Seven Skills to Achieve the Life You Desire
New wellness book explores the rest of health
Dallas/ Ft. Worth, TX—Mike staggers into the emergency room, presenting what he believes are the classic signs of a heart attack. Soon his condition stabilizes, and the E. R. doctor sweeps into the room to assess Mike’s problem. Mike is not having a heart attack, but the symptoms that brought him to the hospital have been caused by something…
Mike is the main character in The Rest of Health, a new work of creative non-fiction by authors David and Sonya Cameron. As readers follow Mike’s story, it soon becomes clear that there is more to his E.R. visit than meets the eye. The Rest of Health brings readers along as Mike confronts both the areas of conflict and the neglected facets of his life. Along the way, he discovers that true health is not something that can be achieved by simply producing the right numbers (i.e., blood pressure, weight, cholesterol). Mike’s journey to total health and wellness incorporates seven steps:
1. Looking to learn
2. Transforming your thinking
3. Establishing healthy boundaries
4. Caring for your body
5. Raising your emotional I.Q.
6. Cultivating your spiritual life
7. Fine-tuning relationships
The Camerons have been working in the healthcare/mental health field for over a decade, and both have chosen career paths that involve a cross-section of the general public. David has served as a family practice physician in a community health clinic for 10 years. Sonya has over 12 years of experience in community mental health and private practice doing marriage and family counseling.
“In both of our practices, we constantly see people who view health too narrowly. Many people think of health as dropping pounds, lowering blood pressure, etc. These are all good, healthy things, but when the underlying motive is simply to look better physically, that is evidence that a patient doesn’t really understand the meaning of ‘health.’ After working with so many patients, we have seen that before a patient can make lasting changes in any area of life—and this includes physical health—they must take a step back and look at the bigger picture of their life.”
My Review:
Part story, part self-help, part therapy, The Rest of Health, is a complete prescription for rethinking your life.
Written by a married couple, a medical doctor and a licensed therapist, the book is a compilation of their experience, wisdom and faith.
The fictional account of a marriage made up of individuals with issues that collide teaches coping techniques and stress killing better choices. The integrated recipe or prescription would be enough to help the average struggler to get beyond some of the pitfalls that make for an unfulfilled life. Though those with serious issues probably won't find enough help within the pages to fix major life trauma this book can offer the answers to questions that unhappy folks may not even know to ask.
The fiction gets a bit preachy at times, and the point of view is omniscient, so as fiction goes the story is not compelling escapism. But the idea to put dry facts within a story to get points and examples across to an audience is a great idea. This book would be a great small group study.
