
The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary
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Narrated by:
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Catherine Gray
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By:
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Catherine Gray
About this listen
From the Sunday Times best-selling author.
We're told that happiness is in the extraordinary. It's on a Caribbean sun lounger, in the driving seat of a luxury car, inside an expensive golden locket, watching sunrise from Machu Picchu. We strive, reach, push, shoot for more. 'Enough' is a moving target we never quite reach.
When we do brush our fingertips against the extraordinary a deeply inconvenient psychological phenomenon called the 'hedonic treadmill' means that, after a surge of joy, our happiness level returns to the baseline it was at before the 'extra' event.
So, what's the answer?
The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary theorises that the solution is rediscovering the joy in the ordinary that we so often now forget to feel. Because we now expect the pleasure of a croissant, a hot shower, a yoga class, someone delivering our shopping to our door, we no longer feel its buzz. The joy of it whips through us like a bullet train, without pause.
Catherine Gray was a grandmaster in the art of eye-rolling the ordinary and skilled in everlasting reaching. Until the black dog of depression forced her to rethink everything.
Along the way, she discovered some surprising realities about the extraordinaries among us: that influencers risk higher rates of anxiety and depression, high rollers are less happy and huge frothy weddings increase the likelihood of divorce.
Learning how to be exalted by the everyday is the most important lesson we can possibly learn. In Catherine Gray's hilarious, insightful, soulful (and very ordinary) next book, you may learn to do just that.
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- A Psychiatrist's Memoir
- By: Irvin D. Yalom
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Irvin D. Yalom has made a career of investigating the lives of others. In this profound memoir, he turns his writing and his therapeutic eye on himself. He opens his story with a nightmare: He is 12 and is riding his bike past the home of an acne-scarred girl. Like every morning, he calls out, hoping to befriend her, "Hello Measles!" But in his dream, the girl's father makes Yalom understand that his daily greeting had hurt her. For Yalom, this was the birth of empathy; he would not forget the lesson.
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Unrevealing
- By Lynn Labe on 06-16-19
By: Irvin D. Yalom
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Find Yourself at Home
- A Conscious Approach to Shaping Your Space and Your Life
- By: Emily Grosvenor
- Narrated by: Nicol Zanzarella
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Home can be a space to explore your sense of self, a message board to cue your aspirational goals, and a story where you choose which parts of your past to put down and which to carry. In Find Yourself at Home, design journalist and interiors consultant Emily Grosvenor introduces her five steps to align your home to suit your purpose and your path.
By: Emily Grosvenor
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Stories We Never Tell
- By: Savi Sharma
- Narrated by: Kaushik Ramchandran, Nishi Jagavat
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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There are stories we never talk about. Stories we are afraid to share. Simply because they hurt too much or no one wants to listen to them. Such was the story of Jhanvi, who is a budding social media influencer. She appears to have it all together, but something is missing: Jhanvi has this impossible need that drives her to be more perfect than any person could possibly be. And the story of Ashray, who had a rocky start in life. With hard work and determination, he translates his dreams into reality, but his deep-seated insecurities come to the fore when life throws him a curveball.
By: Savi Sharma
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The Silent Wife
- A Novel
- By: A. S. A. Harrison
- Narrated by: Vas Eli, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Jodi and Todd are at a bad place in their marriage. Much is at stake, including the affluent life they lead in their beautiful waterfront condo in Chicago, as she, the killer, and he, the victim, rush haplessly toward the main event. He is a committed cheater. She lives and breathes denial. He exists in dual worlds. She likes to settle scores. He decides to play for keeps. She has nothing left to lose. Told in alternating voices, The Silent Wife is about a marriage in the throes of dissolution, a couple headed for catastrophe, concessions that can’t be made, and promises that won’t be kept.
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Slow, meditative burn
- By alphabetsoup on 11-23-23
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Unleash the Inner CEO
- Make distributed leadership a reality
- By: Jeremy Blain
- Narrated by: Matt Reeves, Stephanie Racine
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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We have been talking about ‘leadership at all levels’ for over a century – let’s make it a reality for today’s world. This completely updated second edition of the award-winning The Inner CEO provides the tried and tested blueprint to make distributed leadership a reality and tap into the potential of the many.
By: Jeremy Blain
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Can the Mind Be Free of Thought?
- Berkeley 1969 - Public Talk 1
- By: Jiddu Krishnamurti
- Narrated by: Jiddu Krishnamurti
- Length: 1 hr and 21 mins
- Original Recording
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So memory, experience, knowledge is the background of thought. But thought which is always old can never be free, it may express itself freely but it is always old; and therefore thought can never see anything new. So when I understand that, very clearly, the mind becomes quiet.
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When Things Don't Go Your Way
- Zen Wisdom for Difficult Times
- By: Haemin Sunim, Charles La Shure - translator
- Narrated by: Lee Osorio
- Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Have you ever felt like life has thrown you a curveball? Are you struggling to overcome unexpected challenges and setbacks? While loss, heartbreak, and loneliness are all part of the human experience, in this warm guide, internationally bestselling author Haemin Sunim shows us that these moments can actually be rare opportunities for self-discovery, serving as stepping stones to greater things in life.
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Amazing book and audio
- By JD on 03-22-24
By: Haemin Sunim, and others
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You Don't Need a Title to Be a Leader
- How Anyone, Anywhere, Can Make a Positive Difference
- By: Mark Sanborn
- Narrated by: Mark Sanborn
- Length: 2 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Through the stories of a number of unsung heroes, Sanborn reveals the keys each one of us can use to improve our organizations and enhance our careers. He has an unparalleled ability to explain fundamental business and leadership truths through simple stories and anecdotes. You Don't Need a Title to Be a Leader offers an inspiring message for anyone who wants to take control of his or her life and make a positive difference.
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Excellent
- By Dez on 10-27-08
By: Mark Sanborn
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Take the Risk
- Learning to Identify, Choose, and Live with Acceptable Risk
- By: Ben Carson M.D., Gregg Lewis
- Narrated by: Ben Carson M.D.
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In our risk-avoidant culture, we place a high premium on safety. We insure our vacations. We check crash tests on cars. We extend the warranties on our appliances. But by insulating ourselves from the unknown--the natural risks of life--we miss the great adventure of living our lives to their fullest potential.
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Why not use a professional narrator?
- By FNell on 12-29-07
By: Ben Carson M.D., and others
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Secrets, Lies, and Consequences
- A Great Scholar's Hidden Past and His Protégé's Unsolved Murder
- By: Bruce Lincoln
- Narrated by: Tom Beyer
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1991, Ioan Culianu was on the precipice of a brilliant academic career. Culianu had fled his native Romania and established himself as a widely admired scholar at just forty-one years old. He was teaching at the University of Chicago Divinity School where he was seen as the heir apparent to his mentor, Mircea Eliade, a fellow Romanian expatriate and the founding father of the field of religious studies, who had died a few years earlier.
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Scholarship and politics
- By Anonymous User on 06-27-24
By: Bruce Lincoln
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How Come That Idiot's Rich and I'm Not?
- By: Robert Shemin
- Narrated by: Robert Shemin
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In How Come That Idiot's Rich and I'm Not? best-selling author Robert Shemin reveals for the first time the inner-circle secrets of the mega-wealthy. Have you ever wondered why some people attract wealth while others stay financially trapped and in debt? The key is wealth-friendly, upside-down thinking. Stick with all the old moneymaking rules and stay broke. Break them and get rich. This is the audiobook that shows you how.
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Pretty interesting.
- By Mottoman on 07-08-09
By: Robert Shemin
What listeners say about The Unexpected Joy of the Ordinary
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- Amy Rose
- 06-26-24
A wonderful perspective on everything
The author takes us thru the mundane and sheds enlightenment on how to enjoy it!
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- Lisa Giesick
- 08-25-23
A joy
I loved this book. A great reminder to slow down and appreciate the things that happen every day.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Rachel
- 07-22-21
Worth your consideration.
I enjoyed the listen and benefited from the lesson. Great info and valuable life reminder.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Janakay
- 12-19-22
Another Five-Star by Ms. Gray
This is the third book by Catherine Gray that I have read. I love them all. Her books are well-written and thought provoking. The narration is pleasant and natural. It feels as though she is in your living room telling stories and giving advice, as opposed to reading a book. The only thing I do not like about this book is its title.
I highly recommend this audio book!
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- Smith-DeWitt family
- 08-15-21
Love this
Thank you. I love this perspective and the stories to back it up. We need more books like this.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Barbara
- 04-18-25
Narration by author is perfectly done
This book is not only positive and life-affirming, but her stories about appreciating simple things are backed up by science. Some audiobooks do not benefit from the author being the narrator. In this case, it adds another dimension of humor and honesty to the subjects. Nicely done!
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- ArtisticDirector
- 10-30-20
Happiness is in you
This is her second book that I’ve listened to. Her sobriety journey helped me achieve mine and I think for many of us, achieving sobriety is tinged with wanting more. Wanting more is inevitable I find… Finding happiness and joy and reminding ourselves that our brain power is stacked against us is what she shares with us in an always amusing and not saccharine way. If you are looking to find more joy in your life and perhaps your sobriety I highly recommend this book. Oh, it’s not just for women...
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7 people found this helpful
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- Rachel
- 04-05-22
Loved it!
This book is such a great reminder about experiencing the every day parts of life that bring us happiness. I absolutely loved it, but I truly enjoyed all of Catherine’s books.
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- Mary Ann Bennett
- 07-11-21
Life Changing
This book has taught me so many things. I will not pass it on but place it in my "must read again" library. Thank you, Catherine Gray. My life is better because of your insight, wisdom and humor.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Madeline Shannon
- 12-23-23
A breath of fresh air, a new perspective
A must read. This book, along with every other book this author has written, has helped shape a new, positive mindset and perspective. I’m forever thankful to have stumbled upon it.
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