Don't Bite the Hook

This audiobook was way better than I expected for a 3 hour length. Focused, concise, and powerful.

TL;DR: Over time you've built up habits of being irritated or frustrated by certain triggers. Some of these are minor irritations, some are bigger and may be negatively affecting your own mental peace and relationships with loved ones. This book helps you to observe and question how you react to your triggers, in order to potentially change your perception and response to better align with your goal (presumably happiness). This audiobook explains that it's your own inner dialogue that's causing most of the pain, and gives suggestions for how to validate that, and fix it.

Pema Chödrön's personality made this teaching enjoyable. She was direct, funny, and relatable. I appreciated all of the personal examples, poking fun at people, and cursing (unexpected, and all the more delightful from a Buddhist nun).

Highly recommended if, like me, you're interested in working on being more patient and less irritable. A timely read as I'm stuck in my NYC apartment 24/7 with my family during COVID lockdown :)

6 lectures on sitting and dealing with emotions & thoughts.