This neat little book calls itself a "step-by-step guide to living well with chronic illness," and that's exactly what it is. Ms. Feste, a diabetic herself, offers chapter after chapter of thought-provoking, useful and engaging exercises. They are aimed at stimulating one to become aware of and then, hopefully, make whatever changes might be necessary on the way to feeling more empowered and less oppressed by chronic illness. I began this book with a jaundiced eye. I'm not very affirmation-oriented. I'm offended by pie-in-the-sky inspirational literature, by-and-large. But the exercises in this book are sensible and down-to-earth, not requiring any specific spiritual orientation.

Any self-help book requires the reader to make a leap of faith from believing there is no help for feeling bad to at least attempting to follow the advice in the book. In that sense most self-help books preach to the converted, or the willing-to-be converted. But the exercises in this book are so varied and entertaining that one might well try a few of them without necessarily believing in any dramatic outcome. Whatever one learns about oneself as a result can only be to the good. Ms. Feste, wisely, doesn't promise any epiphanies. She suggests that by knowing oneself more accurately one can enhance one's sense of well-being and empowerment. Also, wisely, Ms. Feste does not harangue the reader. This is a very gentle and compassionate book. Ms. Feste describes each of the many obstacles that prevent people from maximizing their intrapsychic potential when it comes to dealing with chronic illness. She then suggests a variety of tasks for getting one to think or feel one's way past those obstacles. She uses a "case study" format demonstrating the wide variety of solutions people have at their disposal. Wonderfully, she recognizes that there is not just one way to do something.

This is, however, a very Christo-centric book. It's unfortunate that though there are myriad ways to solve a problem there often seems to be but one spiritual tradition. The deity (singular) is referred to throughout as "Lord" and "God." There are prayers and meditations and even those from other cultures are reframed in Judeo-Christian language. It's very odd to read such a book if one is not from the Judeo-Christian tradition since one must constantly re-translate the inspirational material into language with which one can be comfortable. I felt empowered enough and comfortable enough with my own faith to do that translating in order to read the book. This is not a book one must read from cover to cover, though, and much of the affirmative, inspirational material can be skipped over while paying attention to the exercises.

As I've written on other occasions, in other reviews, the author's particular faith ought not deter anyone from making use of her book. If one is feeling "stuck" or very down about living with MS this book might help one to begin moving forward. At the very least it may provide food for thought.