{"id":86364,"date":"2022-12-13T00:54:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-13T04:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=86364"},"modified":"2022-12-14T15:48:30","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T19:48:30","slug":"accepting-change-in-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Accepting Change in Life: Pursue the Path to Equilibrium &#038; Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is &#8220;the path&#8221;? How can it help you with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change\/\">accepting change in life<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mo Gawdat&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/happiness-formula\/\">formula for happiness<\/a> involves understanding that change is inevitable. If you don&#8217;t <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accept-change\/\">embrace change<\/a>, you&#8217;ll suffer. He argues that pursuing &#8220;the path&#8221; is the best way to stop resisting change in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Continue reading to discover Gawdat&#8217;s advice for accepting change and see how this is connected to your happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-accepting-change-in-life\">Accepting Change in Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Gawdat\u2019s second pillar complements the misconception of control. Control is illusory, he argues, because <strong>change is constant and inexorable<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite the inevitability of change, we attempt to control our lives and resist changes to it. Because change upends our best-laid plans, our expectations are rarely met, which makes us unhappy. For example, you might enter college preparing to enter an in-demand field, only to have your plans upended when, upon graduating, the same field is oversaturated with recent graduates.&nbsp;Accepting change in life is necessary if we are to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/stay-happy-and-positive\/\">find joy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: In <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/super-thinking-the-big-book-of-mental-models\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Super Thinking<\/em><\/a>, Gabriel Weinberg and Lauren McCann emphasize that change is especially prevalent in business contexts. Consequently, they argue that to succeed, <a href=\"https:\/\/shortform.com\/app\/book\/super-thinking-the-big-book-of-mental-models#use-natural-models-to-become-adaptable\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">businesses must adapt to changing societal preferences<\/a> by consistently reevaluating their assumptions, which quickly become outdated in the face of broad change.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To reach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/lasting-happiness\/\">lasting happiness<\/a> in the face of constant change, Gawdat recommends pursuing \u201c<em>the path<\/em>,\u201d a concept synthesized from Buddhism, Islam, and ancient Chinese philosophy. Simply put, <strong>following the path requires letting your life reach equilibrium<\/strong>\u2014the point of effortless acceptance where we no longer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/why-do-people-resist-change\/\">resist change<\/a>. (Shortform note: Buddhism promotes the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/Eightfold-Path\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eightfold Path<\/a>, which describes eight elements necessary for enlightenment, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/eckhart-tolle-meditation-mindfulness\/\">mindfulness<\/a> and good intentions. In Islam, following the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.islamicstudies.info\/tafheem.php?sura=6&amp;verse=151&amp;to=153\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Straight Path<\/a> leads to Allah by obeying his commandments. In ancient Chinese philosophy, <em>tao<\/em> means \u201cthe path\u201d or \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newworldencyclopedia.org\/entry\/Daoism\">the way<\/a>\u201d; within Taoism, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/app\/book\/tao-te-ching\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tao refers to the natural order of the universe<\/a> and the guiding energy within us that connects us to everything around us.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On a more practical level, following the path entails not pushing for extremes. For instance, rather than exercising incessantly on one extreme, or steadfastly avoiding exercise on the other, exercise in moderation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><strong>The Three Truths of the Path<\/strong><br><br>According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/buddha-journey\/\">Buddha<\/a>, following the path requires accepting three key truths, called the <a href=\"https:\/\/plato.stanford.edu\/entries\/mind-indian-buddhism\/#2.1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">marks of existence<\/a>:<br><br>\u2022 Unsatisfactoriness\u2014suffering\u2014is pervasive because we\u2019re ignorant of the true nature of reality.<br><br>\u2022 Impermanence is ubiquitous since reality is composed of fleeting moments. Consequently, we suffer because we fail to recognize this impermanence.<br><br>\u2022 There is no enduring self underlying our subjective experience. Our illusory attachment to our \u201cself\u201d causes us to suffer.&nbsp;<br><br>In Buddhism, embracing these marks of existence ameliorates our ignorance and leads to <em>nirvana<\/em>, the end of suffering.&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When you accept that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/change-is-part-of-life\/\">change is part of life<\/a>, you\u2019ll find that your efforts work <em>with <\/em>change, rather than against it; you\u2019ll be swimming with the current rather than floundering against it. Consequently, your expectations will be better aligned with reality, which allows you to consistently be happy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is &#8220;the path&#8221;? How can it help you with accepting change in life? Mo Gawdat&#8217;s formula for happiness involves understanding that change is inevitable. If you don&#8217;t embrace change, you&#8217;ll suffer. He argues that pursuing &#8220;the path&#8221; is the best way to stop resisting change in life. Continue reading to discover Gawdat&#8217;s advice for accepting change and see how this is connected to your happiness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":86367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,6],"tags":[828],"class_list":["post-86364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psychology","category-spiritual","tag-solve-for-happy","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Accepting Change in Life: Pursue the Path to Equilibrium &amp; Joy - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mo Gawdat&#039;s happiness formula involves accepting change in life. He argues that pursuing &quot;the path&quot; is the best way to stop resisting change.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Accepting Change in Life: Pursue the Path to Equilibrium &amp; Joy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mo Gawdat&#039;s happiness formula involves accepting change in life. He argues that pursuing &quot;the path&quot; is the best way to stop resisting change.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-13T04:54:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-14T19:48:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/happy-people-running-on-path-trail.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elizabeth Whitworth\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\"},\"headline\":\"Accepting Change in Life: Pursue the Path to Equilibrium &#038; Joy\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-13T04:54:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-14T19:48:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/\"},\"wordCount\":519,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/happy-people-running-on-path-trail.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Solve for Happy\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Psychology\",\"Spiritual\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/\",\"name\":\"Accepting Change in Life: Pursue the Path to Equilibrium & Joy - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/happy-people-running-on-path-trail.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-13T04:54:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-14T19:48:30+00:00\",\"description\":\"Mo Gawdat's happiness formula involves accepting change in life. He argues that pursuing \\\"the path\\\" is the best way to stop resisting change.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/happy-people-running-on-path-trail.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/happy-people-running-on-path-trail.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Accepting Change in Life: Pursue the Path to Equilibrium &#038; Joy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elizabeth Whitworth\"},\"description\":\"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.\",\"sameAs\":[\"rina@shortform.com\"],\"award\":[\"Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)\",\"Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)\",\"Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)\",\"Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"History\",\"Theology\",\"Government\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Senior SEO Writer\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Accepting Change in Life: Pursue the Path to Equilibrium & Joy - Shortform Books","description":"Mo Gawdat's happiness formula involves accepting change in life. He argues that pursuing \"the path\" is the best way to stop resisting change.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Accepting Change in Life: Pursue the Path to Equilibrium & Joy","og_description":"Mo Gawdat's happiness formula involves accepting change in life. He argues that pursuing \"the path\" is the best way to stop resisting change.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2022-12-13T04:54:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-12-14T19:48:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/happy-people-running-on-path-trail.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elizabeth Whitworth","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elizabeth Whitworth","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/"},"author":{"name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13"},"headline":"Accepting Change in Life: Pursue the Path to Equilibrium &#038; Joy","datePublished":"2022-12-13T04:54:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-14T19:48:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/"},"wordCount":519,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/happy-people-running-on-path-trail.jpg","keywords":["Solve for Happy"],"articleSection":["Psychology","Spiritual"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/","name":"Accepting Change in Life: Pursue the Path to Equilibrium & Joy - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/happy-people-running-on-path-trail.jpg","datePublished":"2022-12-13T04:54:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-14T19:48:30+00:00","description":"Mo Gawdat's happiness formula involves accepting change in life. He argues that pursuing \"the path\" is the best way to stop resisting change.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/happy-people-running-on-path-trail.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/happy-people-running-on-path-trail.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/accepting-change-in-life\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Accepting Change in Life: Pursue the Path to Equilibrium &#038; Joy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d2928cf6c11a69ced1491d6a5b74fb13","name":"Elizabeth Whitworth","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1fff9d65a52ac4340660218e7b63ee5e365cf08e7aa7adff79a0142cd4b96f84?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elizabeth Whitworth"},"description":"Elizabeth has a lifelong love of books. She devours nonfiction, especially in the areas of history, theology, and philosophy. A switch to audiobooks has kindled her enjoyment of well-narrated fiction, particularly Victorian and early 20th-century works. She appreciates idea-driven books\u2014and a classic murder mystery now and then. Elizabeth has a Substack and is writing a book about what the Bible says about death and hell.","sameAs":["rina@shortform.com"],"award":["Contributions to joint task force efforts (FBI)","Contributions to Special Operations Division (DOJ & DEA)","Efforts to fight the war on drugs (NSA)","Contributions to Operation Storm Front (US Customs Service)"],"knowsAbout":["History","Theology","Government"],"jobTitle":"Senior SEO Writer","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/elizabeth\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/happy-people-running-on-path-trail.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86364"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86746,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86364\/revisions\/86746"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}