When I Loved Myself Enough

by Kim McMillen, Alison McMillen

A beautiful, inspirational book that teaches the key to true happiness. Each page contains a message to help readers understand the wonders of their own lives: 'When I loved myself enough I began taking the gift of life seriously and gratefully.' "When I Loved Myself Enough" is a collection of wisdom that is startling in its simplicity. By the end of the book the message becomes clear: loving yourself holds the key to loving others and having others love you. By sharing her insights, the author also shows us how to feel the same sense of peace and quiet joy that illuminated her life. This book began as one woman's gift to the world, hand-made by Kim McMillen and handed out to friends. After Kim's death her daughter Alison continued making the books–and word of mouth turned this into an underground bestseller in America.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Personal Development

Paperback

First published September 7, 2001

Reviews

[Natalie Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely gift from my sister. Full of comforting and inspiring words, this is a book that can be picked up and read at random at anytime.

[Craig Delarge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely lovely book I read over and over again and I even created my own version of it which I meditate on periodically.

What will you do when you love yourself enough?

[MaryAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very powerful thoughts - quick read, and a quick lift to your spirit.

[Zarina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tiny little book that packs a powerful punch. Starting out as a hand-made gift to friends and family, Kim McMillen has collected years of her wisdom within the pages. When she passed away, her daughter Alison continued the tradition, slowly creating a best-selling book in America through the sheer power of word of mouth. In snippets of text it shows one women's journey to self-acceptance and finding happiness, while at the same time providing an incredibly amount of insight for others to take to heart. The words of wisdom don't follow a linear journey, making this the perfect book to dip in and out of when you're in need of a spark of inspiration or a boost to your happiness. I did find that the inspirational words that helped Kim didn't resonate with me personally (especially the religious elements) but I can see that this can be a very helpful little collection for the right person.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodness gracious. What have I learned from this book?

That I need to be kinder to myself and find a learning experience out of everything. Even the hard things.

It's a healing, easy-to-read, easy-to-fall-in-love-with-myself kind of book that, I daresay, everyone will need to read in their lifetime. McMillan embraces the hard times and difficult, dark days and makes them into something beautiful.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the books I recommend to other readers, I recommend this more than any other. Even for those who dislike reading, this book is a must.

[Mayane Domingues · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sabe quando você está passando por situações complicadas e difíceis e as vezes você precisa de uma palavra, uma frase, pra poder levantar e reagir? É esse livro.
Super curtinho, pequeno mas cheio de palavras que vão te fazer reagir e querer mudar e querer se amar de verdade.
Super indico pra se ter em casa, para sempre ler quando precisar de uma motivação.

[Alex Memus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just a collection of short and high brow quotes. The good part: it's super short so I'm closer to my 2018 goal of 42 books read.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read this so many times. It’s a great reminder to me of the importance of healing ourselves so we can share love and peace with the world.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet. I received this book as a gift and really did not expect to think much of it, given the format. But, after it sat on a shelf for months, I started looking through it, and found myself immediately wanting to read through again once I'd finished it. Some of the sentiments do not apply to me or my life, but the majority do, and so many of them provoked thought about the (poor) amount of self-care and self-love I have allowed in my life up to this point. I can tell I will be reading some of these pages many times and might even start a similar one of my own.

[Dayva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the best self help book I've ever read. Also the one with the fewest words. I give copies to every woman I meet who needs to learn to love herself. Most pages have no more than a dozen words, but extremely powerful words. So sad that the author passed away before the book was published, by her daughter. More of her wisdom would have been precious to this world.

[wafiyyah sky · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I loved myself enough, I stopped trying to banish the critical voices from my head. Now I say, 'Thank you for your views' and they feel heard. End of discussion.

I would say, give yourself a time to read this book.. or just flip through any random pages from this book. It will reboost your self esteem eventually.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. What an amazing touching book. Soo many words of wisdom and it speaks straight to your heart. A must read for anyone, especially those on a spiritual journey towards awakening. Wow. Just wow. Beautiful words. 💗

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE ....... LOVE. I cannot say enough about this work of art. Thank you, thank you. xo

[Sonja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life affirming, insights for everyone on the planet!

[Da277 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve had this little book for many years and re-read it every so often. It is a quick read filled with simple reminders of how important it is to be true to your own soul.

[SHR · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a small self-help/sentimental/motivational type book. It has a really simple layout - no cute photos or pictures, just a simple statement with a line drawing of a leaf under it. It started with Kim wanting to share the things she had learnt with her friends; she hand made some books.

This book was published by her daughter after her death - she died suddenly, six months after writing the book. Somehow that knowledge made the wisdom seem more distilled - seems pretty unfair for life to be whisked away just when you've figured some things out.

Each thought starts with the words "When I loved myself enough... " some examples...
I redefined success and life became simple. Oh, the pleasure of that.
I came to see emotional pain is a signal I am operating outside the truth.
I learned to meet my own needs and not call it selfish.

[M Pereira · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book covertly introduces cod spirituality. There really should be a disclaimer warning that this is not an anodyne book.

Despite me calling it non-anodyne. It is an utterly shit piece of literature. The worst book of aphorisms I have ever read, and I've ready most of late period Nietzsche.

The press blurbs on it include praise from intellectual impersonator John Gray and 'pretends to know about quantum mechanics' Deepak Chopra. That should say it all for you.

If you like this book, that says something about you. Shame on you.

[Angela Heise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Physical book vs Kindle

I can see that this book is really useful for flipping open randomly and reading the respective text as an inspiration or thought starter. This doesn't quite work as well for the Kindle version, even though I could swipe at the bottom. It's just not the same. Some inspirational artwork or illustrations (even occasionally) would be nice. Maybe in another edition?

[Danielle D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I probably should've savored this little book more, by reading a few pages before bed etc ....
But sneaky me, I completed it all in one sitting.
I know quote books can be cheesy, but I really felt the compassion and patience the author has for herself radiate from each entry, and I was left with a smile.

I will 're read them again every so often

[Sirkku · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice, small book, wise words. Reminded me of another book (the boy, the mole, the fox and the horse). Read it on one sitting, but is also a book that can be picked at any moment and read at any page. Liked the short, simple but meaningful texts.

Also the aesthetic of it was nice, with the lil pictures on some pages. Would definetly recomend this to my friends.

[cherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a sucker for heart touching short books like this. I liked it a lot and the meaning behind it. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars was because some parts confused me and I didn’t agree with them. But otherwise I really liked it.

[Pippa Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you loved yourself enough what would your life be like?

If you were able to be at peace, how would it feel?

These reminders of what loving yourself can achieve, help you to remember you are enough.

[Therese Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really excellent compilation of what it means to love yourself. It includes assesrtiveness, compassion, and mutuality.

[Shawn Ly’s Book Notes & Quotes · Rating 4 out of 5]

“When I loved myself enough
I came to see emotional pain is a signal I am operating outside truth.”

[Dana Grabbel · Rating 1 out of 5]

hand-written notes... barely readable... short phrases. A brief note from a mother or something

[Paul R Kohn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, yet deep and meaningful.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok, a little light read but think you need to be in the right frame of mind to read it, I think the style of the words were a little hard to read in places

[Ariana · Rating 2 out of 5]

i feel bad to rate books lower than 2 stars

[Readsandeats · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely book. I really enjoyed reading these little saying and thinking how I could add them to my life.