2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Acquiesce to Love Peace Gratitude is a memoir by Fabiola Piedad María Alicia Reynales de Berry. The aim of the book is to help those who are overwhelmed by anxiety. It emphasizes the importance of gratitude. The author omits names and locations in an effort to make the story universal.
The memoir tells the story of a woman who loses her optimism and joy. She feels like she is trapped in a loveless marriage. Her husband refuses to acknowledge that he has a serious problem. Instead, he places all the blame on her, painting her badly in the eyes of outsiders. Despite all this, she fights to salvage what remains of their tattered marriage. You don't just throw away 32 years of marriage, right? Eventually, she becomes drained. She is choked by feelings of anxiety, resentment, and anger. She must find a way out of her situation. That is when she discovers self-help webinars and books.
I like how realistic the book is about her healing process. It wasn't sudden, it occurred gradually. A bulleted list of all the workshops and books that helped her on her journey to emotional well-being is included in the acknowledgements. Throughout the rest of the book, she discusses how she applied and benefitted from the techniques found in these books. They enable her to understand her negative feelings, trace their source, and replace them with positive feelings. Some of her feelings trace back to her childhood. Her flashbacks were quite interesting. They made me realise how small moments can have a huge impact on a person and define them.
The technique I found most useful, was that of being aware of your thoughts. She learned to take notice of her thoughts; and she came to the realisation that the bulk of her thoughts were negative and uncontrolled. Slowly, she learned to focus on positive thoughts and felt happy as a result.
I am not sure how I feel about the harsh contrast drawn between the woman and her husband. The book is written from her perspective; and she speaks very highly of herself throughout the book, while pointing out all the negatives about her husband. She exposes degrading incidences despite knowing that he has real mental problems. Her perfectionism blinded her to the fact that he could not be expected to act normally. On the other hand, I appreciate her honesty and her willingness to share her true feelings with her readers. I also admire her dedication to him. She continued to do her best to care for him even though she was repulsed by him. I feel though, that this care was given to gratify her own conscience; it was not given out of love.
Initially, I could not connect with the main character. She had a lot to complain about. She also placed a lot of value on materialistic things. It was hard for me to sympathize with her situation as she walked into her marriage despite noticing a number of red flags. Gradually though, she became more positive, choosing to be grateful for the little things. That is when she became appealing to me. The title of the book is fitting as she eventually acquiesced to love, gratitude, and peace.
I rate Acquiesce to Love Peace Gratitude 2 out of 4 stars. It was easy to get through as it is only 107 pages. Admittedly, it was not engrossing, but it also was not an absolute bore to read. It can also help those who are consumed by anxiety to realise that they are not alone, help is available.
******
Acquiesce to love peace gratitude
View: on Bookshelves
Like Kelebogile Mbangi's review? Post a comment saying so!
