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Learning from the Heart: Lessons on Living, Loving, and Listening | 
 enlarge | Author: Daniel Gottlieb
Publisher: Sterling
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy New: $11.06
You Save: $6.89 (38%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 5410
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 176
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9
ISBN: 1402749996
Dewey Decimal Number: 170.44
EAN: 9781402749995
ASIN: 1402749996
Publication Date: March 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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Product Description
In the nearly 30 years since the accident that made radio personality and columnist Dan Gottlieb a quadriplegic, he developed a finely-tuned quality of awareness that most people never achieve: he became an outsider among us—”like a foreign correspondent,” as he puts it. From that vantage point, he has acutely observed the way people act, think, feel, and live—in short, he studied and learned exactly what it means to be human. Here, Dan shares his insights, written with humor, honesty, a gift for storytelling, and breathtaking compassion.
Learning from the Heart looks at what divides as well as unites us, including the problems of family life; difficulties confronting today’s parents; challenges faced by the disabled and the aging; and issues of injustice that affect the way we understand the world and our lives.
Although Dan is now speaking directly to the reader, rather than to his own family, you’ll recognize the distinctive voice and format that caused an outpouring of e-mail from fans of Letters to Sam: short anecdotal chapters rich in wisdom, generously revealing and deeply personal, and resonating with universal truths.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
You'll be hooked by the time you read the cover! June 25, 2008
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.
Learning from the Heart: Lessons on Living, Loving and Listening June 15, 2008
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!
Humanity is healing May 31, 2008
This is an extraordinary book. Honest and caring, it distills a broad sweep of psychology, philosophy and religion into clear, honest human terms. Dr. Gottlieb translates the mystery and jargon that often obscure professional discourse into something directly useful. There is not advice so much as something more important, which is acceptance. This book gives us permission to sit with what we feel, and be OK with it. In my opinion, his life experience gave him a perspective and a compassion to be admired and emulated, no matter what hand life has dealt us. Buy this book, you will be glad you did.
Dan Gottlieb is an Incredible Man May 21, 2008
In Learning from the Heart, Dan Gottlieb shares some of his life with us. His story is sad, joyful, and tragic. And despite all of the trauma in his life, he continues to live with the knowledge that life is precious and that compassion is the truest way to connect with one another. The central question in this book is "What does it mean to be human?" Gottlieb explores this idea using his unique life as an example.
For example, he discusses what it's like be afraid of death, yet still being able to appreciate each moment of life. He explains that much of what causes suffering in our lives are not so much the external circumstances, but with our internal reactions to those circumstances. He explores the fear of death, and how anxiety keeps us from living fully. He uses his own example of how a terrible tragedy like quadriplegia can be used to further one's own spiritual growth.
Dan Gottlieb is truly an amazing man, and we can all learn a lot from him. He's an inspiration to all of us. His words will stay with me for the rest of my life.
If you like this book, I recommend Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness
Lessons in Being Where You Are May 15, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is an enlightening book by a talented writer who touched my heart in his story about what it means to be human.
Like all people this author has suffered, but through his many roles, experiences, losses, and observation of the human condition he has discovered truth and is able to communicate his message in a clear and concise manner. The book discusses living in the moment, accepting what we are experiencing and how we are feeling because life after all is temporary. He tells us about his daughter's 3 legged dog and the lessons we can learn from it. The dog does not consider itself as having special needs. It just behaves like a dog and lives with the assets it has. Acceptance of ourselves just as we are will make us "feel more alive, loving, and compassionate...without categorizing our life events as good or bad, easy or difficult."
In this story Daniel Gottlieb tells us about his experiences as a Therapist, divorcee, quadriplegic, husband of a young cancer victim and father of children dealing with parental medical catastrophes. He coped with the death of his ex-wife and his parents and communicating with his autistic grandchild, as well as, his clients. He learned that what he really wanted was to stop wanting to be of have something that was not possible for him. In spite of his experiences he found peace in his life and helped countless others do the same.
I am impressed with this this author, his book and the fact that he is donating all of his royalties from it to children's health organizations and charities. Reading this book I felt the range of human emotions and have a much better understanding of what it really means to be human from a person with a much different perspective than I have experienced.
I recommend this book to people of all ages and walks of life. You will be glad you read it and will gain a new perspective of life.
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