If you have any interest in understanding the principles or teachings of Buddhism, then I highly recommend anything by Pema Chödrön. I have read almost all of her books and the one I assign the most often to my clients, who are going through a hard season in life, is When Things Fall Apart. To be honest most of my clients come back to me and are frustrated that I asked them to read a book that suggests that they should be suffering. I am happy to say that most all of those same clients will often return again and again to the wisdom and teachings in these books because the teachings ask you to sit with your current difficulties and face them and stay present in them. My clients often end up forgiving me for recommending the book and appreciate having faced their difficulties head on.
Most of us want to have a quick fix or a way to avoid facing the hard stuff. These teachings suggest that suffering is a shared human condition and that having the experience of pain, disappointment, or distress with the current complications in life is a universal task. No one makes it through life without experiencing problems or wishing that things were different. The only path to peace is when we can find a way to sit still and accept the situation as it is. By being brave enough to do so, we can make new decisions and understandings about how to survive and find wisdom about the growth needed by virtue of the change.
