Lean Forward into Your Life

By Maryanne Radmacher

Author Maryanne Radmacher has taken what should just be good, common sense and given her readers an opportunity to not only recognize that fact, but make her suggestions a part of their everyday lives. A part that will make them more fulfilling, more appreciated, and definitely more examined.

Chapters talk about living with intention, practicing wellness, laughing, walking to the edge, standing by your family, doing what you love, and living as if this is all there is – to name just a few thought provoking subjects.

Although Lean Forward Into Your Life is not a book written specifically for women with breast cancer, women with breast cancer will find meaning and inspiration throughout. The book is divided into two sections, each filled with poems, anecdotal information, life lessons and methods in which to put the advice you’ve read into practical use. The first portion provides the outline for how to begin leaning forward, and the second gives great reminders so you continue the work. In the chapter talking about practicing wellness, Radmacher instructs the reader:

Practice forgiveness as a way to wellness. Be quick to make amends for what you have (or have not) done. Do not apologize as a quick fix or a way to avoid confrontation. Write letters that you will never send. Write your vivid anger slashingly on a page and then burn it and watch the smoke float away. When someone has died, or left in some way, write all the things that were left unspoken. When you need support or tenderness, write to give yourself the words you need. Reach deeply and pick the rose you planted in yourself so long ago.

If, as the title’s by-line suggests, everyone began each day with purpose, it’s a safe bet our lives, regardless of where we may find ourselves at the moment, would be more vibrant and rewarding.