Wednesday, April 18, 2018

The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are

Author: Brene Brown

Pages: 126

Rating: G

Summary: In this groundbreaking New York Times best seller, Dr. Brene Brown, a research professor and thought leader on vulnerability, courage, worthiness, and shame, shares ten guideposts on the power of Wholehearted living - a way of engaging with the world from a  place of worthiness.

My Thoughts: Ok, I could NOT find a decent summary of this book. BUT, it was so good. This is the first Brene Brown book I've read and I LOVED it. I wish I had more time to look through it and highlight and specifically put things into action, but it has to go back to the library! HOWEVER, I love that at the end of each chapter, she lists 3 things to do to get going in making a change in your life. I love it! For reference sake, I will list the chapter titles so you can see how awesome this book is.

1. Courage, Compassion, and Connection: The Gifts of Imperfection
2. Exploring the Power of Love, Belonging, and Being Enough
3. The Things that Get in the Way
4. Cultivating Authenticity: Letting Go of What People Think
5. Cultivating Self-Compassion: Letting Go of Perfectionism
6. Cultivating a Resilient Spirit: Letting Go of Numbing and Powerlessness
7. Cultivating Gratitude and Joy: Letting Go of Scarcity and Fear of the Dark
8. Cultivating Intuition and Trusting Faith: Letting Go of the Need for Certainty
9. Cultivating Creativity: Letting Go of Comparison
             A favorite quote from this chapter was "There's no such thing as creative people and non-creative people. There are only people who use their creativity and people who don't. Unused creativity doesn't just disappear. It lives within us until it's expressed, neglected to death, or suffocated by resentment and fear."
10. Cultivating Play and Rest: Letting Go of Exhaustion as a Status Symbol and Productivity as Self-Worth
11. Cultivating Calm and Stillness: Letting Go of Anxiety as a Lifestyle
12. Cultivating Meaningful Work: Letting Go of Self-Doubt and "Supposed to"
13. Cultivating Laughter, Song, and Dance: Letting Go of Being Cool and "Always in Control"

I really thought this book was excellent, and like I said, I wish I had more time with it to study it more in depth! Highly recommend.