Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need to Know Now - Softcover

Edwards, Elizabeth; Livingston, Dr Gordon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1569243735 ISBN 13: 9781569243732

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 2008

Synopsis

After service in Vietnam, as a surgeon for the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in 1968-69, at the height of the war, Dr. Gordon Livingston returned to the U.S. and began work as a psychiatrist. In that capacity, he has listened to people talk about their lives-what works, what doesn't, and the limitless ways (many of them self-inflicted) that people find to be unhappy. He is also a parent twice bereaved in one thirteen-month period, he lost his eldest son to suicide, his youngest to leukemia. Out of a lifetime of experience, Gordon Livingston has extracted thirty bedrock truths: We are what we do. Any relationship is under the control of the person who cares the least. The perfect is the enemy of the good. Only bad things happen quickly. Forgiveness is a form of letting go, but they are not the same thing. The statute of limitations has expired on most of our childhood traumas. Livingston illuminates these and twenty-four others in a series of carefully hewn, perfectly calibrated essays, many of which focus on our closest relationships and the things that we do to impede or, less frequently, enhance them. Again and again, these essays underscore that we are what we do," and that while there may be no escaping who we are, we have the capacity to face loss, misfortune, and regret and to move beyond them-that it is not too late. Full of things we may know but have not articulated to ourselves, Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart offers solace, guidance, and hope to everyone ready to become the person they'd most like to be.

About this title

Review:

"The slim book by Columbia-based psychiatrist Gordon Livingston has been a source of inspiration for many."--Baltimore Sun

"The author creates an aura of wisdom about a great many things."
--Deseret Morning News

"Delightful."--Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

"A book I not only like but respect."
--Palm Beach Post

"[Livingston] underscores our capacity to face loss, tragedy, and regret, and our ability to move beyond them."
--Senior Digest

"[An] excellent self-help book."
--Palm Beach Post

Book Description:

From a psychiatrist who has spent the past thirty years listening to other people's most intimate secrets and troubles-an eloquent, incisive, and deeply perceptive book about the things we all share-and which every one of us grapples with as we strive to make

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1569243735
• ISBN 13: 9781569243732
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192