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Writing from a personal perspective of mental illness and recovery, author Pantenburg has constructed a series of encouraging essays, arrayed in four parts. The first is a guide to understanding one's own character and circumstances and one's ability to deal with them. An individual's personality may be shaped by his or her place in the family. The first, middle, and the youngest child all take different approaches. Self-reliance is a key and can include exercise and persistence, acceptance of loss, and willingness to repair. Part Two deals with growth: learning to leave the "nest" of childhood, retaining or rejecting childlike values, making good choices, feeling proud of accomplishments, and developing mature relationships. Most people live in the "fast lane" and need to take time for calming, spiritual pursuits. In this segment, the author explores women's roles, their almost constant work (whether in the home or their careers), and their need for "a daily period of quiet at the eye of the storm."
In Part Three, she shifts to an examination of mental illness based on her struggles with depression. She points out that much effort has been focused on persons with special needs and physical handicaps. An equal amount needs to be placed on mental illness so that those with psychological disorders aren't categorized as somehow inferior. Don't, she warns, "discard" a potential genius because of the stigma of mental problems. The fourth section delves more deeply into the book's overarching theme: religious, specifically Christian inspiration. Anyone can become, Pantenburg emphasizes, "a member of God's team." She offers observations of real people who have ignored their own pain to reach out to others and how greatness can be seen in small ways. God, she says, is a good writer with a strong plot sense. Instead of giving up when all seems lost, we should wait for the next chapter.
In this artfully conceived aggregation, Pantenburg, who has worked in special education and counseling, speaks with the strength of someone who wishes to use her experience to help others forge a determined path to mental health. Her writing is fluid, intelligent, and contains occasional points of humor and human foible. She lists ways in which so-called normal people might pigeonhole those struggling with mental torment, along with positive affirmative thoughts and practices that those with such sufferings can utilize to lift themselves up and out of their depressive moods and attitude. She quotes from many sources, including self-help proponents like Rick Warren, the ancient wisdom of Socrates, wise women like Anne Morrow Lindbergh, reformer Carrie Nation, and those who have fought and risen beyond serious mental and physical barriers, such as Helen Keller, Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchill. Her own story shows her grit, including the inspiration for the book's title, offered by a friend who saw her suffering and stepped in with quiet encouragement. The author's Christian-based counsel is presented in a rational way designed to influence and hearten even those readers who perhaps have not considered religion as a possible road up and out of their difficulties.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review