Why Is Life So Difficult? Interpersonal conflict is causing serious damage and difficulties in our lives. Its destructive effects are straining marriages, embittering our children, and causing discord in our churches. Even our daily commute is often affected by hostility and aggression. What if things could be different? What if every area of your life (yes, even your morning commute) could be free from conflict and strife? What if ALL of your relationships could be filled with love and excitement? New York Times best-selling author Joyce Meyer wants you to know that this is possible! In Conflict-Free Living she weaves together personal experiences with solid instruction from the Bible. In her unique style she demonstrates clearly how you can experience healthy, happy relationships in your own life. Each chapter includes summary information and questions that will help you open your eyes to the destructive effects of conflict in your life and the lives of your loved ones and root out its causes. Discover the joy of a peaceful life today!

For the middle class and the affluent, local ties seem to matter less and less these days, but in the inner city, your life can be irrevocably shaped by what block you live on. Living the Drama takes a close look at three neighborhoods in Boston to analyze the many complex ways that the context of community shapes the daily lives and long-term prospects of inner-city boys. David J. Harding studied sixty adolescent boys growing up in two very poor areas and one working-class area. In the first two, violence and neighborhood identification are inextricably linked as rivalries divide the city into spaces safe, neutral, or dangerous. Consequently, Harding discovers, social relationships are determined by residential space. Older boys who can navigate the dangers of the streets serve as role models, and friendships between peers grow out of mutual protection. The impact of community goes beyond the realm of same-sex bonding, Harding reveals, affecting the boys’ experiences in school and with the opposite sex. A unique glimpse into the world of urban adolescent boys, Living the Drama paints a detailed, insightful portrait of life in the inner city.

Integrating diverse psychoanalytic traditions with his own theoretical and clinical insights, Salman Akhtar provides answers to these and other important questions in this realm. He weaves the existing conceptual schisms and technical diversity into an integrated theory and technique. In a truly original contribution, he delineates certain ubiquitous human fantasies (e.g., "someday" and "if only" fantasies of optimism and nostalgia, and fantasies of powerful psychic tethers that bind us to others) and shows how their pathological variants underlie the suffering of these patients.

We are in a bind," writes Evelyn M. Perry. While conventional wisdom asserts that residential racial and economic integration holds great promise for reducing inequality in the United States, Americans are demonstrably not very good at living with difference. Perry's analysis of the multiethnic, mixed-income Milwaukee community of Riverwest, where residents maintain relative stability without insisting on conformity, advances our understanding of why and how neighborhoods matter. In response to the myriad urban quantitative assessments, Perry examines the impacts of neighborhood diversity using more than three years of ethnographic fieldwork and interviews. Her in-depth examination of life "on the block" expands our understanding of the mechanisms by which neighborhoods shape the perceptions, behaviors, and opportunities of those who live in them. Perry challenges researchers' assumptions about what "good" communities look like and what well-regulated communities want. Live and Let Live shifts the conventional scholarly focus from "What can integration do?" to "How is integration done?"

Conflict—The Unexpected Gift Conflict between people can be defined as a difference that causes disagreements. Authors Jack Hamilton and Elisabeth Seaman go to the root of what causes conflict and how to rebuild relationships. Interpersonal conflicts permeate our lives. Sometimes we believe that another person treated us unfairly, and that assumption causes us to become angry at the person. Such conflicts in relationships often are intensified because of old patterns of thinking and behavior that have gotten out of hand. Becoming aware of someone’s true intentions, and the many factors that caused them to behave the way they did, as well as awareness of our own reactions, starts us on the path to mutual understanding and reconciliation. Conflict—The Unexpected Gift: Making the Most of Disputes in Life and Work suggests practical ways to honestly address, talk through and benefit from resolving conflicts. Every chapter has real-life accounts of people’s unresolved issues and the creative ways they resolved them. The book stresses the importance of knowing yourself, clarifying and letting go of unfounded assumptions, apologizing to heal old hurts and moving forward by not only repairing relationships, but also often improving them. Hamilton and Seaman wrote this book to give you the tools to talk through and mend unresolved issues that may have surfaced in your personal relationships.

A noted conflict-resolution expert explores dignity, its role in human conflict, and its power to improve relationships Drawing on her extensive experience in international conflict resolution and on insights from evolutionary biology, psychology, and neuroscience, Donna Hicks explains what the elements of dignity are, how to recognize dignity violations, how to respond when we are not treated with dignity, how dignity can restore a broken relationship, why leaders must understand the concept of dignity, and more. By choosing dignity as a way of life, Hicks shows, we open the way to greater peace within ourselves and to a safer and more humane world for all. For the Tenth Anniversary Edition of Dignity, Hicks has written a new preface that reflects on her experience helping communities and individuals understand the power of dignity and how it can lead to a more peaceful world. "Anyone who understands the importance of personal feelings and their fuel for conflict should consider Dignity as a powerful advisory and motivational guide."--Midwest Book Review Winner of the 2012 Educator's Award, given by the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International.

As much as we would prefer otherwise, conflict seems woven into the very fabric of life. On a daily basis, we find ourselves dealing with difficult people, facing unhealthy relationships, or suffering marriage problems. We might say that some of our relationships are the very definition of conflict! While asking ourselves how to adjust in these circumstances, and how to handle conflict, we remain confused and perplexed. In the book “Life Without Conflict”, Gnani Purush (embodiment of Self knowledge) Dada Bhagwan offers ultimate conflict resolution skills in the form of spiritual conflict resolution strategies. His spiritual teaching on how to resolve conflict - or to avoid it altogether - is offered in the context of common and everyday relationship challenges. Whether seeking relationship tips, marriage advice, or simply to learn how to stay healthy and to cultivate happy homes, this book will prove an invaluable resource.