So sorry, Brené, if you ever read this, that I couldn’t properly get the accent on your name in the title.

l’ll be honest, friends.  It took me a long time to get through this book.  I got about 3/4 the way through, then had to take a step back from it.  It contained so much awesome information and created so many new awarenesses that I couldn’t contain it all.  (And I think part of that was due to the fact that I had just come off previewing a bunch of novels for my kids, and Shannon Hale’s Princess Academy Series and The Ever Afters series by Shelby Bach have a significantly easier reading level.  I had been spoiled.)

I finally sat down with my notebook and decided the only way I was going to get through it was to take notes.  Which, frankly, I should have been doing anyways, since my comprehension and retention is so much better when I do.  It still took me a while, but I made it through.

The Gifts of Imperfection is so chock-full of information it’s hard for me to summarize in a paragraph for a review. So instead I will make a list of my favorite lessons learned:

1 – When we change ourselves to please others or to fit into the mold that we feel society has for us, it will only bring unhappiness.

2 – Allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, which includes embracing our imperfections, is imperative to loving ourselves and allowing others to love us.

3 – Hope is not an emotion, but a way of thinking.

4 – The opposite of joy is not sadness.  It is fear.

5 – The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty.

6 – Comparing ourselves to others will never lead to happiness.

I look forward to reading Brené’s other books.