Excellent as You Are: A Woman's Book of Confidence, Comfort, and Strength

This is a small gift book that draws on the themes, quotes, and stories of the author's popular The Woman's Book of Confidence: Meditations for Strength and Happiness. It is just under 100 pages, and each page focuses on one personal development or spiritual theme, such as 'Finding a Hand When We Bottom Out', 'Changing What Can Be Changed', 'Kicking the Worry Habit' or 'Becoming a Conduit of Grace'. After exploring the theme and its relevance to our daily lives, each page ends with a first-person statement or quote that can be used as a meditation or affirmation related to that theme, such as "I honor what I want and need when I'm in crises. I am able to reach out to others for help." or "I am a conduit of grace. Love flows to me and through me." Lovely photographic close-ups of flowers are integrated throughout the book. The author comes from both a psychological and spiritual perspective in most of the themes. Although targeted to women, most of the themes are not gender-specific, and this is definitely not a 'goddess' book per se, but the presentation and language are feminine. For the most part the spiritual terms used are not specific to any faith - words like 'sacred' or 'divinity', although 'God' is used in at least one theme. But the spiritual emphasis is universality, focused on mindfulness, love, connectivity, etc., rather than theology or doctrine. It's a lovely little book. Nothing new in it, nothing groundbreaking, but a lovely gift for a woman you know going through a difficult time or a transition, or for yourself if that holds true for you. Or if you or a woman you know likes to keep something near your bed-stand to just read a page from daily.