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bella818 's review for:
The Upside of Your Dark Side: Why Being Your Whole Self--Not Just Your Good Self--Drives Success and Fulfillment
by Todd Kashdan, Robert Biswas-Diener
I love the fact that there are studies and topics presented in The Upside of Your Dark Side that challenge a modern world that tells you it’s not okay (e.g., “you’re not normal”) to feel and embrace the darker emotions and behaviors such as anger, anxiety, depression, sadness, jealousy, self-aggrandizement, manipulation, self-absorption, etc. The authors define emotions as information: “Your emotions are like a GPS monitor on the dashboard of your car, giving you metaphorical information about your car location, the terrain in front of and behind you, and your rate or progress” (65). Let it be known that the writers do not advise that we indulge in these darker emotions, but it does recommend that we take courage to poke at those dark moments to see what they mean and use them as a springboard to grow. There seems to be a pill or a therapy for every form of discomfort out there, and while there isn’t anything wrong with taking medication and/or going to therapy (I’ve taken meds and still go to therapy), there also isn’t anything wrong with taking stock of the discomfort and integrating it with who we can become. While the book doesn’t outright say it, the authors implicitly lay the groundwork for a call to action: personal transformation by integrating all emotions. I’m all for that.