February 2011

Life can be a treadmill � as we go through the motions day after day without ever asking why or seeking what really matters to us. This course, prepared by the author of the best-selling book, Toward a Meaningful Life, is determined to change that. Here are strategies, tips, andsuggestions for not only discovering where your true meaning lies, but in actually making it a part of your daily existence. Whether you are dealing with family relationships or job satisfaction, this course  will help you look beyond a crisis to find the lessons within. Most important of all, these sessions will help you see life as the mysterious, challenging, and satisfying wonder that it really is.

Course Overview

Discovering Your Personal Mission Statement
No business can function without a mission statement, and neither can you. This lesson will help you establish the foundation of a meaningful life � why you�re here, why you matter, and how you can make sense of the patterns of your thinking, behavior, and feelings.

Marriage, Love, and Intimacy
How can you nourish the richness and depth of a loving relationship? We�ll explore the spiritual factors that can make a relationship greater than the sum of its parts � with a passion that�s eternal, purposeful, comfortable, and which truly reflects our Jewish values and attitudes. 

Home and Family
Building a home, raising a family � these are the most important sources of warmth and security in our lives. Learn how to nurture and strengthen these vital bonds that embrace us with comfortand connection.

Work, Charity, and Wealth
We all need to earn a living, but that doesn�t have to consign us to a plodding drudgery that leaves us feeling half-alive. We�ll explore the ins and out of job satisfaction, as well as ways to put money in its proper perspective and keep materialism from overpowering our G-d-given, spiritual natures.

Pain, Loss, and Anxiety
Pain can intrude on our lives at any time.  All-consuming, it is a call for attention that launches the natural process of healing. We'll explore ways of coping with difficulty, finding a balance between grieving for what has been lost and feeling hope for the future. 

Religion and Faith
Faith is not only the stuff of childhood. It can open us up to the mystery of life, the wonder that defies reason. In this session, we work toward a personal grappling with truth as well as a more mature, dynamic relationship with our Creator.

Course Endorsements

"As with generations of the past, we search for meaning in our lives, yet often struggle with this goal. Often, the problem is focusing on only one facet of the stone rather than realizing that they all contribute to creating a special "light." "Toward a Meaningful Life" helps participants realize the importance and value of creating a toolkit of lifeskills that not only provides practical strategies to addressing the different facets of ones life, but helps participants realize the need of them to shine together�as one unique stone." George J Pfeiffer, MSE, FAWHP, Author, Founder and President, The WorkCare Group, Inc. Charlottesville, Virginia

"It is the very problem of our time that people are caught in a pervasive feeling of meaninglessness; people may have enough to live by, but more than not they have nothing to live for. JLI�s "Toward a Meaningful Life" Package is an impressive testimony of caring for the most central and humane and human needs - the need to find and understand one�s place in the world, and to come to a practical and applicable understanding of what it means to be a unique and irreplaceable person - to make a difference, and to live up to what one�s personal path in this world may be. Such an understanding enables one not only enjoy life and one�s talents and gifts in all their richness, it also enables one to cope with life hardships. In a word - a renewed awareness of meaning connects one with life�s existential dimension. A timely topic, and a great course." Alexander Batthy�ny Ph.D., Chair, Viktor Frankl Institute Vienna and Dept. of Philosophy, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria