Eleanor Wiley

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There Are No Mistakes

There are no mistakes -- there are only choices. That is the simple premise of There Are No Mistakes, which Eleanor Wiley has learned in twenty-five years of sobriety as a mediator, an artist, and a teacher. "For many years I tried to make my life conform to a lot of shoulds. Not until I got into recovery through Alcoholics Anonymous did I realize just how many 'shoulds' I had been trying to follow. Along my own travels, first through the Twelve Steps and now through my teaching around the world, I have come across many people who walk through the world in comfort. Their lives aren't easy, they have just accepted them and approach them with a certain grace and ease. As I thought about what they had in common, I identified eleven attributes." The eleven attributes cultivated include:1) Know where you came from, 2) Know your story. 3) Accept yourself. 4) Own your pain, hurt, and vulnerability. 5) Laugh at yourself. 6) Find community. 7) Take care of yourself. 8) Give yourself permission to change your mind. 9) Be willing to fall apart and put yourself back together again. 10) Create a tool box. 11) Go with the flow. This astoundingly candid and simple book is illustrated with personal stories from the author and people she has encountered on her path, along with specific and simple exercises to do at the end of each chapter. Wiley acknowledges that you won't be perfect and you may not be happy all of the time, and you may not be rich or amazingly enlightened, but you will be okay. And, the thing about okay is that it's really a great thing--it's about moving through the world with a sense of grace and ease.