Life Lessons: Two Experts on Death and Dying Teach Us About the Mysteries of Life and Living (An Inspiring Guide to Life)

Love this book! So well written. Great author!

I will flat out say that I've been around the world and back in a spiritual fashion 100 times or more, read every major and hundreds of minor spiritual writers/writings, have studied spiritual works since the age of 10 some 50 years ago, and this book stacks up with the best of them. I will also tell you that if you think it is uninspiring and trite or contradictory -- that only tells us the low level of your spiritual understanding, or perhaps the high level of your resistance to change. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was not only one of the great ladies of science and education, she was one of the great human beings to ever grace the 20th century. She was at once formidable in intellect, determined in will, indefatigable in service, but also had one huge golden heart and a soul that blessed everyone she came in contact with. Am I selling her too highly? No. I'm quite aware she had her faults and flaws -- thank god, because otherwise she would not have become the great teacher we all knew her to be. We all know the greatest teachers speak from experience. EK-R was relentlessly honest. In this last book she spoke as she died of her resistance to patience and how difficult, even with all that she knew, it was to forgive certain things. I loved her for her humility and understanding. She understood me -- a similarly flawed human being -- and she will understand you, too.This book is not only for the beginner. Oh my god, it is so excellent for the beginner! I promise you that if you re-read it every five years or so, you will see with stunning accuracy and dazed delight how much you have grown. But this book is also a refresher course for advanced students of life. There's not a sentence wrong, no missteps, no concepts that chafe. Even after all I have been through and learned I found myself copying out sentences from her chapter on "Surrender." A little over-confident I am? (Imitating Yoda here.) Then I must kindly remind myself that as Richard Bach wrote about wondering if you've learned what you needed to, if you've achieved your purpose: "Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't." (From "Illusions.") I may just live to 100!This is one of those books you can read straight through if you prefer to, or you can dip into it a little bit here or there, skipping around from chapter to chapter according to your needs and interests. Co-written by David Kessler, a lesser light, but still a light, the book serves multiple purposes. In my opinion Kessler's writing is a bit more pedestrian than K-R's with not quite the inspired authority she brings to it, but the various points he raises and stories he tells are worth reading.This is a book to treasure, and I beg you as a lover of truth (both you and me) if you find the book "less than," chalk it up to a bit of immaturity on your part. But don't judge yourself. Smile and say, "I'll get there," and put the book away for a few years. You'll be glad you did. It's a keeper.

I started reading this as I sat with my mother when she was passing. It is full of wisdom and sage advice. It is a book that tells you how to use every day as if it were your last.

This was a lovely reminder of what life teaches us. It allows for recentering yourself and reminding yourself of the lessons you’ve already learned in life. That was validating, comforting and pleasant to reflect. It also brought new perspectives to those lessons, reminding you of the lessons that you still need to learn in certain areas of your life. It’s not a self help book, but more of a reflection one so to speak. Utilizing their own work and study examples along with personal stories.

Elizabeth Kübler-Ross joins with David Kessler in their book "Life Lessons: Two Experts on Death and Dying Teach Us About the Mysteries of Life and Living" to guide us through life lessons and live fully in every moment."Life Lessons" is Elizabeth's eighteenth book. It's a special gift as it's the last book she wrote before her death in 2004. She had a stroke on Mother's Day in 1995 that left her paralyzed and next to death's door for many months. But she did not die. She says she's still learning the lessons of life. God is shrewd; her head was not affected by the strokes. She can't use her left leg and arm but she can talk and think. It's her final lesson. She must work on receiving, on learning to say thank you. To be nurtured rather than nurturing. Throughout her life, she gave and gave, but never learned to receive. She must learn patience and surrender.Elizabeth says each of us has a Mother Teresa and a Hitler. The Mother Teresa is the best in us and the Hitler is the worst in us. The goal in life is to find the best, get rid of the worst and be authentic by standing in our truth. Admitting we have the capacity to be inauthentic and carry negativity is essential so we can work on the problem and release it. It's not always easy to find out who we are authentically. The reality of the world is that some relationships don't work out; there are supposed to be disagreements and disappointments.David says the grandest kind of perfection of who we are includes being honest about our dark side and imperfections. Elizabeth says the windstorms of life, makes us who we are. We are here to heal one another. Most of us spend a lot of energy keeping a lid on our unfinished business. We want unconditional love. To be loved for who we are rather than what we do or don't do. However, when we feel unloved, it is not because we are not receiving love; it's because we are withholding love from ourselves and others. Love has to come from within. We can't solve all our loved ones problems but we can try to be there for them.In working with the dying and the living it became clear to Elizabeth and David that most of us are challenged by the same lessons: authenticity, love, relationships, loss, power, guilt, time, fear, anger, play, patience, surrender, forgiveness and happiness. The fourteen chapters reveal the truth about theses topics, show we are put on the earth to learn the lessons, we are not alone and we are all connected. Also to watch love grow and to see how relationships enrich us.I attended one of Elizabeth's five-day Living, Dying and Transition workshop in the early 80s. It had a profound effect on me and changed how I viewed the world. She showed us how everyone has the capacity to love others unconditionally and that it is our unfinished business that keeps us from doing so. In her workshop she created an environment where we were encouraged to express our hurt and rage in an atmosphere of love and acceptance, so we could be done with it. Feelings were not talked about but felt. If sad, we cried; if angry, we were given a rubber hose and an old telephone book and told, "Have at it!" I was skeptical about what this outpouring of negativity would accomplish. Yet it worked. I was amazed how angry, depressed people transformed themselves into radiant, loving persons right before my eyes. I realized in this workshop that we are all connected and that our life stories are much the same.

The book is well written and it covers each of the topics well, though it is a slim book. It was an immense help to me after three months of grief. I read EKR's book on Grief and Grieving over those three months and this was the perfect follow-up book for heading yourself in a good direction in a new life and regaining your authenticity as a person. I have given copies to others who haven't had a loss for the wonderful lessons that it offers. Simply written, two conversations from EKR and DK, authors, that offer things they learned from patients at the end of their lives - what really matters, what to let go of, how to greet life with an open heart. It's worth the read and has become a bedside staple - I continue to re-read it to reinforce the lessons.

This is a go to book for me any time I have a question about life and living or death and dying. Well written and profound.

This is the type of book I wish my parents would had given to me in a young age, bc it’s full of precious lessons that I know if I had known before, I wouldn’t had to go through some hard and burdensome experiencies in my life.But honestly, I’m so glad to finally find this book and for giving so much joy and peace to my heart! I owe Elisabeth and David so much for teaching me a lot in the past few days even when im almost to be 30 soon. This book made me feel alive, less depressed and fulfilled my heart with that feeling that I can do anything and that now is not too late. 😭♥️(ps: sorry for any grammar mistake, cuz english is not my first language)

This book is just wonderful, is full of wisdom. Definetly it changes how I see life since the first page!

easy to read and full of insights on how to get the best out of the many moments of our lives.