David Richo, PhD is a psychotherapist, teacher, workshop leader and writer who works in Santa Barbara and San Francisco, CA. He combines Jungian, poetic and mythic perspectives in his work with the intention of integrating the psychological and the spiritual. His books and workshops include attention to Buddhist and Christian spiritual practices. He is the author of the classic book, How To Be An Adult: A Handbook on Psychological and Spiritual Integration and his latest book, 5 True Things: A Little Guide to Embracing Life’s Big Challenges, is the focus of the conversation in this episode. If you’ve experienced difficulty in life – and who hasn’t? -then this episode on navigating the 5 givens in life is for you. Need help with completing your goals in 2019? The One You Feed Transformation Program can help you accomplish your goals this year. But wait – there’s more! The episode is not quite over!! We continue the conversation and you can access this exclusive content right in your podcast player feed. Head over to our Patreon page and pledge to donate just $10 a month. It’s that simple and we’ll give you good stuff as a thank you! In This Interview, David Richo and I Discuss Navigating the Five Givens in Life and… His latest book 5 True Things: A Little Guide to Embracing Life’s Big Challenges That perfection is not a human option How a “given” can be looked at as an immutable fact or something that we’ve been granted Navigating the 5 givens in life that are the ingredients of a life with meaning, character, depth, and compassion Life is not always fair and that pain is part of everyone’s life The importance of saying yes to these givens as it brings more equanimity and serenity into our life Accepting the things we cannot change, while trusting that if life is like this, these “givens” aren’t penalties – rather, they have gift dimensions How we create our own suffering through our saying “no” to what is His words, “Anything that crosses swords with our entitled ego is a powerful source of transformation and inner evolution.” The ego tries to control the givens That love is accepting someone as they are, knowing that everyone comes with these 5 givens How the opposite of yes is not no, but rather it is control Building the inner resources that make me strong enough to handle whatever givens come my way as well as the importance of becoming skilled at grief His words, “A spiritually evolved adult seeks not an answer, but a significance.” Live with the questions and notice where they take us Act with loving-kindness in addition to holding difficulty with mindfulness Spirituality is the intersection of 3 paths: letting go of ego, “yes” to the conditions of human experience, and compassion Happiness is not a reward and suffering is not a punishment David Richo Links: davericho.com The Great Courses Plus: Are you a life long learner? A perpetually curious person? The Great Courses Plus is an on-demand streaming service that offers courses taught by professors on a whole host of topics such as Human Behavior, Money Management Skills, Black Holes, the History of England and so much more. Eric is currently enrolled in their course called, The Hidden Factor: Why Thinking Differently is Your Greatest Asset. Listeners of the show get a full month of unlimited access to their library for FREE by signing up at www.thegreatcoursesplus.com/wolf Calm: The #1 rated app for meditation. They have meditations, sleep stories, soothing music, and calm masterclasses with may One You Feed Guests. www.calm.com/wolf 25% off a Calm Premium Subscription Talkspace:  the online therapy company that lets you connect with a licensed therapist from anywhere at any time. Therapy on demand. Non-judgemental, practical help when you need it at a fraction of the cost of traditional therapy. Visit www.talkspace.com and enter Promo Code: WOLF to get $100 off your first month. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices