Many of us live on autopilot, often so guarded that we don’t experience the richness that life has to offer-so how can we find real happiness amid the chaos, so we don’t reach the end of our life and feel like we missed it? In Stop Missing Your Life, mindfulness teacher Cory Muscara takes us on a journey into the heart of what is required for real change, growth, and happiness. He exposes how … happiness. He exposes how the phrase “be present” has become little more than a platitude, imbued with the misguided message to be present just for the sake of being present, and reveals how to achieve true Presence: a quality of being that is unmistakably attractive about a person, and one that only comes when we’ve peeled back the layers of guarding that prevent us from being our full, honest, and integrated selves in the world.
Muscara shows how we build internal walls, what he describes as a “Pain Box” inhibiting us from living a deeply connected and meaningful life. He offers a four-part FACE model (Focus, Allow, Curiosity, and Embodiment) that helps chip away at those walls and builds our capacity to experience the richness of our lives Stop Missing Your Life ultimately teaches how we can find peace in the chaos and become better people for our families, our communities, and our world.
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I actually haven’t read self-help books in a long time and it’s not my go to reading pick. The premise for this book really intrigued me and since I’m going through something personal which I won’t discuss, I thought this would be an interesting read for me. I was still a bit hesistant on buying a copy, since I knew I probably won’t keep it, but I wanted to see what the author has to say. Well, I’m happy I decided to buy it cause it was such an insightful and thought-provoking read.
The writing is easy to follow and I enjoyed the author’s voice. It was definitely fascinating and I enjoyed the lessons, themes, and messages he wanted to convey to the readers. If you’re looking for a compelling and well-written self-help book about how to be more present in life and just live your life the best way you can, then I suggest you check out this book. I’m absolutely passing this one to someone else who may need it or just want a good afternoon read.
An Interesting and Refreshing Read\
As I’ve mentioned in my first impressions, I don’t really read self-help books that often. That being said, after reading the premise for this one, I thought it would be a good and insightful read. I’m glad I won this cause I ended up enjoying this book more than I expected.
I found this book to be engaging and such a fascinating read. I liked the way things are explained and the themes about being more present with who you are. I also really enjoyed the author’s writing style and all the other concepts explained throughout the book. I definitely liked that you can walk away feeling a bit more uplifted and inspired to live your life to the fullest whatever that may mean to you.
I’m not sure I’ll reread this anytime soon, but I would definitely pass it on to someone so that they may benefit from the author’s message. If you enjoy reading self-help books, then I think you would find this one very interesting and a fantastic read.
I don’t usually read self help books, but I really enjoyed Stop Missing Your Life by Cory Muscara. The tone of this book is helpful and informal. Cory shares aspects of his own life and how he came to be interested in mindfulness and meditation. Cory summarizes the science behind meditation and the steps and practices the reader can take to start the journey toward mindfulness. The content is practical, non-judgmental, accessible and humerous at times. Cory gives examples of some of the people he has worked with to help the reader understand his points. There are so many good ideas and strategies in this book I feel like I could read it several times and still learn something each time. The part about tidying up your cell phone to minimize time wasting distractions was particularly helpful.
Thank you in advance to the publisher, Hachette Books, and Bookish First for providing a complimentary review. A positive review was not required. All words and thoughts are my own.
In a world of laptops, tablets, and smart phones – things that are meant to improve our life – we’re often disconnected from that life when we try to connect to what we think is our life.
Muscara, as a mindfulness teacher, takes the reader through a non-religious and psychology free journey to find mindfulness and presence in a life that is anything but “present”. In fact, being “present” has become more of a platitude than an attitude.
For those looking for “presence” and “mindfulness” types of books without religion or spirituality, readers will be pleased to know this doesn’t contain those elements. The only mention of religion is what he learned at a monastery.
Muscara starts off with a bit of humor and a presentation about a speaker in his business class. The man wore an expensive suit, but wasn’t “happy”. And, using his six month stint at a monastery in Burma, he takes readers through a journey of how to finding the presence after peeling away the layers keeping us from enjoying life. He even points out that parts of the books are not positive and uplifting. But, it is meant to get us to see what walls we consciously or unconsciously put up. From the traumas in our lives to how hard it is to be us, this is a slow, self-guided journey.
Muscara then goes in depth with what meditation does and does not do. He gives the readers tools to gradually improve their lives. He does so without the psychology talk in an easy to read manner. It’s similar to having a talk with someone over coffee.
There are some parts that might make readers uncomfortable. Others might have no issue with them.
For those “always connected” people – he doesn’t tackle the electronic devices until chapter 11, more specifically page 193. This is the part that I truly enjoyed.
Muscara walks readers through a “device detox” (my term for it). He starts with meditating with your phone. I am not kidding. There are questions (non workbook style) for the exercise. He asks the whens, wheres, whys, hows of the phone connect – use, apps, and social media.
Using Marie Kondo’s much maligned book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”, Muscara goes into cleaning up the apps that clutter our devices. How to remove them and turn of notifications (to stop the constant pinging). His target is things that do not bring joy, inspire, or non-essential.
On page 201, he discusses social media – Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
It is here where I already heed the advice he gives; and have been for the past five (5) years. He starts off with wondering what if our feeds were filled with only the things we enjoy. And, believe it or not – that was my take when I started “social media housecleaning”. Pushing off from that, he recommends something I already do: unfriend, unfollow, and/or mute.
But, he also gives permission, though it isn’t needed but helps to reaffirm our decision to completely unfriend people not positively serving our well-being, challenging us, or growing our perspectives. Another option, on Facebook, is to unfollow their feed. Again, I have been doing this as well. So, I have to agree with the author’s methodology on this tactic.
It does work. While I see people complaining about what they’re seeing on social media, I am smiling because what I see brings me more joy than angst.
I like how he situated the chapter towards the end of the book so as not to state “social media is your problem” right off. There are some who would easily get triggered by that. He gently worked it into being one of the tools to improve our “presence” in life.
And, as the inside back flap states – he brings these teachings to people in a practical and usable way. As of note, he has “taught” people in schools, organizations, and the healthcare system. He also helps the general public through workshops and retreats. Like most self-improvement, self-enlightenment books; this isn’t one of those “one and done” books either.