Book Review: Your Life Isn’t For You By Seth Adam Smith

YOUR LIFE ISN’T FOR YOU
A Selfish Person’s Guide to Being Selfless

By: Seth Adam Smith

Published: September 22, 2014

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Non Fiction

You might possibly be one of the 30 million people who read Smith’s blog post titled, “Your Marriage Isn’t for You” or one of the millions that saw him and his wife talk about that post on The Today Show, Fox and Friends or Good Morning America  to name a few. If so, then you will want to check out his book. In it, he describes how his selfish life led him into a deep depression, then to attempting suicide, and ultimately realizing that his life is to be lived for sharing love with others. In his famous blog post, he shared that marriage is really all about making and keeping your spouse happy. Marriage, like life, is about love. If you love others, you will ultimately love yourself.

Through sharing snippets of his life as a missionary in Russia, to his return to the states and his suicide attempt, to his work in an outdoors teen camp, and his eventual return to Russia, Smith realizes how his life is meant to be lived for others. His family and friends were also key in Smith coming out of his depression and finding meaning in his life. Without their love and support, he wouldn’t have been able to learn how to share that compassion with those he came in contact with.

Smith reflects on a childhood story his father shared with him and finds ways to parallel his life with the story of THE SELFISH GIANT by Oscar Wilde. In Smith’s life he built up his own wall around his heart much like the giant built one around his garden. Once he started letting people into his heart, especially after his suicide attempt, he realized his life was to be lived for others. This revelation led him to see the world in a whole new light.

Smith’s book is a short book and can be read in just a few hours, but the words inside are profound. In it he reminds us that the smallest of kindnesses and token gestures can tear down the walls around our hearts and make the world a much better place.

Check out the book trailer for YOUR LIFE ISN’T FOR YOU:

At the end of his book, Smith shares a short story that came to him as an inspiration one night while camping in Arizona. He hopes this story will inspire you and if it does, he encourages you to share it with others. The video of his story THE LEGEND OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS is below:

Seth Adam Smith – source

Seth Adam Smith is an internationally acclaimed, Alaskan-born writer whose blog posts have been shared worldwide and translated into over twenty languages. He frequently writes about relationships and self-improvement on Huffington Post and on his website, SethAdamSmith.com.  You can also find him on Twitter, HERE and Facebook, HERE.