Contents
A Few Words at the Beginning
1. Not a Puppet, Not a Robot
2. Boom!
3. Even More of Nothing
4. Boys Sword-fighting
5. One Thumb Up
6. You Leap. Boom!
7. Formed Personality
8. Kittens, Puppies, and You
9. Thank Goodness!
10. Can A Bostonian Ever Leave Boston?
11. Energy Wisdom
12. Crouching Tiger
13. The Flip Side
14. Individuality
15. A Row of Tanks
16. Suppression
17. A Bright Light, A Step to the Side
18. The Study of Knots
19. Attaching/Detaching
20. Ethics and The Selfish Gene
21. The Humanistic Tangle
22. Values!
23. And the World
24. The World and Sorrow
25. One Teenager
26. Mystery
27. Interlude
28. As If It Were Step-by-Step
29. On Broadway
30. Always Troubled
31. Three Lists
32. Huddled in a Bunker
33. Brick Walls and Rollercoasters
34. First Choosing
35. Classic Life Purpose Choices
36. Classic Choices: Achievement and Excellence
37. Classic Choices: Experimentation
38. Classic Choices: Self-Actualization
39. Classic Choices: Relaxation and Pleasure
40. Classic Choices: Service and Stewardship
41. Classic Choices: Activism and Rebellion
42. Classic Choices: Appreciation and Gratitude
43. Classic Choices: Ways of Being
44. Classic Choices: Ethical Action
45. Classic Choices: Marrying Choices
46. Second Choosing
47. Challenge 1: The Elephant in the Room
48. Challenge 2: Many Too-Small Purposes
49. Challenge 3: No Purposes at All
50. The Wrong Question
51. When Meaning Vanishes
52. The Double Whammy
53. Challenge 4: Strangely Important
54. Challenge 5: Formerly Important
55. Challenges 6 to Infinity
56. Value-Based Choosing
57. Opening to New Choices
58. Third Choosing
59. How Exactly?
60. A Curated Week
61. Interlude II
62. Support 1: Your Life Purposes Statement
63. Support 2: Your Life Purposes Icon
64. Support 3: Your Life Purposes Mantra
65. Support 4: Your Life Purposes Journal
66. 8 Practices
67. Punctuations of Joy
68. Negotiating Each Day
69. Navigating Each Day
70. Changed Circumstances
71. The Long Haul 1: The Anxiety of Choosing
72. The Long Haul 2: Age and Stage
73. The Long Haul 3: A Succession of Successes
74. The Poignancy and Beauty of Choosing
75. Life, Chosen
Acknowledgments
About the Author
