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When Your Past Is Hurting Your Present: Getting Beyond Fears That Hold You Back
Bestselling author Sue Augustine leads the reader along a clear, manageable path to reconciliation with a painful past. Relying on biblical principles and using her own heart-rending story, she points the way to a future full of hope.
With compassion and empathy—and plenty of "telling-on-herself" humor—she shows readers how to...
Identify, release, and change how they respond to the past
Overcome the "victim" mentality
Set goals for the future with passion and purpose
Fears will be conquered and dreams renewed for those seeking to cut loose the baggage of the long ago. A must-read for anyone struggling with a difficult past that is harming their present and crippling their future.
With compassion and empathy—and plenty of "telling-on-herself" humor—she shows readers how to...
Identify, release, and change how they respond to the past
Overcome the "victim" mentality
Set goals for the future with passion and purpose
Fears will be conquered and dreams renewed for those seeking to cut loose the baggage of the long ago. A must-read for anyone struggling with a difficult past that is harming their present and crippling their future.
- GenresSelf Help
288 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2005
15 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 5, 2013
“We will never move out of the present and into the future with all God has planned for us if we cling to dwell in the past.”
August 26, 2021
I think I am in a period of life where these books are no longer helpful. I have read a lot of self-help books over the years, and have gained a lot of wisdom from them. I am still interested in a book on the topic of your past holding you back, but I have a hard time with self-help that gives only a tough love approach, even when it's delivered with some soft words and scripture. I don't respond well to books that patronize and try to invalidate all human emotions to painful situations, stating we should just change our attitude, move on, make different choices (as though every situation has a choice... I don't agree with her examples of having a supposed choice when it involves the consequence of homelessness, jail or starvation, etc. Obviously no one in their right mind is going to choose that).
I didn't personally find anything new in this book, but I know others might. Sue seems like a brave and amazing woman. I applaud everything she has overcome and made happen in her life. My feelings toward this book do not reflect on her personal journey or the information she is presenting- it just isn't my preferred style and came to me at a time in life where I have already read this information.
I didn't personally find anything new in this book, but I know others might. Sue seems like a brave and amazing woman. I applaud everything she has overcome and made happen in her life. My feelings toward this book do not reflect on her personal journey or the information she is presenting- it just isn't my preferred style and came to me at a time in life where I have already read this information.
January 29, 2021
I read this book because one of my best friends recommended it. I was struggling to completely forgive someone who had hurt me deeply and violated my trust. My friend suggested that this book might help. My friend, a Christian, warned me that this book was a Christian book. My mistake: I read it anyway.
This book represented so much that is offensive about the Christian self-help genre. Written by someone who is not a psychologist or sociologist, the book does what is so many of its kind do:
*Use Bible verses out of context and then builds a whole argument out of those out-of-context phrases. Here's an example: the whole God will not give us more than we can handle. When written, Paul (or the person supposedly speaking for the dead man) was speaking to Corinthians who were known for worshipping idols. Paul was actually encouraging Corinthians that they could withstand the temptation to worship idols. His words were never meant to tell the masses that there is nothing that won't break them. Bad stuff happens and sometimes it temporarily breaks us.
*State opinions as facts. Example: declaring that it takes 21 days to create a new habit. Bullshit. Scientific studies state that, depending on multiple factors, it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to create a new habit. The author generously states opinions as facts and loses credibility as she does so.
*Posits her Christian beliefs as fact. She is clearly speaking to a narrow audience of people. I am not one of them.
If you want to be preached at and are into lazy authors who make black and white statements without backing them up with facts, this is your book. I will not be recommending this.
This book represented so much that is offensive about the Christian self-help genre. Written by someone who is not a psychologist or sociologist, the book does what is so many of its kind do:
*Use Bible verses out of context and then builds a whole argument out of those out-of-context phrases. Here's an example: the whole God will not give us more than we can handle. When written, Paul (or the person supposedly speaking for the dead man) was speaking to Corinthians who were known for worshipping idols. Paul was actually encouraging Corinthians that they could withstand the temptation to worship idols. His words were never meant to tell the masses that there is nothing that won't break them. Bad stuff happens and sometimes it temporarily breaks us.
*State opinions as facts. Example: declaring that it takes 21 days to create a new habit. Bullshit. Scientific studies state that, depending on multiple factors, it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to create a new habit. The author generously states opinions as facts and loses credibility as she does so.
*Posits her Christian beliefs as fact. She is clearly speaking to a narrow audience of people. I am not one of them.
If you want to be preached at and are into lazy authors who make black and white statements without backing them up with facts, this is your book. I will not be recommending this.
February 1, 2024
I have read this book in its entirety 3 times, as I pass through a different season. It's absolutely amazing....and I am certain I will read it again. I've also purchased it for others.
April 2, 2015
This just wasn't the book for me. I must have ordered it because it was recommended in something else I was reading. The book starts off on a bad foot by saying in its third paragraph "it is well-known that it takes 21 days to change a habit". Well, that myth has been busted a while ago. Here's an example from UCL's Health Behaviour Research: https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/hbrc/2012/06/....
So after the third paragraph I was already feeling shaky about the content's credibility. But I was still open to reading about the author's personal experiences and how she overcame them. But from the fourth paragraph onwards it was just very religious. Everything is based on God's divine plan and there are lots of scripture quotes. I can see how the book might be appealing if you're a Christian but if you're not, it's quite heavy-handed in that respect.
The one star is mostly because the book did not agree with me personally. I also wanted to bring attention to the review in case what I wrote above is important to someone selecting whether to purchase the book (I wouldn't have bought it had I known the above).
However I can see how this book would speak to someone who is religious and is not as questioning about the premise of statements as I am and on that basis the book can probably be quite useful.
So after the third paragraph I was already feeling shaky about the content's credibility. But I was still open to reading about the author's personal experiences and how she overcame them. But from the fourth paragraph onwards it was just very religious. Everything is based on God's divine plan and there are lots of scripture quotes. I can see how the book might be appealing if you're a Christian but if you're not, it's quite heavy-handed in that respect.
The one star is mostly because the book did not agree with me personally. I also wanted to bring attention to the review in case what I wrote above is important to someone selecting whether to purchase the book (I wouldn't have bought it had I known the above).
However I can see how this book would speak to someone who is religious and is not as questioning about the premise of statements as I am and on that basis the book can probably be quite useful.
August 18, 2017
This self-help book discusses some unique issues that many women may face. The author uses her experiences and solutions to advise readers. I would have liked to see more discussion and ideas based on scripture and theology. Most of her chapters were ideas I had studied before, so it was nice to get some reminders. Overall, I thought it was an o.k read mostly because it provides an overview of what not to do when in pain. I really enjoyed some of the chapters that try to convince readers to frame situations in perspective and what not to do. That, I felt, was nice, indeed.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews