What happens when you’ve done all you know how to do, the paved paths end, and you still feel like you’re missing something? The Second Half of the Mountain offers a practical and magical approach to recognizing and working with the deeper and often-confusing inner processes that happen after awakening. In this guidebook, McCall Erickson combines bits of personal story with the timeless building blocks of alchemy to outline the journey for the awakened traveler through the dark nights of the soul and beyond, not as “the way,” but as a guide to help you make your own way where it sometimes feels there is no way.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Everybody tells you to live for a cause larger than yourself, but how exactly do you do it? The author of The Road to Character explores what it takes to lead a meaningful life in a self-centered world. “Deeply moving, frequently eloquent and extraordinarily incisive.”—The Washington Post Every so often, you meet people who radiate joy—who seem to know why they were put on this earth, who glow with a kind of inner light. Life, for these people, has often followed what we might think of as a two-mountain shape. They get out of school, they start a career, and they begin climbing the mountain they thought they were meant to climb. Their goals on this first mountain are the ones our culture endorses: to be a success, to make your mark, to experience personal happiness. But when they get to the top of that mountain, something happens. They look around and find the view . . . unsatisfying. They realize: This wasn’t my mountain after all. There’s another, bigger mountain out there that is actually my mountain. And so they embark on a new journey. On the second mountain, life moves from self-centered to other-centered. They want the things that are truly worth wanting, not the things other people tell them to want. They embrace a life of interdependence, not independence. They surrender to a life of commitment. In The Second Mountain, David Brooks explores the four commitments that define a life of meaning and purpose: to a spouse and family, to a vocation, to a philosophy or faith, and to a community. Our personal fulfillment depends on how well we choose and execute these commitments. Brooks looks at a range of people who have lived joyous, committed lives, and who have embraced the necessity and beauty of dependence. He gathers their wisdom on how to choose a partner, how to pick a vocation, how to live out a philosophy, and how we can begin to integrate our commitments into one overriding purpose. In short, this book is meant to help us all lead more meaningful lives. But it’s also a provocative social commentary. We live in a society, Brooks argues, that celebrates freedom, that tells us to be true to ourselves, at the expense of surrendering to a cause, rooting ourselves in a neighborhood, binding ourselves to others by social solidarity and love. We have taken individualism to the extreme—and in the process we have torn the social fabric in a thousand different ways. The path to repair is through making deeper commitments. In The Second Mountain, Brooks shows what can happen when we put commitment-making at the center of our lives.

Second novel in the chilling and epic new fantasy series from the bestselling and critically-acclaimed author of PRINCE OF THORNS and RED SISTER. 'If you like dark you will love Mark Lawrence. And when the light breaks through and it all makes sense, the contrast is gorgeous' ROBIN HOBB

Written by a young human rights worker, "Silence on the Mountain" is a virtuoso work of reporting and a masterfully plotted narrative tracing the history of Guatemala's 36-year internal war, a conflict that claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people.

Retirement and good living Are you getting ready to simplify life and move from the world of work to a life of retirement and good living ─ to enter a happy retirement? Retirement and good living: The author of Purposeful Retirement, Hyrum W. Smith, is one of the original creators of the popular Franklin Day Planner, the former Chairman and CEO of Franklin Covey Co., and the recognized “Father of Time Management”. In this book, Hyram shows you how you can move from your world of work, simplify life and enter what can be the most satisfying phase of your life ─ a new world of purposeful retirement and good living. Aging well and a happy retirement: You have had a successful career by almost all measures and now you are concerned about aging well and looking toward a happy retirement. You are definitely not a couch potato. • How are you going to create a retirement that is meaningful and inspiring for your second act? • Can you simplify life? • Is there a way to make intelligent and anxiety free retirement planning choices? • Can you learn from the lives and experiences of people who have found their pathway to happy retirement? • What are their secrets to aging well and a happy retirement? Retirement guide: For four decades, Hyrum W. Smith has been empowering people to effectively govern their personal and professional lives. An award winning author, distinguished speaker, and successful businessman, Hyrum offers a tested and actionable retirement guide to finding that perfect retirement niche. In his book, Hyrum enables you to map the step-by-step route to a retirement that is not just enjoyable but is also deeply fulfilling on a personal level. Welcome to your new life of retirement and good living: This distinguished author, speaker, and businessman combines wit and enthusiasm with a gift for communicating compelling principles that inspire lasting personal change. Hyrum shares a lifetime of wisdom in this powerful retirement guide to discovering your true passion, re-imagining your life, and trying new possibilities. Welcome to a new life of retirement and good living ─ to a purposeful retirement.

Raising issues common to many during the middle years, this book offers practical ideas to make peace with the changes that occur, and shows readers how to pass through to a deeper significance and joy.

The Jayhānī tradition contains the most detailed description of the Magyars/Hungarians before the Conquest of the Carpathian Basin (895). Unfortunately, the book itself was lost and it can only be reconstructed from late Arabic, Persian and Turkic copies. The reconstruction is primarily based on the texts of al-Marwazī, Ibn Rusta and Gardīzī. The original text has shorter and longer versions. The basic text was reformed at least twice and later copyists added further emendation. This study focuses on the philological comments and historical interpretation of the Magyar chapter, integrating the results in the fields of medieval Islamic studies, the medieval history of Eurasian steppe, and the historiography of early Hungarian history.