We live in a world that practically runs on hyper-criticism. If we aren’t judging someone else’s choices on a screen, we’re usually doing a number on ourselves for not being productive enough, calm enough, or successful enough. Recently, I’ve been reading many books about Buddhism, and they’ve been resonating with me. When I heard about the concept of lovingkindness, I knew I wanted to get a copy of Sharon Salzberg’s Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness because many consider it the best book on the topic ever written.

The term lovingkindness can sound a bit soft, maybe even passive, in a world that feels like it requires a harder edge just to get through the day. But within the first two chapters, you’ll realize it’s not. Salzberg isn’t teaching passive sentimentality; she’s teaching a psychological martial art.