Beginning ~ with a decision

Do One Thing Different: And Other Uncommonly Sensible Solutions to Life's Persistent Problems ~ by Bill O'Hanlon, 1999, psychology

I came to the solution-oriented approach by a very personal route.  In 1971, I decided to kill myself.  Now, this may seem like a strange introduction for a book designed to inspire you, but that's where it all began for me.

These are not the first lines of the book, since they are near the bottom of the third page.  But this feels like where the book begins.  The author even calls these words "a strange introduction for a book."  At the beginning of the first chapter (on page one) is this epigraph.

Chapter 1
ANALYSIS PARALYSIS
From Liabilities to Possibilities

Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living.  But
the (over)examined life makes you wish you were dead.
Given the alternative, I'd rather be living. — Saul Bellow

"Makes you wish you were dead" connects with what I think of as the beginning, where O'Hanlon says, "I decided to kill myself."  Yes, definitely a connection there.  And I definitely want to keep reading to find out how to "move quickly from stuck to smooth sailing in all aspects of [my] life."

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays. Click here for today's Mister Linky.