There Are No Mistakes: Becoming Comfortable with Life as It Is, Not as It Should Be - Tapa dura

There are no mistakes there are only choices. That is the simple premise of There Are No Mistakes, which Eleanor Wiley has learned in twentyfive years of sobriety as a mediator, an artist, and a teacher. "For many years I tried to make my life conform to a lot of shoulds. Not until I got into recovery through Alcoholics Anonymous did I realize just how many 'shoulds' I had been trying to follow. Along my own travels, first through the Twelve Steps and now through my teaching around the world, I have come across many people who walk through the world in comfort. Their lives aren't easy, they have just accepted them and approach them with a certain grace and ease. As I thought about what they had in common, I identified eleven attributes." The eleven attributes cultivated include:1) Know where you came from, 2) Know your story. 3) Accept yourself. 4) Own your pain, hurt, and vulnerability. 5) Laugh at yourself. 6) Find community. 7) Take care of yourself. 8) Give yourself permission to change your mind. 9) Be willing to fall apart and put yourself back together again. 10) Create a tool box. 11) Go with the flow. This astoundingly candid and simple book is illustrated with personal stories from the author and people she has encountered on her path, along with specific and simple exercises to do at the end of each chapter.

Eleanor Wiley is a former speech pathologist and gerontologist who began her prayer bead practice at age fiftyeight. She teaches workshops on making prayer beads as a spiritual practice all over the world; her pieces have been worn by Ram Dass and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. She is the author of A String and a Prayer. Her own spiritual practice includes beading, sitting meditation with both Christian and Buddhist communities, and practicing yoga and the Twelve Steps. Wiley's prayer beads are available through her website.