Selling Ourselves Short by Catherine M. Wallace

Get more out of life, and give more, while balancing work, parenting, friendships, and service in the face of cultural pressures to compete and consume., The clichs are familiar: "he who dies with the most toys wins," or "Look out for number one." Unfortunately, the guilt and exhaustion that plague our lives are just as familiar. The cultural mandate to compete and consume belittles our honest efforts to balance work, parenting, relationships, and personal fulfillment. Our brutally competitive, consumerist society ignores the common decency and compassion at the core of our humanity. No wonder we all feel just a bit crazy: there is no other sane response. In Selling Ourselves Short, Catherine M. Wallace argues that the core of our predicament is how the rise of urban centers and industrial capitalism changed the public norm of adult behavior from compassion to competition, from "love your neighbor as yourself" to "get the most for the least." She supports that claim not only with the latest social-science research but also with keen analyses of gender roles, the market, and "family values." She excavates the submerged metaphors and hidden persuaders that trap us into feeling we should always be doing more than we are. Most books on work-life conflict conclude with pie-in-the-sky policy proposals. Wallace offers a more radical solution. Drawing on the ancient practice of spiritual discernment, she challenges us to stop second-guessing ourselves and feeling guilty that we cannot do more of everything for everyone, children and clients alike. We can instead trade that awful mix of guilt and grandiosity for the simple freedom of living in good conscience. Despite the toxicity of our socioeconomic moment, we can still lead lives of enduring personal integrity and honest peace of mind. This book is a must read for anyone who earns a living, especially parents, social workers, policy specialists, educators, therapists, and ministers. It's a candle in the dark for anyone who wants more of a life than work currently allows.