On the same lines of the previous comment, I've found this book to be very useful:

http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-Go-There-Are/dp/140130778...

Was recommended on one of HN's threads about meditation.

Entangld, this is a great app. I hope you will find some time for healing.

Stress burns the mind in the same way as physical activity burns the muscle. At some point you need to give your mind a rest. I suggest this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Full-Catastrophe-Living-Wisdom-Illness...

or this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-Go-There-Are/dp/140130778...

This should help you keep your strengths intact regardless of your current situations ... who is to say that next endeavor will be better than the previous one.

There's lots and lots of research out there that meditation increases insight, memory, improves sleep, reduces stress, reduces the physical perception of pain, improves, well, just about everything.

Useful refs:

http://www.amazon.com/Destructive-Emotions-Scientific-Dialog... (the Audio CD set is even better, imo, with actual dialog)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Research_on_meditation

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43006-2005Jan...

My favorite intros to secular meditation (that is, non-religious Buddhism):

http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-There-Are-ROUGH/dp/140130...

http://www.amazon.com/When-Things-Fall-Apart-Difficult/dp/B0...

http://www.amazon.com/Being-Nobody-Going-Nowhere-Meditations...

Doing what I learned in from three, plus the Destructive Emotions audio book, absolutely transformed my life. Like night and day. Now I'm one of the best-adjusted people I know, despite having gone through (and, in a few cases, done) some horrendous things.

What mindfulness meditation teaches you, above all physical side effects, is to accept things as they are. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try to change them, if they're truly bad, but most people deny what is reality. As if that helps. (I sure did.) But denying just hurts more, doesn't make it untrue, of course, and denial makes it impossible for you to improve things.

I think most of the troubles in life are caused by denial.

And, bonus, the level of mindfulness makes it easy for me to spot user interface/process (and therefor product) opportunities because I almost never just "tune out" and work on autopilot.

Have you read Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn? http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-There-Are-ROUGH/dp/140130...

He is my favorite author when it comes to meditation because he focus on mindfulness and not Buddhism or more "spiritual" things as most meditation books do. He also has tapes for guided meditation that are a good way to start meditating everyday.

Meditation is not a quick fix. It is a journey inside oneself where you uncover a lot of things about yourself and especially your mind.

Stress relieving can be done in several ways such as: running, yoga, swimming or even just something simple like doodling or painting.

Few good books if you really want to look into meditation are: http://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-There-Are-Mindfulness/dp/... http://www.amazon.com/Minute-Meditation-Quiet-Mind-Change/dp... http://www.amazon.com/Book-Secrets-Keys-Love-Meditation/dp/0...