A Review by Nandi Jasentuliyana
The writer is the former Deputy Director-General of the United Nations.
LOS ANGELES, USA (IDN) — Love, heartache, and euphoria wrapped in a treasure trove of the author’s life experiences narrated within these pages depict the lonely abyss and the dizzy heights of glory that people experience.
In ‘Lessons Learnt’, Pramuk Manchanayaka ‘has brought forth a wonderfully written, captivating publication that affirms the depth of humanity’s relationship.
The author introduces himself as a son of three continents a Sri Lankan, born and raised in Australia and now living in the United States. He readily admits that he has no special credentials to write on a highly psychology-oriented subject but points out that he experienced and lived through the subject matter covered in the book. It is written by an engineer who is a qualified business major and shares his life’s experience with the reader.
In outlining his motivations to write the book, he points out how he has felt the highest of highs in life and has lived the lowest that life has to offer from both of which he has learnt valuable lessons and his basic idea is to share these lessons with the reader and enrich their lives with the experiences narrated in the book.
In his detailed preface, he outlines the style and structure of the book, his motivations for writing it and who should read it. It is written in a manner to serve as an instructive book for the reader’s guidance.
I thought that when I first read the title much of it would be his personal story but having read it, I feel that the author has used his experiences to explain to the reader what they need to understand about human relationships. It’s impossible to write without being influenced in some way by your life experiences, whether intentionally or not.
But the writer, has mined value from his experiences rather than blindly led by them. It is analytical than descriptive. Most of the evidence he gives us is anecdotal, which is my favourite kind to read. I can’t really speak to how scientifically valid it is, but it sure makes for engrossing reading.
This is a broad-based book for those seeking change in life. Maybe you’re at a place where you know a new direction is needed and you just don’t know how to go about starting. This book which encompasses mental growth, physical growth, and emotional growth is the right place to begin.
In this book you will learn about: mindfulness, anger management, getting rid of fear, learning to forgive, Love, relationships, and parenthood, Career building and escaping the rat race.
Some of these are easy to follow and only if we are conscious of them and others are not easy or come naturally to us. In life we keep making the same mistake over and over again.
We condition our hearts and mind to react the same way regardless of the consequences and often we consider it the right reaction even though it repeatedly brings undesired results.
But some of the mistakes can be avoided only if we are aware of them and that is the purpose of the authors pointers. Others more challenging require training our mind to reprogram the reactions that we are used to in a given situation in life. This book was written in the hopes of helping each reader. The more you read the more curious you become.
He points out how when his world has collapsed around him, he went on to find solace in gaining the one thing he wanted most, a meaningful and strong relationship with his son Seth.
These he notes are things that experts in human relations write about but yet he feels he can pass on a valuable guidance emanating from those experiences as how to deal with some of life’s challenges.
This book offers hope, help and direction to interested readers. Many people are just stuck wondering “What the heck am I even doing? Am I existing or living”? Written with depth, purpose, and authenticity, an essential. read for anyone who is lost, struggling, or in need of inspiration and truth.
It’s incredible how one book can change your perspective on life. Millions of people around the world have—and continue to—improve their lives based on Dale Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”.
The message behind Pramuk’s book he says is to “help others to not only believe in yourself but to also keep your hope and dreams alive. But also, just more than that, I want to be an encouragement to any person out there that has struggled with depression, suicidal thoughts as well as lost hope. I hope my book inspires you and motivates you to never give up”.
Pramuk has given us a delightful book of considerable importance, a carefully crafted in conversational manner, a much-needed study introducing a well-presented set of new, even if debatable, ideas on man relationships. While some may disagree, I am confident it will be an enriching read for anyone interested in the interpersonal fellowship. [IDN-InDepthNews – 23 September 2022]
Image: Cover of the book, ‘Lessons Learnt’.
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