Everyday Serenity: Meditations for People Who Do Too Much [Paperback]

David Kundtz (Author), Steven Harrison (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1999

More than a meditation book, Everyday Serenity is a series of reflections that can illuminate every aspect of life. They invite readers to do nothing, but with purpose, meaning, and value, in order to become more fully awake and to remember who they are. "These times are the 'spaces in between' the events of your life," writes David Kundtz, "spaces often lost, or worse, filled with anxiety. And these spaces in between are just waiting to bring you the calmness and clarity that an over-demanding schedule steals from you." Everyday Serenity offers a welcome respite for anyone perpetually in overdrive and grants permission to stop and take time out to clarify intentions, sharpen the senses, and make room for life.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Conari Press (December 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573241628
• ISBN-13: 978-1573241625
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,457,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I have enjoyed several careers, including 18 years in religious ministry and 20 years in the practice of psychotherapy, public speaking on stress/​emotional health, and writing.

My doctorate (S.Th.D) is in pastoral psychology.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio; schooled in Washington, Baltimore, and Berkeley; I lived and worked many years in Idaho -- with a three-and-a-half-year period in Cali, Colombia. I currently live in Kensington, California and Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley (part of the Graduate Theological Union -- GTU) lists me as an adjunct professor. I am a member of the Board of Directors of GroundSpark (GroundSpark.org)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For those seeking a greater understanding of life!, August 7, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everyday Serenity: Meditations for People Who Do Too Much (Paperback)

Everyday Serenity: Meditations For People Who Do Too Much, is the latest offering from David J. Kundtz, a psychotherapist, author, and speaker. Dr. Kundtz is an advocate of Stopping, "which is doing nothing--for as briefly as a minute or for as long as a month--for the purpose of becoming more fully awake and remembering who you are." People today are starved for time to themselves. Their days are filled with so many things that have to be done that they have no time for solitude or reflection. Dr. Kundtz's meditations are intended to help people turn those little moments between activities into "stillpoints," where there is no guilt or pressure, where the focus is on just quietly and peacefully being. Those who are able to make such moments for themselves will find that they enjoy life more, and have more energy to do the other things they need to do. Dr. Kundtz divided the book into fourteen chapters, with titles like "Making Room for Life" and "Finding Your Balance." Each chapter is filled with relevant meditations. Finding Your Balance, for example, includes "A Walk Down The Street" and "It Just Is." All the meditations begin with a quote--some from philosophers like Socrates, and some from contemporary sources, like Woody Allen. Dr. Kundtz then offers a quiet "reflection" on the quote, and ends with a suggestion of how the reader might apply it to his or her own life. His reflection on "It Just Is" ends with "today quietly observe what keeps you from going with the flow." Everyday Serenity includes a meditation for each day of the year. Each is designed to serve as an opportunity to "pause for a purpose, to draw you to a moment of both rest and insight." Readers who use them will find themselves "becoming more awake and intentional" with a greater understanding of what they truly want from life and how to get it.

Sandra Smith, Reviewer

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning to Accept the Things We Cannot Change, March 3, 2006

By 

Virginia Allain "(retired librarian)" (Poinciana, FL) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Everyday Serenity: Meditations for People Who Do Too Much (Paperback)

'How are you today, Mom?" "I'm fine, if you overlook a few things." --a conversation between author David Kundtz and his mother. What wise advice! As David Kundtz points out in his book Everyday Serenity, each of us is presented daily with challenges we can do nothing about. We can choose to obsess on these or ignore them and move on. What do you need to ignore today? (description from M.J. Ryan who wrote The Happiness Makeover)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'All work and no play make Jack and Jill dull kids.', July 25, 2000

By 

Jill M Long - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everyday Serenity: Meditations for People Who Do Too Much (Paperback)

Great quotes offered inspiration. Great research provided the motivation. Don't be fooled that the 1-1/2 page snapshots of a variety of topics from finding peace and balance in your life to receiving permission to stop aren't deep enough. Each word, each question posed in the fourteen chapters address key issues of life and I must have tabbed ten pages for later reference.

As part of a writer's group, I introduced the others to David Kundtz's words of wisdom and encouragement. I know two went and bought his book the next day.

Thanks for reminder in the (adapted) traditional saying: 'All work and no play make Jack and Jill dull kids.' I have to go mountain bike now, and yes, it's the middle of the workday :-)

- Jill (That's really my name.)