Starting over after a painful breakup, a divorce, or the loss of a loved one can be the most challenging experience of a lifetime. Drawing on insights derived from twenty-eight years of counseling thousands of men and women in making wise choices in the process of healing their hearts, John Gray has once again written a groundbreaking book--one that abundantly provides guidance and comfort to those who find themselves single again. With the processes John Gray has developed in counseling and leading workshops, "Mars & Venus Starting Over" opens the door to finding a rich and fulfilling lifetime of love once again. The first section of the book addresses the part of the healing process that is basically the same for men and women. Dealing with the pain of a breakup or loss is not easy, and John Gray makes it clear that although the pain of loss is an inevitable part of life, suffering is not. He explains that the heart often lags behind the mind, that we must experience our grief in order to become whole again. He compassionately shows us how to find forgiveness and explains how good endings make good beginnings. Although the healing process is fundamentally the same, starting over on Venus is often different from starting over on Mars. Women tend to push love away to avoid getting hurt again. On the other hand, men often get involved right away, but have trouble committing. Part two, "Starting Over on Venus, " explores the twenty-three common challenges women face, which include the new pressures of dating, glorifying our past, staying stuck in grief, overromanticizing, women who do too much, fear of intimacy, and putting children first. Part three, "Starting Over on Mars, " dealswith sex on the rebound, work, money, and love, living out fantasies, holding back, being in a hurry, bigger is better, and self-destructive tendencies--to name a few of the land mines men face on the road to healing. "Mars & Venus Starting Over" will inspire you to rise to the challenge of healing your heart and to move on to find an even greater love. You will fulfill your soul's deepest purpose--to love and to be loved. There is hope! You will find love again... John Gray has helped millions of men and women develop better relationships with his phenomenal "New York Times" bestseller "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus." Now he turns his attention to the millions of people who find themselves single again and compassionately presents a process for healing a broken heart. Here are just some of the issues and challenges John Gray covers in this supportive and practical guide to becoming whole again: Emotiontal Lag Time Grieving the Loss of Love Getting Unstuck Good Endings Make Good Beginnings The Feeling Better Exercise Finding Forgiveness Saying Good-bye with Love The 90-10 Principle Processing Our Hot Spots 101 Ways to Heal Our Hearts Starting Over Date Around, but don't Sleep Around Glorifying Our Past Overromanticizing Focusing on the Negative Who Needs a Man? Women Who Do Too Much Fear of Intimacy My Children Need Me All or Noting Starting Over on Mars Sex on the Rebound Work, Money, and Love Positive Addictions We Don't Have to Stop Loving Soul Mates Are Not Perfect Can't Live With Them and Can't Live Without Them Holding Back Bigger is Better Self-Destructive Tendencies
A breakup, divorce, or loss of a loved one isn't just the end of your relationship with that person. It's a continuation of every feeling of abandonment you've ever suffered. It's the loss of a system of approval you'd come to depend on. The struggle, as Gray points out in Starting Over, isn't just to find a new partner, but to get over those feelings of abandonment or loss or anger or whatever else gets dredged up by the end of a relationship.
Perhaps the book's most crucial chapter posits that the best way to get over the loss of love is to focus on the "love" more than the "loss." That may seem impossible, especially if the bum took off with your best friend, your life savings, and your Lyle Lovett CDs, but Gray didn't get to be a household name because the advice in his Venus and Mars books doesn't work. Remembering only the bad parts, Gray says, leaves you with an important part of your emotional being closed to new business.
As for the Venus and Mars stuff, that comes in the second half of the book, when Gray looks at how men and women start new relationships from different points of view, with different priorities (a man might want to have fun with no strings attached; a woman might carry with her a lengthy list of requirements for her next partner, a list that excludes virtually all available men).
If you've never read Gray's work before, you have to be prepared to check your cynicism at the door. This is earnest stuff, but it's also based on decades of experience counseling clients. He's not one of those photogenic, nine-times-divorced shrinklets who's telling you how to conduct your relationships without any real clue of what makes love last. This is the real package: nothing glib, nothing quick and easy, nothing you could've figured out from a "Love Is..." cartoon.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
A MUST for anyone who has a broken heart!:
John Gray's brilliance introduces the grieving process in a manner that feels right during heartbreak. His caring nature comes through in this book and is a great structure to grab onto when a relationship has ended in your life. His brilliance and compassion is evident in this book and I hope you use it during a tough time for yourself. I have learned so much about myself after a death of a loved one. In addition, I learned how to support others at their time of need. Strong and supportive... more info
Is it possible to die from a broken heart?:
His brother had the right idea! I'm getting so sick of being stabbed in the back all the time! And by people I thought I could depend upon! And the funny part is...if the same thing happened to them, they'd be screaming bloody murder! DOESN'T ANYBODY AT LEAST "TRY" TO PRACTICE THE GOLDEN RULE ANYMORE?!? WHAT'S SO DAMN HARD ABOUT THAT?!?
Thank you for a great book, Dr. Gray!:
I think that this book would be a big help for anyone who's suffered a loss in their life. If you never mourn and recover from your losses in a healthy way, you will remain stuck and repeat the same unhealthy patterns over and over again. What's great about this book is that you are pretty much free to skip around and read the parts that pertain to your personal situation. But I recommend going back and reading all of it because most of us have a lot of learn about ourselves...and the opposite sex. A+... more info
Much needed insight:
This book is insightfully written and is valuable in making relationships (of all kinds, not just romantic ones)work when dealing with someone who has experience the trauma of relationship loss. John Gray's entire series help take the sting out of interpersonal relationships by shining light on reactions that are not actually personal in intent but common across most people. This makes it easier to get along with other people and to avoid some basic male-female relating mistakes.
