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What if There Is Nothing Wrong With You: A Practice in Reinterpretation
What If There Is Nothing Wrong With You is a book and practice about:
Dissolving and dismantling your belief that something is wrong with you and replacing that belief with what is ... exactly that, nothing more, nothing less.
Redefining your personal path to a new interpretation of right and wrong.
Discovering the satisfaction of adopting this new perspective, and how to best use it every day for a more productive and fulfilling life.
- GenresSelf HelpNonfiction
126 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 14, 2018
7 people are currently reading
279 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 13, 2018
Short but impactful...given to me by the author herself on chance Meeting! Even better.
December 14, 2023
این کتاب بسیار کوتاه و مختصر نوشته شده است، اما در عین کوتاهی رسالت خودش را ایفا می‌کند. در مجموع ۸ فصل دارد که در انتهای هر فصل یک تمرین شخصی آورده شده که توصیه می‌کنم که حتماً قلم و کاغذ بردارید و تمرین‌ها را انجام دهید. با انجام تمرین‌ها متوجه می‌شوید که چقدر این کتاب در راستای رشد شما و کمک به پذیرش خودتان موثر و مفید است. به همه کسانی که احساس می‌کنند بارهای احساسی و ذهنی فراوانی از گذشته روی شانه هایشان سنگینی می‌کند، خواندن کتاب و انجام تمرینات آن را توصیه می‌کنم.
October 21, 2023
I chose this book as someone who is overly critical of myself and, admittedly, others. Although, my criticisms are far worse directed at the mirror than a stranger or a friend. I thought a self-help book focused on changing perspective would help.
Don't get me wrong, the premise of the book is great. The questions you face are helpful and the notes section at the back to help complete each chapter's "homework" is cute. I use "homework", but they are questions posed at the end of each chapter to really get you thinking and engaging with what that chapter has tried to teach you. A brilliant addition that I've seen other books do to get readers to really engage in their personal development. After all, that's why they're reading it.
So, if it's so great and helpful, why only 3 stars?
As great a start as it has, as you read further on, the points seem to... lose momentum. By chapter 4, I found that the points the author was trying to make were getting lost. Thoughts felt unfinished. Reading it felt like the words were grasping at something, but didn't quite reach it.
It's all good to say we need to remove judgement, but the book doesn't seem to address exactly how we do that. Henkels includes some very traumatic, personal experiences which feel rather empty; brushed over and eventually used as examples of how to stop placing judgments, but not quite explaining the steps.
I don't expect a book to do all the heavy lifting for me. If you're going to write a book all about how someone can reframe their own limiting self-beliefs, though, you need to teach them how. Maybe it's just one of those things that are easier said than done. Hell, I know it is. Yet, I can't help but feel that people reading this who are less aware of the techniques than I am would feel lost and confused.
The whole premise is based on the meme phrase "it is what it is" which is a great way of learning how to accept what happens in life. As someone who uses that exact phrase too often, I see its appeal. However, my main criticism is that this phrase is also too often used to minimise and repress our emotions and I don't feel this book addresses this point well enough to help effectively.
This is a great book for anyone just starting their self-awareness journey; someone just beginning to heal and looking for a place to start. But for someone like me, who has spent years trying to heal, it comes across as shallow; the advice is sound, but doesn't really address the 'how' or even the 'why' to the required extent.
Don't get me wrong, the premise of the book is great. The questions you face are helpful and the notes section at the back to help complete each chapter's "homework" is cute. I use "homework", but they are questions posed at the end of each chapter to really get you thinking and engaging with what that chapter has tried to teach you. A brilliant addition that I've seen other books do to get readers to really engage in their personal development. After all, that's why they're reading it.
So, if it's so great and helpful, why only 3 stars?
As great a start as it has, as you read further on, the points seem to... lose momentum. By chapter 4, I found that the points the author was trying to make were getting lost. Thoughts felt unfinished. Reading it felt like the words were grasping at something, but didn't quite reach it.
It's all good to say we need to remove judgement, but the book doesn't seem to address exactly how we do that. Henkels includes some very traumatic, personal experiences which feel rather empty; brushed over and eventually used as examples of how to stop placing judgments, but not quite explaining the steps.
I don't expect a book to do all the heavy lifting for me. If you're going to write a book all about how someone can reframe their own limiting self-beliefs, though, you need to teach them how. Maybe it's just one of those things that are easier said than done. Hell, I know it is. Yet, I can't help but feel that people reading this who are less aware of the techniques than I am would feel lost and confused.
The whole premise is based on the meme phrase "it is what it is" which is a great way of learning how to accept what happens in life. As someone who uses that exact phrase too often, I see its appeal. However, my main criticism is that this phrase is also too often used to minimise and repress our emotions and I don't feel this book addresses this point well enough to help effectively.
This is a great book for anyone just starting their self-awareness journey; someone just beginning to heal and looking for a place to start. But for someone like me, who has spent years trying to heal, it comes across as shallow; the advice is sound, but doesn't really address the 'how' or even the 'why' to the required extent.
March 17, 2019
The book is very short - only a bit over 100 pages so I finished it in one go. It includes some of the content that was already presented at her TED talk by the author. I believe that it might help some people to deal with their past to empower them to live their lives to the fullest in the present. On me it had little impact. Although I trust that believing that "nothing is wrong with us" is a valid point, and we should repeat this often to ourselves. A key take-away from this book for me is that things just are the way they are. PERIOD. No judgement. Thanks for the author for that.
January 15, 2022
Short, enjoyable book. I preferred the Ted Talk so wouldn’t really recommend to a friend. I like the principles discussed in here, and hope to include them in my life. The only thing is, there felt like there were no actionable items to start this new way of living. Working on non-judgement even for ourselves is easier said than done so I wish there was more information about how to accomplish that. I would like to work on really accepting and embracing It Is What It Is.
August 5, 2022
This is a very short book - you can complete it in 30-40 minutes. I do respect that the author did not fluff on too much and got to the point. It's definitely worth a read for those needing to stop labelling themselves and other people and live the 'so what?' mantra, accepting things the way they are - changing when and IF you're ready to change, not wanting others to change.
June 13, 2020
Very helpful! It is what it is!
February 18, 2021
A beautiful new way of looking at ourselves and our judgements- a must read !!
June 5, 2023
It is, what it is.
Based on the Chinese proverb about the farmer and the horse - I don't yet know if this is good news or bad news, let's not judge.
Based on the Chinese proverb about the farmer and the horse - I don't yet know if this is good news or bad news, let's not judge.
November 29, 2019
"Now I ask you: what if there IS nothing wrong with you? Think about this question for a moment. For now, I’m not saying there ISN’T, simply asking what if there isn’t? How could that realization change your relationship with yourself? How could it change your relationship with others? Would you have more confidence and courage to do something you are secretly passionate about?"
I loved the idea of this book. The concept behind practicing the idea that there's nothing wrong with me sounds really powerful to me. I understand that this might not be a thing for everyone but it most decidedly is for me which is why i bought this book after reading about it in a different book. And it's not a bad book. It's just that it's small and doesn't really have enough depth for me. Maybe that's really because like most things, I have to put in the work and be willing to do what it takes. It reminded me of Byron Katie's The Work a bit but I felt that was so much more powerful for me and it's closer to what I guess I was seeking.
It was still good to read because I enjoy reminders that I have to keep these questions front and center.
And here's the most amazing, all too true, Ram Dass quote from the book:
“When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight … And you look at the tree and you allow it. … You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying ‘You’re too this, or I’m too this.’ That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.” - Ram Dass
I loved the idea of this book. The concept behind practicing the idea that there's nothing wrong with me sounds really powerful to me. I understand that this might not be a thing for everyone but it most decidedly is for me which is why i bought this book after reading about it in a different book. And it's not a bad book. It's just that it's small and doesn't really have enough depth for me. Maybe that's really because like most things, I have to put in the work and be willing to do what it takes. It reminded me of Byron Katie's The Work a bit but I felt that was so much more powerful for me and it's closer to what I guess I was seeking.
It was still good to read because I enjoy reminders that I have to keep these questions front and center.
And here's the most amazing, all too true, Ram Dass quote from the book:
“When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight … And you look at the tree and you allow it. … You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying ‘You’re too this, or I’m too this.’ That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.” - Ram Dass
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews