Passages by Gail Sheehy
This book was about the inevitable crises of identity that adults have to face as we journey through the passages of life. Ms. Sheehy did a great job of detailing certain difficulties we would face throughout our twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, etc. She also stressed on how important and fulfilling it was to face these challenges to our hopes, dreams, and overall sense of identity.
My favorite chapter was the one on Men's Life Patterns. Ms. Sheehy touched on several personality patterns within this chapter, and I felt I was most like what she labeled a wunderkind: `They create risks and play to win, often believing that once they reach the top their personal insecurities will vanish." For the majority of my adult life, I believed that once I became successful, I would finally feel loved, accepted, admired, respected, and all those other wonderful notions that I deemed would make me happy. It is not until these last few years, further reinforced by Ms. Sheehy's book, that I see my own personal insecurities would only start to vanish if I addressed them.
What I have found most rewarding in facing my own insecurities is a deeper sense of satisfaction and acceptance of myself. I no longer have to put up a façade for myself with no true substance in character. To do that I have had to do as Ms. Sheehy suggested: face our failures and learn to embrace our own humanity.
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