Get Your Life Back by John Eldredge

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I finally got around to reading this book and I don't know why it took me so long. The title feels so lofty and yet John did a good job of small bites. He didn't overwhelm me with knowledge to the point I didn't know where to start, but he started in slow and added as he went along.  I was left with the festering thought that I need less of my phone and more of real life, something that I have known, and this book helped confirm that. I need to get outside, to absorb the beauty around me. I have a hard time just sitting and watching and soaking. I want to scroll my phone or read a book, not just sit and ponder.
John recommended the One-Minute Pause throughout the day: just a chance to stop, release to God what is going on in your life, receive the beauty around you, unplug from technology, etc. I need the reminders to just stop and seek God.
A quote from him on our phones and social media: "What has become the normal assumption of input is numbing the soul with artificial meaning and purpose while in fact the soul grows thinner and thinner through neglect, forced by the very madness that passes for a progressive life. We are literally being forced into the 'shallows' of our life." 
"The difficult truth we don't want to admit is this: the way you treat your own heart is the way you'll end up treating everyone else's"  How true is that? If I'm struggling with myself, I am not usually super kind and caring to those around me. 
I really enjoyed this book. My takeaway is to soak in the beauty. Beauty can heal and to just be okay to sit and enjoy the view. I don't have to be doing something all the time. God can't speak to me when I keep my mind and brain so full He can't get a word in edgewise.
I received this book from Thomas Nelson via NetGalley and was not required to write a positive review.  All opinions expressed are my own. 


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