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10 Foundations for a Meaningful Life
IT’S ONE THING TO WANT A MEANINGFUL LIFE;IT’S ANOTHER TO KNOW HOW TO CREATE ONE.In this personal, wise, and generous book, Pam Cordano, MFT outlines 10 Foundations anyone can follow to build a meaningful and joyful life, despite loss and suffering.
Drawing from her personal story as the first woman in four generations not to lose a baby to authorities, Pam shares insights from her beginnings as a perpetual outsider, to her young adulthood as she struggled with addiction and aimlessness, to her awakening at 46 years old when she finally and definitively chose life.
Pam was deeply moved by Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. In it he wrote, “It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.” These words provided the impetus for Pam to find out what life was asking of her. She devoted herself to discovering how to live a life of meaning, and how to help others do the same.
Based on her work with cancer patients, widows, and adoptees, this book distills the day-to-day methods to get unstuck and find meaning, no matter what’s happened.
AMONG PAM CORDANO’S MOST VALUABLE
Why we can heal only when we’re in Direct ExperienceHow responsibility bolsters true freedomHow to tap into the wisdom of our Future SelfHow to distinguish between our Coping Identity and Essence IdentityWhy Meaning is the only antidote to despair
Drawing from her personal story as the first woman in four generations not to lose a baby to authorities, Pam shares insights from her beginnings as a perpetual outsider, to her young adulthood as she struggled with addiction and aimlessness, to her awakening at 46 years old when she finally and definitively chose life.
Pam was deeply moved by Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. In it he wrote, “It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us.” These words provided the impetus for Pam to find out what life was asking of her. She devoted herself to discovering how to live a life of meaning, and how to help others do the same.
Based on her work with cancer patients, widows, and adoptees, this book distills the day-to-day methods to get unstuck and find meaning, no matter what’s happened.
AMONG PAM CORDANO’S MOST VALUABLE
Why we can heal only when we’re in Direct ExperienceHow responsibility bolsters true freedomHow to tap into the wisdom of our Future SelfHow to distinguish between our Coping Identity and Essence IdentityWhy Meaning is the only antidote to despair
163 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 14, 2020
16 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 15, 2021
Part memoir and part self-help, Pam's wholehearted way of living comes through each chapter. Helpful and actually do-able exercises at the end of each section are unique and creative ways to find momentum in the healing journey. Research-backed, this is an extremely helpful book for unpacking hard things that may have happened in our lives. Adoptees especially will feel seen and cared for while reading Pam's work.
All of Pam's appearances on the Adoptees On podcast healing series: http://www.adopteeson.com/search?q=pa...
All of Pam's appearances on the Adoptees On podcast healing series: http://www.adopteeson.com/search?q=pa...
March 1, 2020
I loved this book so much. Pam writes with authenticity, vulnerability (showing the real her even when she knows it's not "what she is supposed to say"), and knowledge/wisdom.
As an adoptive parent, I found her story as an adoptee to be insightful and helpful. But the many gems I got out of reading this go way beyond that.
I am excited to practice responding to calls, feeling dignity just because I am alive, dropping my default story at the door and healing with direct experience, using attitude as my super power, finding (and living) my wholehearted "YES!", replacing moments of despair with meaning, practicing what Viktor Frankl calls "responsibleness" along with freedom, consulting my wiser future self, banishing what Pam calls "against-ness", and celebrating my joy of life in a spectacular way.
If that sounds a bit confusing, read Pam's book.
If you simple want to heal or enjoy or love more, I highly recommend reading Pam's book. I am so grateful my sister Cynthia shared it with me.
As an adoptive parent, I found her story as an adoptee to be insightful and helpful. But the many gems I got out of reading this go way beyond that.
I am excited to practice responding to calls, feeling dignity just because I am alive, dropping my default story at the door and healing with direct experience, using attitude as my super power, finding (and living) my wholehearted "YES!", replacing moments of despair with meaning, practicing what Viktor Frankl calls "responsibleness" along with freedom, consulting my wiser future self, banishing what Pam calls "against-ness", and celebrating my joy of life in a spectacular way.
If that sounds a bit confusing, read Pam's book.
If you simple want to heal or enjoy or love more, I highly recommend reading Pam's book. I am so grateful my sister Cynthia shared it with me.
October 16, 2020
The book was amazing. The 10 Foundations are truly foundational to everyone who suffers from loss or pain of any kind. Pam is honest in her book about why she wrote it, how she suffered in her life, how she overcame her suffering and how she's helping others to do the same.
Reading this book makes you feel like you're having a conversation with Pam directly through the pages. At the same time, it feels like she is having a conversation with Viktor Frankl and you're along for the ride. Yes, the book is filled with references to Man's Search for Meaning yet it truly is stand alone. Pam shows us how she has used, adapted, and added to Viktor's psychotherapy techniques to treat her patients. The book is a guide, not an answer sheet, and that's okay because the only way to overcome pain is through yourself.
When you're able to take responsibility, realizing your faults, and the things you can and cannot control, you're able to put yourself more at peace. As the book states, put yourself in the Direct Experience (The Power of Now) or the present moment.
Here are the 10 Foundations in order:
1. To Bond, you must practice Call and Response.
2. You have Dignity every moment simply because you are alive.
3. You only heal in Direct Experience.
4. Attitude is your power in any moment.
5. Creativity: Find your wholehearted Yes.
6. Suffering: Meaning is the answer to despair.
7. Responsibility and Freedom go hand in hand.
8. Your Future Self is wiser than you are.
9. Banishing Againstness strengthens our causes.
10. "Spectacular" Communities must include the joy of being alive.
Please pick up 10 Foundations by Pam Cordano.
PS. If you haven't read Man's Search for Meaning you might as well pick that one up too because these books sure do make great companion books.
Reading this book makes you feel like you're having a conversation with Pam directly through the pages. At the same time, it feels like she is having a conversation with Viktor Frankl and you're along for the ride. Yes, the book is filled with references to Man's Search for Meaning yet it truly is stand alone. Pam shows us how she has used, adapted, and added to Viktor's psychotherapy techniques to treat her patients. The book is a guide, not an answer sheet, and that's okay because the only way to overcome pain is through yourself.
When you're able to take responsibility, realizing your faults, and the things you can and cannot control, you're able to put yourself more at peace. As the book states, put yourself in the Direct Experience (The Power of Now) or the present moment.
Here are the 10 Foundations in order:
1. To Bond, you must practice Call and Response.
2. You have Dignity every moment simply because you are alive.
3. You only heal in Direct Experience.
4. Attitude is your power in any moment.
5. Creativity: Find your wholehearted Yes.
6. Suffering: Meaning is the answer to despair.
7. Responsibility and Freedom go hand in hand.
8. Your Future Self is wiser than you are.
9. Banishing Againstness strengthens our causes.
10. "Spectacular" Communities must include the joy of being alive.
Please pick up 10 Foundations by Pam Cordano.
PS. If you haven't read Man's Search for Meaning you might as well pick that one up too because these books sure do make great companion books.
February 14, 2020
A great read! Experience healing starting today!
This is a wonderful book! If you are interested in moving your life forward in a no nonsense approach, then look no further. All of us experience pain and trauma in life. This book will challenge you to move forward starting immediately! It also provides a guide along the way to help you to do so. Highly recommended!
This is a wonderful book! If you are interested in moving your life forward in a no nonsense approach, then look no further. All of us experience pain and trauma in life. This book will challenge you to move forward starting immediately! It also provides a guide along the way to help you to do so. Highly recommended!
April 21, 2020
I really enjoyed the book, I like the reflection questions at the end of each chapter. Found it was the perfect book for everything that’s happening in the world with this virus. The only thing I found that I was wishing was a list of the books that she references at the end would of been nice. But was very insightful and helpful.
May 30, 2020
This book is amazing. Transformative. Deep, emotional, and practical. It’s like a memoir that focuses most on the author’s healing. It really does the title justice. I’m incredibly inspired. I loved it!
August 25, 2020
Pam Cordano's 10 Foundations for a Meaningful Life highlights the work of Viktor Frankl and offers heart-centered stories that have brought me to tears. Pam includes simple, accessible exercises that you can immediately put into action. I encourage you to purchase her book.
May 9, 2020
i read most of it in one sitting ... hit me deep
reeling a bit
so much truth , i sent copies to my friends with whom i spend the most time in default network
cheers to direct experience
reeling a bit
so much truth , i sent copies to my friends with whom i spend the most time in default network
cheers to direct experience
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews