"Breathing Room" and the tagline - letting go so you can really live - I found very appealing. Thinking of most of the women I know, we could all use a bit of breathing room at some time, rather than being swamped in the endless to do's that seem to litter our days.
So I embarked on reading this with great anticipation. Amazon wrote "An honest conversation that helps women transform their feelings of failure and shame into a grace-filled life of self-care and self-compassion."
It's a big statement for Tankersley to live up to and I did in fact find that this book did deliver an honest conversation. Tankersley writes with candid honesty which I found somewhat refreshing. She describes her own personal struggles and manages to do so without sounding self-pitying and there was an element of humour to her work. I found myself smiling at some of the situations she described herself in. However, when I had finished the book, I can't say I felt directed in any way towards helping myself transform any feelings of failure or shame in to a grace-filled life of self-care and self-compassion. Tankersley delivers a narrative of how she managed to do so, treating herself with a lot more care and making sure she put her own needs first.
Tankersley also embraces the concepts laid out in twelve step programs and mentions our need to develop a relationship with God. I was unsure whether this was supposed to be a Christian author or not as there is little biblical reference throughout, but more the secular view of building relationship with God, however you understand Him. For that reason, I think this would be a popular read with a much broader audience than Christian women.
I enjoyed reading her narrative and was encouraged to see how she'd tackled her own difficulties but I can't say this book lives up to it's title or it's promises, and found it told how one woman overcame her depression and difficulties by becoming more self-nurturing.
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