David Richo

We’re made to be loved and to love. We deserve it. It’s in our genetic code. It’s nothing other than the purpose of our lives, says David Richo. But knowing that doesn’t make it easy to do. The first problem is that we have a hard time letting love in: recognizing it, accepting it from others. We’re afraid of it, of getting hurt.

In this book, seasoned therapist David Richo (he also wrote How to be an Adult in Relationships and The Five Things We Cannot Change) explores how we replay the past in our present-day relationships—and how we can free ourselves from this destructive pattern.

Our “Shadow” is the collection of negative or undesirable traits we keep hidden—the things we don’t like about ourselves or are afraid to admit—secret hatreds, egotism, non-“PC” proclivities, forbidden sexual desires, strange obsessions.

This book is a completely revised and updated edition of Everyday Commitments by therapist and author David Richo, among whose popular books are The Five Things We Cannot Change and How to Be an Adult in Relationships.

How identifying the things you long for—which fall into five basic categories—can reveal deep truths about yourself, and how to work with these Five Longings to live in a happier, more satisfying way.

Part of psychological health is growing up not only in mind but in how one sees the questions of faith and spirituality. To this end, this edition provides a detailed and straightforward vision of what faith and spirituality can look like in adult consciousness.