Imagine the leaders of one of New York City’s top real-estate firms coming together every Monday morning to hear…the moral and spiritual thoughts of a Rabbi. Wouldn’t you like to be a fly on the wall? To hear the paths Alan Lurie traced for his listeners, how he helped them bring together their spiritual and business lives, the sacred and the profane? Five Minutes on Mondays compiles these talks for the first time, sharing Lurie’s deep and profound inspiration on the challenges we all face–at work, and in life. Lurie draws on millennia of philosophy, theology, and science to help us answer our deepest questions, comfort our deepest yearnings, and become better people–more connected to each other, and to the Greater Purpose. • Prosper while keeping your integrity • Balance faith, honor, and ambition • Use your workplace as your moral and spiritual "gymnasium" • Find deeper meaning and purpose in your work • Face your fears and failures, and keep going • Gain real respect–and give it • Live one authentic life–at work, and everywhere else

D'Arcy's dad is dead. She desperately wants it to have been an accident, but she is not sure. And when she learns the truth, things become even more difficult. Why would her father choose suicide? Why didn't she see the signs? Her father had always helped her get through everything in her life—five minutes at a time. Can she do it alone? And then she meets Seth. When will things get back to normal? Learning to live without her father while her mother struggles with her own pain, D'Arcy finds an inner strength she wasn't aware of. She also finds that almost anything is tolerable for five minutes more.

A one-of-a-kind, laugh-out-loud picture book, perfect for any kid who has ever begged or bemoaned, "Five more minutes?!" Families everywhere will recognize themselves in this clever, hilarious, and completely irresistible picture book. Five minutes is a lot of time... or is it? Well, it depends on what you're doing, of course! Follow one little boy and his family on a very busy day, as he discovers that sometimes five minutes feels like forever--like when you're finishing up at the dentist's office or waiting in line for the bathroom or in the backseat on a long car ride--and sometimes five minutes feels like no time at all--like when you're playing your favorite game or at the tippy top of a roller coaster or snuggling up with a book before bedtime.

The 100 simple practices found in Five Good Minutes are designed to help even the busiest person start the day right. Using just five minutes of mindfulness, relaxation, or imagery techniques during their morning routines, readers can set their intentions and greet the day feeling calm, centered, and energized.

On a cold December morning in 1986, Dick Rutan and co-pilot Jeana Yeager, against all odds, made aviation history when they successfully completed the first ever non-stop and non-refueled flight around the world in a homebuilt airplane! They had traversed 26,358 statute miles, returning with only 18.3 of the 1200 gallons of gas they had taken off with nine days prior. Following their arduous takeoff, Dick's younger brother, Burt, watched the plane of his design disappear over the vast Pacific, believing it improbable he would ever see his brother alive again. Dick had always been a risk-taker, possessing both a talent and passion for flying. Even at a young age he knew he wanted to achieve something of significance as a pilot. Although his motivation was strong, Dick struggled academically with what he learned decades later was undiagnosed dyslexia. With determination, he painfully devised ways to transcend those academic limitations and attain his goals. Little did he realize that the setbacks he experienced along the way would provide him with the exact skill-set he needed. This young man who had been deemed unfit for college would repeatedly succeed despite the odds. He rose through the ranks of the military and became a highly decorated fighter pilot who flew 105 combat missions over North Vietnam. Following his Air Force career, he set numerous aviation records, many of which remain unbroken. An inductee of the National Aviation Hall of Fame, he was the recipient of aviation's most coveted awards and was presented the Citizens Medal by President Ronald Reagan. Throughout his life, Dick sought adventure and welcomed challenge, frequently finding himself at "danger's door" wondering what THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES of his life would be like. In his words, "It's great to be an American¿to live in a free country where, if you can dream it, you can do it. The only way to fail is if you quit."

A journal to help you focus on what's important and then go ahead and do it.

At a difficult time in my parenting life, where I wanted to be "anywhere but here" with regard to my children, I embarked upon a daily Time In routine. It would be supremely succinct of me to say that this practice - of interrupting myself to spend five minutes a day with my young children - saved my disintegrating relationships with them. Yet this statement, while entirely true, doesn't reflect truth entirely because it lacks the crucial details demonstrating just how this change came about. A wise high school English teacher said a hundred times if she said it once, "With your words, don't tell me. Show me." And so this book is a deeply personal illustration of my, a floundering parent's, attempts to overcome the cycle of disengagement with a search for charity through small-dosed intentionality. Time In changed the relationship dynamic between myself and each of my five children for the better. I'm talking about a 180-degree reversal. Or at least a 90-degree pivot. Or whatever number of degrees it takes to conceivably point me in a better parental direction and confirm that this crazy simple five-minute experiment works. In real life. It works. My biggest hope is that each customized application of Time In renders an equally rewarding outcome for all parents and the small humans we are blessed to raise. (Visit brittneysmart.me for more of Brittney's stuff.) (Cover photo by Savannah Merrill @smerillphotography) Readers' Unsolicited Praise for The Five-Minute Time In: - "Unbelievably pertinent to the way I've been feeling lately." - "Engaging and thought provoking." - "The message couldn't have been more timely for me. Thank you for reminding us all of the importance of connection and the power that lies in small doses of intentionality." - "All the thumbs up. Can't wait to share it with my kids." - "I asked [my daughter] what was wrong, and she kept telling me, 'nothing.' But tonight during that five minutes before she went to bed, she poured her little heart out to me. It made me realize she's really noticing when I'm actually 'listening.'" - "The best parenting book I've ever read. It's quick and speaks to my soul." - "Full of intelligence, humor, and a down-to-earth outlook at motherhood." - "Motivat[ed] me to be better." - "There are things in here I need right now." - "I could not BELIEVE how much this book hit home. ... I finished it in one night and started implementing the 'Time In' approach the next day. It has been less than a week, and I can't tell you the difference that is already taking place in my mind and home." - "Read it in one setting and really enjoyed it." - "Highly, strongly, lovingly recommend." - "I bawled through a lot of the first part of the book. Relating in so many ways. ... Inspiring and just so real."