We often find ourselves in a situation where we are inclined to run away from the harsh realities of life.

However, the truly bravest act is to have the courage to let go and surrender. It means allowing ourselves to feel every single emotion that comes our way, completely and without reservation.

We should learn to relate to ourselves with an abundance of love and kindness, not only when we are at our best but also during those times when we feel we are at our worst.

By doing so, we can then extend this same approach to everything and everyone else in our lives. This way, we can build more meaningful and fulfilling relationships, and face life's challenges with a greater sense of strength and resilience.

Ultimately, it is through this act of surrender and self-love that we can find true peace and contentment within ourselves.

Pema's book does have certain elements that are worthy of recommendation. For example, her advice to eliminate hope from one's life is excellent.

However, ultimately, it is far too Westernized to offer a sustainable or practical path. There is an underlying theme of improvement that, like most Western interpretations of Eastern disciplines, misses the mark. She also has a penchant for name-dropping, which is probably due to a Western concern with intellectual property rights (and the persistent and rather comical academic fixation on bibliography). After all, something like plagiarism is abhorrent in the present day.

But finally, the Western influence is most repulsive in the profit motive that drives a book like this. Pema's best ideas could fill 10 pages, good pages for sure, but only 10 pages. But a 10-page pamphlet does not make a bestseller. So, anecdotes, clichés, and various other forms of filler are brought in, in a random search through Western philosophers and cultural critics like Sigmund Freud. Likely, this was the publisher's choice, not the author's. But still.

The sloppiness of this approach is best exemplified on the last page of the book when, to emphasize her summary of Eastern spiritual practice, Pema quotes the French atheist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre.

I have always had a certain aversion to self-help type books. I thought they were just filled with empty words and clichés that wouldn't really bring any practical help. However, everything changed when I read this particular one.

During a very stressful time in my life, I decided to give it a try out of curiosity. To my surprise, it turned out to be a real eye-opener. The advice it offered was extremely simple yet highly logical. It taught me a whole new way of looking at things.

It made me realize that often, the way we perceive a situation has a huge impact on how we feel and deal with it. By changing our perspective, we can find solutions and relief that we never thought possible. This book has truly become a valuable asset in my life, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is going through a tough time or simply wants to improve their way of thinking.