The Adventure of Living

For the dissatisfied, for those who become increasingly aware through the years of something missing in their lives, this book will open wide the gates of self-discovery. “Woe betide those,” says Paul Tournier, “who no longer feel thrilled at anything, who have stopped looking for adventure.” The excitement of his own enthusiasm for living permeates every page of his book. With strong, bold strokes the eminent Swiss physician and psychiatrist outlines exactly what is at the heart of humanity’s sickness. It is, he says, man’s failure to fulfill himself. And he believes that where so many people fail miserably in expressing their true selves is in seeking substitutes for real adventure. He cites many typical examples. For instance: **The clock-watcher working day after day at a job which holds no interest for him, because he lacks the adventurous drive to find and develop the special talent given to every human being. **Those who lose themselves in popular films, novels, TV, sooner than later investigate their own creative abilities. **Parents who identify themselves with their children in the pathetic hope of realizing the dream they themselves missed. **The man who maintains a mistress for excitement because he finds his marriage deadly dull–not troubling to make the marriage itself exciting. **The hypochondriac to whom illness becomes a desperate search for adventure. Stage by stage through each of the three parts of the book–The Adventure, The Risk, The Choice–Paul Tournier shows that in each human being there are two selves–the one presented to the world, and the hidden, true self. In the struggle to integrate these two selves man finds the real adventure of living, and no bogus substitute can ever replace it. He also believes that until people admit this and face up to the fact that only through holiness and a deeper knowledge of God can they fulfill themselves, true happiness will elude them.