Give Yourself a Break by Kim Fredrickson - REVIEWED

About the Book:
It's time to start treating yourself the way you treat others
As children we're taught to treat others the way we would like to be treated. But as adults, we often need to turn that old maxim around. We're good at showing compassion to other people--but many of us have trouble showing that same compassion to ourselves. We say things to ourselves we would never say to a friend. And all this negative self-talk can have a devastating effect on our lives and relationships.

Licensed marriage and family therapist Kim Fredrickson wants you to stop beating yourself up. Grounding her advice in Scripture, she offers practical steps, specific exercises, and compassionate words to say in order to build a loving relationship with yourself. Through inspiring stories of transformation, she'll help you learn to show yourself the kind of grace and understanding you offer to others--and to change your relationships, your outlook on life, and your view of yourself in the process.

My Thoughts:

“So what does it mean to treat ourselves with kindness?  It is an awareness  and decision to treat oneself as a precious creation of God.  It is a choice to be gentle and understanding rather than to treat oneself with harshness and criticism.”  (p. 59)

Self-Compassion is not a new concept.  Jesus taught mercy and grace to every life He touched, and sent His Holy Spirit to guide us in loving others – including ourselves.  I don’t know about you, but I tend to be my harshest critic and most condemning  judge.  I show little mercy to myself when I sin or make a careless mistake. Kim Fredrickson’s book, Give Yourself a Break isn’t encouraging us to take pity on ourselves.  Rather, she is asking us to consider showing compassion to ourselves and see ourselves through God’s eyes of unconditional love.

She encourages readers that it is NEVER to late to learn self-compassion.  We can change the voices of self-condemnation and judgement to a more compassionate voice of mercy and encouragement.  When we learn to do this – and it is a process through which we must have grace and mercy with ourselves – all of our other relationships reap the benefit.  When we are compassionate to ourselves, we can love others better.  Changing the way we relate to ourselves literally changes all of our relationships!

That is tremendously good news to me!!  I did a lot of highlighting and note taking as I read this book, and I encourage everyone to approach this book thoughtfully and prayerfully.  Learn to speak kindly to yourself, and when it is time to repent and ask God’s forgiveness, or the forgiveness of others, we can receive and offer forgiveness more easily when we see ourselves as God sees us – His redeemed and precious child.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to everyone!  It will literally change the way you think!!  

About the Author:

Kim Fredrickson has been a licensed marriage and family therapist and certified Christian life coach for more than twenty-five years. An adjunct professor, speaker, and author, she loves helping people become equipped spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually with practical skills to live more effective and fulfilling lives. Her website offers visitors helpful articles, encouraging recordings, and additional resources. She has been married to her husband, Dave, for thirty-seven years and they have two grown children. Fredrickson lives in California. Learn more at www.kimfredrickson.com.