there is the obvious--great parking spaces.

Then, think shoes. I don't have to spend a fortune on comfortable shoes,
and they last as long as I want them to.

But the great news about quadriplegic is that I don't have to get up to pee in
the middle of the night. So, in the middle of the night tonight, when you are
sitting or standing. I'll be sleeping. (And they say I have special needs!)

On a serious note, this disability has helped me become the man I am. The
image I have carried for nearly thirty years is that when my neck broke, my
soul began to breathe. Because of my differentness, I have not been
intimidated by my need to be like everyone else. I might not have become
the man I am today were it not for this trauma.

After reading LEARNING FROM THE HEART, you'll feel like you know
Daniel Gottlieb much better . . . in fact, in reading it, I thought I was
having a one-on-conversation with him that made me realize that
if I was ever in need of a therapist, I'd certainly want to seek him out.

If only the majority of the human BEINGS would learn, practice and listen as it is shared in the book, what an awesome world we would experience!