The Power of Coincidence: How Life Shows Us What We Need to Know [Paperback]

David Richo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 27, 2007

Meaningful coincidences and surprising connections occur all the time in our daily lives, yet we often fail to appreciate how they can guide us, warn us, and confirm us on our life's path. This book explores how meaningful coincidence operates in our daily lives, in our intimate relationships, and in our creative endeavors.

The Power of Coincidence will help you to: interpret a series of similar happenings, open yourself to assisting forces around you, understand how your dreams can guide you through life events, use your creative imagination in life choices—and live in accord with your deepest needs and wishes, as revealed to you by meaningful coincidences. Originally published under the title Unexpected Miracles, the author has fully revised and updated the book for this edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

 “Richo gently and compassionately coaches readers. His book will help those seeking personal transformation.”—Publishers Weekly

 “Lucid, thought-provoking, and illuminating.”—Martha Beck, author of Finding Your Own North Star

 “As useful a self-help book as one is likely to find.”—Huston Smith

About the Author

David Richo, PhD, is a therapist and author who leads popular workshops on personal and spiritual growth. He is known for drawing on Buddhist thought, poetry, and Jungian perspectives in his work. He is the author of How to Be an Adult in Relationships and The Five Things We Cannot Change. He lives in Santa Barbara and San Francisco, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; 1 edition (March 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590304276
• ISBN-13: 978-1590304273
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Richo, PhD, is a therapist and author who leads popular workshops on personal and spiritual growth.

He received his BA in psychology from Saint John's Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts, in 1962, his MA in counseling psychology from Fairfield University in 1969, and his PhD in clinical psychology from Sierra University in 1984. Since 1976, Richo has been a licensed marriage, family, and child counselor in California. In addition to practicing psychotherapy, Richo teaches courses at Santa Barbara City College and the University of California Berkeley at Berkeley, and has taught at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, Pacifica Graduate Institute, and Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. He is a clinical supervisor for the Community Counseling Center in Santa Barbara, California.

Known for drawing on Buddhism, poetry, and Jungian perspectives in his work, Richo is the author of How to Be an Adult in Relationships: The Five Keys to Mindful Loving and The Five Things We Cannot Change: And the Happiness We Find in Embracing Them. He has also written When the Past Is Present: Healing the Emotional Wounds that Sabotage our Relationships, Shadow Dance: Liberating the Power and Creativity of Your Dark Side, The Power of Coincidence: How Life Shows Us What We Need to Know, and Being True to Life: Poetic Paths to Personal Growth.

Richo lives in Santa Barbara and San Francisco.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars outstanding!!!, March 24, 2008

By 

Robert W. Smith "Robert Smith, Ph.D." (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Power of Coincidence: How Life Shows Us What We Need to Know (Paperback)

if there were more stars, i'd give this more. and, if you look over my reviews, you know that i save the very highest ratings for the very best books that i've read. and, this is one of those great books that i come upon maybe once a year... the author writes a well grounded book, based upon principles of psychology and metaphysics. he is not one of those flaky writers. in fact, if you're anything like me, you find that it takes some real time to read this through. it is also likely to be a book, like ernest becker's of victor frankel's, that i read from time to time.

33 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the power of coincidence, January 7, 2008

By 

jazmine - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Power of Coincidence: How Life Shows Us What We Need to Know (Paperback)

Excellent! If you have had things happen in your life that seemed like a 'coincidence' read this and decide for yourself if you think it was a conincidence or sent to you and meant to happen.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Complete Guide To Life!, January 30, 2011

By 

Rob - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Power of Coincidence: How Life Shows Us What We Need to Know (Paperback)

"The Power of Coincidence" is really a complete guide to living life. David Richo offers so much more than powerful examples of synchronicities, he helps up see how our own exmples of meaningful coincidence can guide us to fulfilling our life's purpose. We learn to "unleash the powers of the Self (unconditional love, wisdom, and healing) from the stangelhold of our frightened, limiting ego and let them flow into the world. This is the fulfillment of our human purpose."

Richo helps us to trust that what happens in life, even hard times and crises, are meant to guide us into our higher purpose- "every event and encounter in life as happening at just the right time and in just the right way for us to learn what we need to know."

Using his tools of intepreting coincidence and synchronicity, and knowing the difference between the two, you learn what to do when you are stuck in indecsion, and how to interpret the signs that major life change is needed, and how to make a graceful exit. Empowered with his suggestions of mindful practices like knowing our breathing and finding the strength and power of the still point between breaths, we find that we are able to face the hard "givens of human existence" with hope: "we can fall apart in those moments and still trust we will reconstruct our fragmented pieces and go on. The grace will be about that and about an assurnance that our capacity to love will not be destroyed no matter what."

I can't recommend this book enough. It has already helped me to refine my life's vocation, a calling with purpose to bring more love, wisdom, and healing into the world.