Recently I finally got around to reading Mark Manson’s Subtle Art of Not Giving a F#ck! It’s actually a pretty good secular ethic. The central message: don't’ sweat the small stuff. Know what is important to you. Manson says you can’t be indifferent to everything, you really should just know what to care about.
It’s actually a familiar message, from a religious point of view. It is almost entirely Buddhist in accepting that life is imperfect and involves suffering. So, stop craving things. The Christian Bible says the same thing (Matthew 6:27), the Muslim Quran says God will not overburden you (2:228), and the Hindu Bhagavad Gita tries get you to a state of healthy equanimity. This is what strongly interests me in religion, the healthy
psychological tips and good ethics it has. Many people overlook this and are aware of only the fanatics.
How did Mark Manson take an essentially old ethic, an old idea, and turn it into a best seller? Simply this: a catchy title, very good, vivid, writing, and interesting personal experiences. People may not know it, but Manson succeeded in bringing religious spiritual message “down to earth.”