Initially, I had intended to write this book in the summer of 2006. At that time, my involvement in the Life Extension Movement was growing, my enthusiasm was palpable; trusted friends and colleagues urged me to undertake the project, noting that it would give momentum to a nascent movement that was a mere blip on the political radar screen and bring needed attention to an issue that many thought might never be discussed seriously in a society that considers death an unpleasant but inevitable reality. Even though I agreed with this analysis, I managed to avoid any serious attempt to start a far-reaching debate on the political, social, and economic consequences of radically extending one’s life into the future. After all, I thought, the technology in this field is still at a nascent stage, antiaging research receives few government grants, controversy abounds in the scientific community as to the mere possibility of indefinite life extension; most elected officials are clueless about it and even a majority of the President’s Council on Bioethics is hostile to the idea. But that being said, I never was one to back down from a good fight. I had read much of the scientific work undertaken by a multitude of scientists determined to understand how and why human beings slowly age, and how we can reverse our demise and extend our lives indefinitely. I disagreed with the naysayers who pompously declare that prolonging life will ruin the environment, cause overpopulation, promote wars over scarce resources, as well as those narrow-minded, quasi—pundits who embraced a number of bogus charges and half-truths intended to impede further research into the causes of the terminal disease of aging. I had more than enough evidence to confront the critics, but for some unknown reason, I lost the internal primal spark necessary to fight back. I thought, should I enter a battle that few know about and even fewer care? Instead of hearing a clarion call to act, I became mired in skepticism, doubt and a growing resignation toward terminal apathy. ...

This Handbook consists of 21 new essays on the nature and value of death, the relevance of the metaphysics of time and personal identity for questions about death, the desirability of immortality, and the wrongness of killing.

Does one really have to live and eat like a caveman to live a long, healthy and enjoyable life? Surely we can be more sophisticated than this? Live to 100, or Die Trying is a practical book on how to produce successful ageing based on the concepts and systems of the Reyes Longevity Programme. By the time you have finished reading this book, you will understand all the important challenges and pitfalls that lie ahead of any individual who wants to age successfully and you will have discovered, mastered and acquired all the principles, theories, strategies, methods, systems and tools that you will need for your journey. The anti-ageing arena is a hostile environment pervaded by myths, non-scientific theories, the untrained, the unqualified and individuals who simply have no idea what they are talking about. But by the end of this book, you will be able to create your own, effective longevity program which will allow you to reliably produce success in the maintenance of your physical, mental and social well-being for as long as possible. This is successful ageing.

Discover newfound freedom in life’s ever-constant flow of endings and beginnings with the wise words of Pema Chödrön, beloved Buddhist nun and bestselling author of When Things Fall Apart​. New in paperback! ​​ As much as we might try to resist, endings happen in every moment—the end of a breath, the end of a day, the end of a relationship, and ultimately the end of life. And accompanying each ending is a beginning, though it may be unclear what the beginning holds. In How We Live Is How We Die, Pema Chödrön shares her wisdom for working with this flow of life—learning to live with ease, joy, and compassion through uncertainty, embracing new beginnings, and ultimately preparing for death with curiosity and openness rather than fear. Poignant for readers of all ages, her teachings on the bardos—a Tibetan term referring to a state of transition, including what happens between this life and the next—reveal their power and relevance at each moment of our lives. She also offers practical methods for transforming life’s most challenging emotions about change and uncertainty into a path of awakening and love. As she teaches, the more freedom we can find in our hearts and minds as we live this life, the more fearlessly we’ll be able to confront death and what lies beyond. In all, Pema provides readers with a master course in living life fully and compassionately in the shadow of death and change.

Are you afraid of dying? Are you hesitant to talk with those who you love about your last wishes? Do you avoid the tasks that help you prepare for the future? Or, are you helping someone--a spouse, parent, friend, patient, or client--who is working through the issues of death and the quality of life? When Amy Harwell found out she had rapidly progressing cancer, she began a journey of discovery and faith that led her to a new understanding: Once we are well-prepared to die, we are really freed to live. With a hopefulness that never loses touch with reality, Harwell accompanies her readers through the mundane tasks involving health-care directives, legal documents, and funeral arrangement, and on to the profound opportunities of saying good-bye to those we love. Each step of the journey offers possibilities to grow and discover God anew. And Amy, a seasoned traveler, includes notes from her own passage, useful questions, and a checklist for others on the road.

Choosing to Live delves deep into the loss and pain that someone experiences while making a choice to end their own life. It also allows a loving daughter, Jennifer, to give you her perspective on losing her mom as a young teen, and offers insights about Ingrid, Jen’s mom. This book also explores the pain felt from losing a family member from cancer, a brother killed in Vietnam, and a sudden death of a parent. It also touches on the loss felt from losing someone thru the ending of a relationship.

This book is about the youth, schools, places, and ideas that significantly deepen my life. It examines insights, philosophies, and observations that I read, question, seriously investigate, and live. The students in the classroom can be natural inquirers who through connections they discover make sense of the world and the things and ideas they pursue and question. These students, just as humankind from its beginning journey and exploration, use a fundamental approach to observe, investigate and probe to understand the world. This is the source of our human depth and learning.

Updated with the latest research, this second edition approaches human development from a multidisciplinary perspective. Uniquely inclusive of the moral and faith dimensions of the life cycle, 'Human Development and Faith' examines the interplay of mind, body, family, community, and soul at every stage of development. (Back cover).

A wholly unexpected medical diagnosis tells Abby Taylor that her life, the somewhat lonely yet satisfying life of a single 40-something professor of Old English at Vassar College, can never be the same. Attractive, well-liked, highly esteemed in her field, Abby has always stood up determinately to the buffets of fate. But now she finds herself runningrunning both from the past with its personal tragedies and from the disease that threatens her future with failing kidneys and impending dialysis. She runs as the deer from the mountain lion or the elk from the huntera blind reaction triggered by the instinct for survival. However, a person can run just so long and Flagstaff, Arizona, seems to Abby like as good a place as any to lite for the summer. An intriguing man and a darling corgi dog add to the appeal. A great climate, breathtaking scenery, and hardly the crime capital of northern Arizona, as Abby reassures her sister. Or is it? A stolen classic Alfa Romeo, ominous doings in the forest, eco-warriors on the loose, and ultimately the deathor is it the murder?of a close friend suggest otherwise. From the moment of diagnosis Abby has known that she would have to fight to maintain her sense of self in the face of the major life-changes demanded by her disease, but will she also have to fight for life itself? Will she live or die in Arizona?