Strategies and Inspiration for Growing through Life-Changing Difficulties
Choosing Wisdom
Details and Description
Description
We all know the saying, “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger,” but is that really true? After all, for some people, traumatic experiences ultimately lead to truly debilitating outcomes. For others though, adversity really does seem to lead to “post-traumatic growth” where individuals move through suffering and find their lives changed in positive ways as a result. Why does this growth happen for some people and not others? How exactly does it happen? Can the positive results be purposefully replicated?
These are the central questions of a new study conducted by a team of researchers at the University of Virginia. They share their findings, along with practical advice and inspiring stories, in their new book Choosing Wisdom and the companion PBS documentary of the same name. Based on interviews with two distinct populations—medical patients coping with chronic pain and physicians coping with having been involved in serious medical errors—Choosing Wisdom delves into how average people respond to adversity, how they change, and what factors help or hinder positive change. Through these interviews, the authors chart each person’s journey, and though the circumstances of each case may be unique, the commonalities are remarkable.
By paying careful attention to the journeys of these exemplars, this cutting-edge research will shed new light on how we can grow, change, and develop wisdom through adversity. It will be a welcome source of inspiration for anyone facing their own difficult journey and for those who seek to aid them along the way.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments / vii
Part One: Background
Chapter 1: Introduction / 3
Chapter 2: What Is Wisdom? / 11
Chapter 3: Posttraumatic Growth / 27
Part Two: The Path through Adversity
Chapter 4: Acceptance / 43
Chapter 5: Stepping In / 59
Chapter 6: Integration / 77
Chapter 7: New Narrative / 97
Chapter 8: Wisdom / 115
Part Three: What Helps: Sage Advice from the Field
Chapter 9: Finding Community / 137
Chapter 10: Gratitude and Compassion / 151
Chapter 11: Quiet Refl ection, Meditation, and Mindfulness / 165
Chapter 12: Doing Something 181
Chapter 13: Spirituality, Forgiveness, and Doing the Right Thing / 197
Chapter 14: Choosing Wisdom / 215
Questions for Reflection and Discussion / 221
References / 229
Index / 241
Endorsements and Reviews
Endorsements
Every once in awhile a book comes along that alters the landscape of words and thoughts; Choosing Wisdom is one of those rare books. I never heard of “posttraumatic growth” until I read this book and now it is term that lives hopefully in my soul. As a hospice and palliative care physician for the past 12 years, it was always interesting to watch individuals enter the terminal phases of their life; some spend their last days and weeks filled with anger, bitterness, and regrets while others enter the dying process filled gratitude, love, and hope. Why the difference? In Choosing Wisdom, a team of researchers at the University of Virginia led by Margaret Plews-Ogan, MD explores how average people respond to adversity, how they change, and what factors help or hinder positive change.
This is a book about “hope” although I don’t think that word came up often. This book gradually but persistently instills into the reader the hope that people—that I—can choose a wise path—one that will turn my sufferings and adverse experiences into something good. By entering the journeys of the patients described in this book, we learn how we can grow, change, and develop wisdom through adversity and how we can help others pick the wise path.
I strongly and enthusiastically recommend this book to every health care provider, anyone facing their own difficult journey, and every person who wants to help others face life’s difficulties.
“This is a wonderful and very accessible book that gives hope to all who suffer from physical and emotional pain. The participants in this study show how the straw of adversity can be spun into the gold of wisdom. I highly recommend this book to anyone who believes that life is a journey toward psychosocial growth.”
“Choosing Wisdom is a very human story taking us from breakdowns to breakthroughs in scenarios of unrelenting physical pain and physicians’ serious medical errors. Health care providers of every discipline will benefit from the elegant strategies proposed; wise lessons from ordinary people. Choose this book and appreciate the power of those who can reframe adversity and develop wisdom along the way. We can too.”
“Like a plant that grows toward the light, Choosing Wisdom takes the reader on a journey toward enlightenment through the stories of regular people who have faced difficult circumstances and been positively transformed in the process. It is a must-read for medical professionals, patients, and anyone interested in cultivating their own self-awareness and appreciation of our deep connections to the sufferings and joys of our fellow human beings.”
“Ad astra per aspera (a rough road leads to the stars). Read this book as though your life depends on it— it does!”