As promised I wanted my next post to finally be my next book review. Quite honestly there couldn't have been a better time in my life to read this, and I am so excited to share my thoughts!

Oola for Women: How to Balance the 7 Key Areas of Life to Have Less Stress, More Purpose, and Reveal the Greatness Within You is the sequel book (in a sense) to the first book I reviewed, Oola Find Balance in an Unbalanced World by Dave Braun (the OolaSeeker) and Troy Amdahl (the OolaGuru), however, Oola for Women is a little different. Instead of Braun and Amdahl being the sole authors, this book is made up of stories from forty two women. These women are fans who wrote in to share their stories, business women who have worked with them, or even family members of the Oola guys. I found this to be incredibly touching but also it made for an interesting read with the constant change in styles of writing and perspective (I know, I know my English major is showing here). Before I get too much into my thoughts here, let me just write up a quick summary.

Now that I have the basic summary out of the way, let's move on to my thoughts. Quite honestly I wasn't planning on reading this one right away. Not because I wasn't eager to read it or anything along those lines, but because I have a few other books I want to review for my page. One of my first weeks at home after losing my job, I saw it laying on my nightstand and something was just telling me to pick it up and start reading. Something just told me that this book would comfort me in a time that I was feeling a bit lost and scared for the future. I was absolutely right. Within the introduction a passage stuck out to me so much, and really helped put things into perspective for me. The OolaSeeker tells a story of how the OolaGuru helped him through a tough time in his life. He tells the OolaSeeker a story of how a car is built with the exact design it needs to in order to properly keep your eyes on the road. A small rearview mirror to briefly look behind you, but not for too long. A large windshield to look ahead and see the broad picture in front of you. You need to check the rearview mirror occasionally, but your main attention should be on the road ahead (pg. 19). The OolaSeeker's response to this really stuck with me:

The book also includes a workbook (as does the first) and even includes this fun OolaWoman Goal/dream sticker!

As I mentioned, I wasn't originally planning on reading this book just yet, but something inside of me told me to pick it up that day and there was a reason for that. I am sitting home right now on my very last week of unemployment. I start my new job on Monday and just finished this book last night. I think it is pretty funny that I started this book on my first week and then finished it during my last week of my unemployment journey. I read this book at a somewhat slow pace, and that was by no means because it didn't hold my attention. I simply paced myself because I needed the therapy it offered. Hearing about the stories of real life women going through similar, and even worse problems in their lives, yet they all still pushed through was so incredibly inspiring to me.