Same Life, New Story by Jan Silvious

This book is about changing your life. Not a self-help book, per se, but rather a life coaching book that encourages one to put the past behind and start anew. The author uses women from the Bible as examples, as well as today's women. By using book writing - chapters, etc. as a metaphor, the reader is able to visualize how to make real life change. This is a ten week Bible study with questions of personal reflection, as well as group discussion questions.

This book is does not focus on overcoming the pain of the past, but rather ackowledges the process and encourages you to let go and move on. God is the ultimate author of your life, but you also have some control. Ultimately, you can remain complacent and stuck, or start a new "chapter" and live the life of joy that God wants for you. There is a lot of insight and new perspectives to be gained by reading this book. For exmaple:

Every life has themes (and do you have a recurring negative theme you need to change?)
Get unstuck from the belief system that can hold you up
Change your attitude, such as from I can't to I can; and, bad things happen in life, but you do not have to let them define you.
What-might-have-beens do not exist, so don't even waste your time thinking about it!
How to move on? you need to combine wisdom and courage

Honestly, I did not like the first chapter, but it gains much momentum from Chapter 2 through the last chapter. I recommend this book, but with the knowledge that it is more of a life coaching approach than providing insight on how to deal with the pain from the past in order to move on. The author glosses over the painful process of dealing with painful life circumstantces, which tends to over simplify the process of starting anew. Yet again, I do not believe it was the author's intention to take the reader through a deep, psychological process, but rather encourage readers that it is possible to change your life!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”