A rare self-improvement book (though it's really philosophy) that I can recommend to new graduates entering the real world and someone feeling rudderless later in life.

Become familiar with the symbol of Ouruboros, the snake devouring its head. We are hard-wired to want endlessly and to seek closure where none is possible. These two desires form a feedback loop where lack of fulfillment is met with anxiety, which leads to further anxiety about the lack of answers which leads to-- and so on. This book is about breaking that wheel, stopping the ride and getting off.

Scientific breakthroughs fly by us and yet there are some things we seem destined to never know.

Not quite Buddhism for dummies (it's smarter than that) but an easy, accessible read about the virtues of a present mind, desire, and the duality between faith and science.

I woldn't say it eased my anxieties about infinity, God, long lives and the eternal reward or punishment at the end of the line-- but it does reinforce that you can't play for the endgame. We have but one life to live and we will never know what comes next. You can't take your timeouts to the locker room.

Eat Arby's