by John Michael Stuart, MSW
I started this book not realizing that it was meant to be a self-help book. Therefore, it was a bit of a struggle to read as my expectations for it were different than what it turned out to be. John Stuart has cerebral palsy which he was born with due to being deprived of oxygen for four minutes. He is therefore physically disabled, and faces all of the challenges that come with this. Throughout the book he intersperses stories and events from his life with inspirational messages and ways of thinking. I got the book looking to read the stories, and discovered that the inspirational messages were a bigger part of the book. At first I was annoyed; and frankly, almost stopped reading it, but then I decided as I was already 45 pages in to give it a shot and keep going. And I'm glad I did. It is a good book! A lot of the things he recommends to help you learn to accept yourself, move on, and be happy in life are things that I've discovered since becoming an Orthodox Christian. Just two quick examples are: 1. the power of your mind over your body; 2. the power of forgiveness to move you toward reconciliation. In Orthodoxy we fast to help us overcome our fallen bodies which are weak, and we are expected to forgive constantly. To demonstrate the forgiveness aspect we begin each Lenten period before Pascha (our Easter) by attending a Forgiveness Vespers where after the service we all line up and ask every member of the parish including our families for forgiveness. In which they reply, "God forgives, and I forgive". I'm not sure of John Stuart's religious beliefs or if he even has any, but a number of the truths he brings about in his book are "perfectly" stated.
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