Chronicle Book Club

Author William Kali-her recommends you don’t be deceived by Marion Aldridge’s title “Overcoming Adolescence.” It is a book that may change your life.

WWhat a wonderful and surprising book. I owe many thanks to the friend who insisted I read “Overcoming Adolescence.” It is not aimed at who you first think.

Some would say the work is misnamed. In a sense that could be true.

The title is enigmatic.

I’m pushing 72 years of age. Why would I want to read about the teenage years after barely surviving them? Yet, when I started reading, I discovered the title is perfect.

Where and what was my mental state at my current age? Was I a mature man entering a bank but still 22-years-old when entering a crowded restaurant?

Did an innocuous incident at that age impact what I expected entering a packed café?

Examine your life

The author smoothly entices the reader to examine his or her own wild, sprawling, confusing journey through life.

Where was I actually stuck in parts of my life?

Did high school incidents still hold sway?

Had I effectively buried sibling rivalries?

Did some cutting remark or parental advice years ago still have me spinning my wheels today?

Were negative influences dead and gone?

Had parents or teachers long ago unknowingly left me in a rut?

Yes, I had aged in physical years, but what parts of my life remained still stuck in adolescence?

Life’s sticking points

Aldridge smoothly relates sticking points in his own life and development, making it remarkably easy for the reader to focus on his own problems.

Am I immature in this aspect of my life and an adult in other areas? How do I tackle those arrested areas?

With Aldridge’s guidance, a person can breakdown his or her life several times.

He makes it easy to focus on what caused a problem that now has you in a pothole. With the assessments you make, it is possible to alter parts of your life that need renewal.

Amazingly, the way the author steers you toward the changes, make easier to both see and grapple with negative influences and memories than I would have ever expected.

Marion Aldridge, in his relaxed writing style, made my life review enjoyable at age 71.

Do we think and reason appropriately for our age?

I sure didn’t in multiple areas of my life before discovering his book.

I’m pretty sure I still don’t have all areas in my thinking perfect. However, I now know a couple of things to work on beyond the improvements this book already caused in my life.

I wish I‘d read this book at age 25 and again every 10 years afterward.

Thanks Marion Aldridge, you got me started.

I will re-read your work again in a year.

For more about Bill Kaliher go to www.billsmexicantours.com