The beloved bestselling collection of common sense wisdom from a
celebrated psychologist and military veteran who proves it's never too
late to move beyond the deepest of personal losses
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,
including:
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We are what we do.
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Any relationship is under the control of the person who cares the
least.
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The perfect is the enemy of the good.
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Only bad things happen quickly.
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Forgiveness is a form of letting go, but they are not the same thing.
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The statute of limitations has expired on most of our childhood
traumas.
Livingston illuminates these and twenty-four other truths 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.
