Cognitive Surplus

   If you are in the baby raising phase of life, you will not understand this blog. I remember that time, clearly, it never leaves you. The word surplus, only means laundry and no sleep. So feel free to not read this. (Don't give up hope for ever reading a book again, or watching a movie, you will find time, one day) ( If you can squeeze in a shower, its a good day, I know!)
   Now for the rest of the world, (just kidding???) ( mom stuff is hard)
   Couple of book reviews
 Man's Search For Meaning byViktor E. Frankl, a book referred to me by my beloved husband and his book club of smart people. ( Some people may call  them nerds?? You know doctors and lawyers and such!) So I said, "Why not, I read all kinds of books, bring it on!"
  Well, it was wonderful, and I hope people have already read this one. I hope all my children read it, and just all humans. It is not summer beach book reading, but put it on your list for a pretty large life lesson book.
  This man is a concentration camp survivor, and the rest I will not tell you.
    However, I will show you some of my highlighted posts, that will hopefully tweak your interest.
       1. " He who has a Why to live for can bear almost any How"- Nietzsche
       2. Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure
       3. Do something significant in love and in courage during difficult times
       4.Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose ( Amen)
       5. Man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz: however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, in prayer
       6.love goes far beyond the physical person
       7.Humor, more than anything else in the human make-up, can afford an aloofness and an ability to rise above any situation, even if only for a few seconds. ( hard one)
       8.sudden loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect
       9. Life means taking responsibility to find the right answer
     10. What you have experienced, no power on earth, can take that from you
     11.the tension between what one has already achieved and what one still ought to accomplish or the gap between what one is and what one should become ( as you age, this rings so loud)
     12. What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for a worthwhile goal, a freely chosen task ( remember I said, "Not a Beach read!)
     13. unhappiness is a symptom of maladjustment ( more people go to the shrink with the complaint of boredom then depression!( I have never been bored in my life! but depression and I are on first name
 basis)
      I have many more pearls to share, but I don't know if it will scare you away or attract you to the book. It is a book about why certain  people survive in life and lead a huge life. A life with purpose, and happiness .Biological, psychological, sociological, environmental, this man survived four concentration camps. He did not simple exist, but decided what his existence would be. It is a powerful book.
    We have so little to complain about, to say Yes to life everyday, is an honor and joy. This book is just a reminder to us.
    Now Dr. B, you can read Harper Lee's new book, after you read THE FIRST!
    Cognitive Surplus, its a wonderful thing.