Saturday 31 March 2012

Book Review: Simple Secrets to a Happy Life

Book Title Simple Secrets to a Happy Life
Author:  Luci Swindoll
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Cost: 15.99
Pages: 224 
How I got it: Advanced Readers Copy from Booksneeze.com
My rating: ★★★★☆ 
Synopsis:
Is it possible to stay full of life, laughter, love, and the Lord through eight decades in this crazy world? Is that even realistic? Yes! There is hope, and Luci Swindoll is living proof.With heart and humor, this best-selling author and beloved speaker lays out the truths that can help us all become a little more creative, organized, healthy, and happy. This is not a complex prescription for how to become superwoman. These are simple secrets, the wisdom produced by years of walking with God and living well.
We don’t need more tips for “having it all,” but we could all use insight on “having what matters,” and there is no better guide than Luci Swindoll.
Luci has spent eight decades accumulating the stories, memories, verses, and practical tips that make up Simple Secrets to a Happy Life. Whether traveling the world or building life-long friendships, singing in the opera or working for Mobil Oil, every step has taught her a little more about how to love God, love her neighbor, and love herself.
The result is both personal and universal. Organized into fifty short chapters, her reflections form a simple and profound outline for making the most of the lives God has given us.
My Review:
Written in short chapters headed by five simple words, "Simple Secrets to a happy life" by Kuci Swindoll is a short sweet reminder of some of life's simplest 'secrets'.

Written by a Christian for Christians, it however can be applied to anyone's life. You simply skip over the scriptures and accept the knowledge. For Christians, Swindoll quotes from the Bible showing different scriptures which show why these little anecdotes apply to your daily life.

I personally enyoued reading her personal stories which show why these particular 50 secrets have helped her live her life tot he fullest. Many of these 'secrets' are actually well known, yet we don't all follow them. Having them in one book is a great way on which to keep track of it within your life. This book personally couldn't have come at a better time for me, many of these things are coming up within my life right now and I am mediating on how to work them. I'm seeing them as a kick in the pants that I needed to get going on them. My copy of the book now has several tabs, and highlights of things I found to be pertinent.

Cons of the book: The very first chapter speaks to honoring your parents, which is a big Christian tenet, one which I ascribe to this day. But, as I was reading it the thought popped into my head " What if your parents aren't worth the air they breathe??" Some people shouldn't qualify to be human beings much less as parents. These people shouldn't be allowed back into your life especially if they have been verbally, physically or emotionally abusive to you or your family. They don't deserve to be 'honored' just so you can say you are being a good child. Swindoll who describes her home life as happy didn't make allowances for instances like this, perhaps because she herself has never experienced it. To reienforce her point she shared a story of a family friend who kept their mother who was abusive in their life .

Being a matyr shouldn't be required to prove you are a good human being, when someone is abusive, it's best to limit contact with them otherwise they would make it their mission to get back into control.

The other item I personally didn't like was her story in chapter 25 about the 'abusive' cub scout leader, 1) she didn't know if that was the cub scouts child, 2) as a non-parent discussing discipline techniques, I feel it's a no go because you haven't been there enough to know how or what works 3) it isn't abuse to give one tap to the head, I could see if the cub scout was beating this child down, but where did this belief come from that children are to only be coddled instead of disciplined?? Even if you don't agree with hitting children as a form of disciple, be careful what you term as 'abuse'.

Beyond this I personally enjoyed the book. It's a small easily accessible reminder to make life a whole lot simpler if we simply follow the known tenets that work instead of re-inventing the wheel.

***Blogging with intergrity and the FTC rules requires me as a blogger to state that I was given this book for free in exchange for a honest review. ***

Happy reading

2 comments:

  1. Love the stars! And the book sounds good too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Jess!! Made possible with your help of course, Happy Blogging

    ReplyDelete

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