An Accidental Awakening

I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review. This story before reading it, I wondered if it would just be telling us the tools. The story is about Stephanie and her journey to healing herself. I really hope every woman reads this book because Stephanie was like most women at first it was hard to think about doing something just for her. But her husband supported her and she took the first step.
We do find out about different tools or techniques that she discovered and we also find how it affected her life. Toward the end of the story, Stephanie and her husband go away for the weekend. Both Stephanie and her husband enjoyed it but they had a conversation as the weekend was ending which if they had it before, it would have been a different weekend for them both but it would have been a little more fulfilling.
I enjoyed reading Stephanie's memoir, many things are making sense to me, some make me think about new ways of healing and by reading her story, I can see that a woman isn't being selfish when they do something for themselves, it enriched her life, which also enriched her families life.
The story flowed smoothly, and I would definitely recommend this book. I got a lot out of reading this book and I think you and my friends will too.

First of all, despite knowing of her injury, I can't help but roll my eyes and think "ugh, here we go again. another whiny, privileged gunk unraveling her misfortunes for some tea and sympathy."

Don't get me wrong, while wading through Part I, I cried for her and with her. I understand that it sure isn't easy to accept the fact that you can't do some things you enjoy because your body wouldn't sustain the strain. One could've coped better had they been given the time to mourn over it by themselves. Then again, she's a wife and a mom. She can't very well just put that part of her life on hold!

It just looked to me like this was a case of an overachiever, who felt the need to be a success in every aspect of life as the norm would dictate, who then found out one day that they really were just living their lives to impress.

Having said that, I trudged through Part I. It wasn't that it was boring, it was more like a necessary thing but altogether not enjoyable. Like that first step whenever you need to do something.

Then I reached Part II and I began to change my perspective on this book. I was reading her story, tagging along her journey, as a reader and yet, I found myself so engrossed in the activities, the reflections, that I felt like I unwittingly went on a journey of self-healing.

I wanted to fully absorb what I've just read, learned. I wanted to answer the questions I never even knew I had. I want to know, understand, put into words that feeling that surfaced, triggered by something that I read on the book. So, I stopped reading and wrestled with life, as is. Other times, I even read other books, in between. I needed to savor every bit of the experience before moving forward.

To lay the rawness of your self, warts and all, out in the open and manage to inject doses of humor and manage to turn it into something that can also help others! I am in awe of the author and indeed very thankful for this opportunity.

I received an ecopy of this book for my honest opinion.
Stephanie’s journey to finding herself is relatable not just for women, but also for men, whether they have children or not. In Life we all push ourselves so hard to get everything done, meet every goal, or make things so perfect that we lose our Self. Stephanie shared quite a few tips, tools, and techniques. There were some that resonated with me, and I am going to try them out.