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Courage and Croissants
Inspiring Joyful Living
Suzanne Saxe-Roux, Ed.D. and Jean-Pierre Roux, Ph.D.
Growing up we were told we could have it all, the American Dream—challenging careers, a rewarding marriage, financial success, increasing amounts of leisure time and even children if we wanted.
Much has changed since 1931 when "The American Dream" was first coined by James Turslow Adams in his book, The Epic of America. Over the past 40 years, the American Dream slowly evolved into devoting your life to your work at all costs. By 2005, the catalyst organization reported that 83% of households had two working adults earning income outside the home and approximately half of those households have children under 18, a 63% increase since 1950. This shift in lifestyle alone has drastically changed how Americans spend their time. Life has become about developing one’s career, living and breathing work, and doing household chores.
Courage and Croissants is the story and a life guidebook of a mid-life, dual-career couple with a young daughter who took the risk to go in search of what was truly important to them. At its heart is a love of family and the desire for a better quality of life. It is a story for anyone who has ever wondered—is there more to life? It's a story and a guidebook about knowing when it is time to compose a different life experience, having the courage to make dreams happen, embracing the simple joys of living, and focusing on what is important in life. It is about learning the French secret to living with Joie de Vivre wherever you might be.
Courage and Croissants begins with the couple’s search for balance, and clarity in a hectic modern world. Reeling from the stress of life as a dual career couple with a young daughter, they decided to give up a life that was full of status but lacking in sanity. They left the housecleaner and gardener behind, along with the SUVs, moving instead to a small village in the South of France. They would take time to live simply, reassess, learn and grow as a family, be invigorated for the next phase of life and learn from the French what Joie de Vivre really looks like.
Courage and Croissants reads like a novel and includes a focused guidebook on how to create the life you want to live. The sections include; Part I: Old Ways, Part II: Transition, Part III: New Ways;Healthy Living, Sensuality, Art and Creativity, Travel and Adventure, Part IV: Life Lessons and Moving Forward, and Part V: Guidebook - 14 key Tips. Through their stories, the reader finds themselves transported to a place in which they can begin to find small and big ways to live with greater joy and balance.
Courage and Croissants is for everyone from 35-65, who is thinking that life needs to shift—whether they need a break from the stresses of modern living, are nearing retirement, yearn for time with their family, want to make some simple choices to bring back more joy in their life or are just tired of the rat race. Not only does it take the reader on the journey of one family’s indepth look at what living with Joie de Vivre really means, it provides guided tips, inspiration and education for those looking to make small and big changes in their lives. It is a narrative guidebook appealing to career professionals who love to grow and learn, adventuress parents, pre-retirees and retirees, armchair travelers, and those who love to travel and experience a different side of life.
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The authors, Suzanne Saxe-Roux Ed.D and Jean Roux MFT, Ph.D., are successful entrepreneurs who have spent the past twenty-five years educating and developing corporate America. Their life work focuses on helping people to develop personally and professionally. Suzanne is founder and past-president of Advance Consulting, Inc, a management consulting and training company and coauthor of The Consultative Approach: Partnering for Results! published by Jossey-Bass, a contributor to Building Bridges, From Writers to Readers, and a SF Examiner.com columnist. Not only are they experts in helping other people through life transitions and transformations and experienced public speakers, they have first hand experience of successfully navigating that process themselves and millions of stories to tell.
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Like, Why French Women Don't get Fat, this book inspires all of us to reexamine how we are living and how we want to live in order to regain balance, good health, and joy. Suzanne and Jean bring to us ideas, how-to's and a fantastic story on how busy urban families can make simple choices on how to live their lives. As a result, stress is reduced, mental and physical health improves, leisure time is truly leisurely and life becomes enjoyable again.
Read the Preface and Introduction to Courage and Croissants.
Read one of my favorite stories that will inspire you too!
Read about the trends that have shifted the way we need to look at work and life
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