If There's One Thing I've Learned
James Green
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2005 Sound View Publishing
ISBN: 0976105845

How to seize your once-in-a-lifetime chance to get it right. 87 extraordinary people reveal their moments of truth.

If you could go back & change any thing in your life, what would you do differently?

If you only knew then what you know... now... You’re in good company. Few of us get through life without wishing we could get a do-over. But you know the rules: You only go around once. So what's the secret to making better choices the first time through? & what practical wisdom & insights will help you to re-shape your destiny to match your dreams?

If There's One Thing I've Learned is an inspiring & life-affirming collection of everyday epiphanies from people recalling pivotal moments in their lives. The stories speak of life's lost & found: love, time, career, money, dreams, childhood. Bring them along for your journey so that, like a well-traveled companion, they're always nearby to move & comfort you, & help guide you to the life you were meant to live.

Let the experiences of others show you that:

 • You should think twice before you let love walk away...
 • When you’re not appreciated at work, you can move on...
 • You can change your life before it’s too late...
 • Time passes & before you know it...
 • When you do what you love, the joy will follow...
 • Your children need your presence...now
 • To act on your dreams you must wake up.

The stories -- which represent hundreds of personal interviews conducted with people from all over the country -- create a unique & compelling roadmap for the future.

That having been writ: this is a grand collection of wake-up calls about Dreams & Awakenings; The One Who Got Away; Careers; Our Friends & Family; Relationships, Love, & Marriage; Money & Finance; Looking Back: Whispers of High School, College & The Armed Services; Kindness; Perspective; Time, & the Interview Questions, & an Index are included.

It all started when James Green was a young co-pilot flying the north-eastern US routes, frequently over-nighting in Nantucket where he watched the youngsters as they dashed hither & yon on their first flight of independence, working the summer tourist jobs. That's when he remembered he'd also had that opportunity, & hadn't taken it because... the thought of being away from home, alone, scared him. & that got him thinking, were there other people out there who had the same regrets? & what did they do about them? So he started asking questions of the people around him, & then put ads in newspapers.

Their answers to his questionnaire are rich & varied:
 • a retiree who worked hard to support his family & didn't take care of his body when he was young, now lives with the results.
 • a pilot who, 20 years before, had pulled the plug on a start-up computer business because it was too risky, now faces the post-9/11 new normal.
 • a woman who was cursed as a baby as “ugly” by her grandmother, lived with that poor self-esteem until a random act of kindness woke her up.
 • a Vietnam Veteran with a new wife had a year under his belt in an investment plan must choose: stay in & stay on budget, or cash in & spend the money on furniture for their new family. They withdrew their investment, live on plastic & have been struggling financially ever since.
 • the woman who saw a stranger, knew he was her soulmate, & didn't say hello.
 • the young man, second in his high school senior class, is pumped up at applying to a big college until his career counselor says no one ever gets into that college... & he believes her. It is the end of his future.
& one story follows another -- of when parents said no, of shutting that door opportunity opened, of hiding behind obedience or fear. Every story is everyone's story, & sometimes they're heartbreaking, infuriating & inspiring.

If There’s One Thing I’ve Learned is a rare self-help book -- it isn't all about the author, all about his super wisdom, all about his secrets to a good life. It offers no solutions & no quick-fixes. Instead, between the covers is a world of stories about simple lives told with regret, insights & “ahhas”.

Who better than a guy who spends his work days six miles above the earth -- cruising along at 400 knots with the lives of hundreds of people in his hands -- to show us a thing or two about living life to the fullest? & he's done a jolly good job of it, too!
(07/31/05)

Rebecca