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(Associated Press)

"Who Are You And What Do You Want: A Journey for the Best of Your Life" (Meredith Books, 256 pages, $24.95) writen by Mick Ukleja and Robert Lorber.

(UNDATED) People who stay in jobs or relationships they intensely dislike are apt to suffer physically and mentally.

''Your body keeps score of how closely your values and your behaviors align. Research shows that our level of integrity strengthens or weakens our immune system," write Mick Ukleja and Robert Lorber in "Who Are You And What Do You Want: A Journey for the Best of Your Life" (Meredith Books, 256 pages, $24.95).

The authors have devised a series of exercises to spur people into living their healthiest and best lives. Four main questions are divided into segments the authors call "dimensions": Who are you and what do you want? Where are you and why are you there? What will you do and how will you do it? Who are your allies and how can they help?

Between dimensions are anecdotes from people who lost their way. A man whose marriage has suffered because he works too much and too long gets a wake-up call from his wife via a Federal Express delivery. Another finds himself trapped in a cycle of alcohol abuse. The authors explain that these people suffered physically and emotionally because they forgot their values.

If you know who you are and what you want but are afraid to get it, this book won't be very helpful. But if you'd like to rediscover your true path in life, sharpen your pencils because there's plenty of work ahead.

PH END AXELROD

(Laura Axelrod is a staff writer for the Birmingham (Ala.) News. She can be contacted at laxelrod(at)bhamnews.com.)

2008-05-15-BOOKS-BESTOFLIFE

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