A little backstory.
My in-laws recently moved into an assisted living community. For the last couple of weeks we have been getting their house ready to sell, cleaning and organizing things. Of course I was excited to go through the books. I found one box filled with a range of self-help books.
If you look closely at the book, How To Stop Worrying and Start Living, there is this information, “Revised for the 1980’s!” So, I had to check the copyright date… 1944!
According to a report from SkyQuest (a growth consulting firm) in 2021 the global personal development market made 41.7 billion dollars.
A Google search for self-help books produced 3,940,000,000 results.
I have read some of these books.
Some of my blog posts would fit under this umbrella term Self-Help.
What’s going on with us?
First, there is nothing wrong with gaining information from others to help you reach your goals, or to become a better version of who you are. Honestly, one of the reasons I blog is to help others. And I don’t make any money from my blog.
So, discovering insight from others or even just getting inspiration to help us in life is great. For any part of our lives. I attend conferences for writing, teaching, and coaching to gain ideas, to be inspired, to learn.
But it seems we are spending a lot of money searching for something.
The first self-help book was published in 1859 by Samuel Smiles, Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct. (Yes, I see the unintended irony of his name for this topic.)
What is interesting is that Samuel Smiles’s book was based on the idea that a person should actively learn and help themselves, which is one of the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment.
I don’t think our modern self-help philosophy is based on this idea.
Now, you might be thinking this is where I go off on a rant about the change in our society… Nope… Because in 1859 Samuel Smiles wrote a book trying to help people become happier, to become better versions of themselves.
In 1807 William Wordsworth wrote the poem, “The World is Too Much with Us”. I teach this poem in class, and we discuss how the poem reflects our modern day.
So, we have always looked to the stars for something. Walked to the horizon, but never reached it. Love has broken our hearts. Yet, we get lost in the eyes of another. Hugs heal us. We take time for granted, over and over again.
We are human.
There is no easy answer to our lives.
What I do know for sure is that LOVE is real. That we need each other. That happiness is found in small moments, like a board game, or in big events like moving your son to his new town.
I’m not selling an answer to your quest for a better life, I’m just here with you, and that is a start.
It is all Connected 