"This book, a profound willingness, a pen and paper is all you need to find yourself in God."
Information overload. This describes a situation when the amount of data input to a system exceeds its processing capacity. When this occurs, the system shuts down, freezes, and fails to function. You may have experienced this when your computer crashes and you must reboot. Simple solution for a piece of equipment.
But what happens when you are the one crashing? It's a fact - human beings experience information overload and the results can be drastic. It leaves us quaking in our boots, unable to understand the issues and completely at a loss for making decisions.
As a species, we are all being subjected to information overload at this time in history. There is no hiding from the reality of the virus ravaging our world. We are constantly bombarded with news of the rising numbers of COVID-19 victims and the climbing death toll. How do we cope with the global crisis we face along with the challenges that are a natural part of life?
Health educator, Rebecca Bassham gives us practical solutions. She explains that just as the physical body must be nourished and exercised, the mind also benefits from healthy food, education, and mental exercise.
"The soul is your immaterial or spiritual essence, which is contained within the human nature of your physical being. Intelligence, personality, and emotion reflect the state of your mental health and capabilities. Likewise, temperament, disposition, attitude, and frame of mind reflect the status of your soul, or spiritual health."
Rather than pushing the issues aside or candy-coating them with platitudes, we are advised to get real about the information that is threatening our ability to fend for ourselves in a stormy world. Facing the details with intelligence allows us to convert them to an organized system of knowledge that with application, becomes wisdom. When we can put order to the massive amounts of data we encounter, we go beyond coping and move into purposeful existence.
Each chapter in the book contains a lesson, followed by a set of thought-provoking questions the reader is given space to answer. The lessons are based on the author's real-life experiences, navigating her way through life's ups and downs as a wife, mother, coach, businesswoman and friend, seeking realization through God's Word. She has aptly named her life-lessons, "Character-Building Opportunities" or "CBOs". We are encouraged to delve deeper and deeper, with the knowledge that there is always more to learn, and in so doing we become stronger in our relationship to the self and to God.
The twenty-one chapters or lessons are presented with honestly and at times, with humor. The author bares her soul to us, drawing us closer to her in trust. She fearlessly admits her failed attempts at floundering in the darkness of confusion and doubt until at last she gains a glimpse of the bigger picture. She inspires us with the courage to scrutinize every detail of our lives, to gather the multitudinous information and use it to propel ourselves forward into the greatness of which we were endowed.
According to scientific studies, it takes twenty-one days to change a brain pattern, or make a shift in perspective. Each lesson in the book is meant to be completed in a daily sequence. With application, your soul will be nourished, and your life will change for the better. The process will help you become better acquainted with the body-mind-spirit connection. You will acquire a new level of confidence and sense of control over your destiny. You will delight in the author's words, her entertaining anecdotes, her profound faith in God's Word, and her obvious, deep compassion for all of us.