Stress Less Living, Revised Edition

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Stress Less Living, Revised Edition by Tracie Miles is a revised version of one of her earlier books that gives advice about how to deal with stress in a Christ-centered way. Chapters in this book include "Time for Change" and "Take Back Your Life." This book has been updated and now contains references to current events like the attack on the Capitol and the COVID-19 pandemic. I must admit that I am a huge fan of Tracie Miles. I own all of her books, and they've helped me through some rough times in my life. This book is no exception. I am so happy to be able to support this author. Thank you to the publisher for this opportunity!

Here is an excerpt from the Introduction, which was updated for this edition:

"Sitting alone on the couch in my den, laptop resting on my knees, mind racing with all the stressful thoughts that had sprouted life from the fertilization of the disturbing news blaring all day, I felt anxiety and stress threatening to engulf me, as had happened so many times before. But this time, I chose to respond differently...
I could either let the stress of my world burn a hole in my soul, opening up a gap for anxiety, anger, and panic to seep in and steal my peace and joy, or I could recognize what was happening and take the reins of my thoughts and emotions rather than letting them run wild. I knew I needed to refocus on the peace Jesus offers if we remember to turn our attention back to him and off of the craziness and chaos around us."

Overall, Stress Less Living is an absolute must-have for any person dealing with stress. Even if you are not a Christian, the author gives many pieces of advice that can apply to anyone. One of my favorite things about the author is that she has been through it in the trenches. You're not going to get lofty platitudes with no basis in reality. You name it, the author has been through it. She has known heartache, and she has known stress. That's what makes her writing most powerful.

Even though I come from a different background than the author in almost every way, she is extremely relatable. One thing that I wish the author had kept in this edition was the list of self-care strategies. For example, taking a warm bubble bath is one of my go-to strategies when I'm stressed out. I would have liked to see more physical relaxation strategies, as opposed to just spiritual ones. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of books about how to get rid of stress, I highly recommend checking out this book, which is available now!

When I have started to read the book I was curious to read some reviews of the first version. One review stood up because it described the book as "nothing special or nothing new" as for the stress management strategies. After reading Stress Less Living, Revised Edition I could agree that the book does not have any surprising and exotic tricks on stress management. However, the book gives us a remarkable story of a woman who has been there, lived in a totally stressed out condition, and with the help of Christian practices she had made it through. As a stress management professional and a Christian, Tracie Miles gives us the story of both sides bringing our attention to the fact that all of the techniques to manage stress would not work well if you don't have the peace that Jesus offers. And most likely this is not today's news. However, it is not that we are in a great need of everything new and everything exciting. We are in a great need to be reminded of things we know, of paths we travelled on and wondered off, we need to hear the truth once more so that we know it is not the echo coming from the empty chambers of ourselves. And this is what Stress Less Living does the best: it points us to the truth of the Bible, it equips us with reflection questions and support strategies, it reminds us that if we are in the presence of the Prince of Peace we can truly have a stress less living.