Repent, Awake, and never go back!

    Sometimes, usually, things are much easier than we make them out to be. As human beings we tend to want to complicate things, and then when they've gotten out of control, we decide that we can fix them. The problem is that we can't. As least we can't, by ourselves, solve all the problems that we create.

       America, and much of the world, may have bought into the idea that self-help fixes everything, but as Dr Cloud points out, there are generally 2 other components to any self-help program: 1) other people and 2) God. In Never Go Back: 10 Things You'll Never Do Again ( Howard Books, 2014), We learn that there are consequences to every decision, and even though we can't eliminate those consequences, any more than we can always quickly fix the problem, there are ways to avoid them in the first place.

       Human beings are creatures of habit: we tend to do the same things over and over. Cloud points out that if we become aware of some of the patterns that we've fallen into, patterns that lead to less than desirable circumstances, that we can learn to avoid them, decide to avoid them.

      He describes 10 things that most people do on a regular basis, simple things with unintended consequences. Many people do things like repeat things that didn't work before, try to please everybody, try to change other people, or just neglect to ask 'how did I get here in the first place?' He uses real life examples of how lives are affected because of these negative habits.

       If he had stopped the first 10 chapters, this would have been an acceptable book. In PART ONE, Cloud describes some of the attitudes we need to repent of, and then in PART TWO he offers some practical advice on how to come to some sort of awakening and change for the better.

     We all know that change doesn't come easy, if it were all that simple, then there would be no need for this book. Some people will benefit immensely from Never Go Back,  and others will at least see that there is a solution.

      The book is easy to read, not filled with psycho-babble, and Dr Cloud does an excellent job of giving God credit for the work in human lives that only God can do.

      I received a copy of this book from ICON Media Group in exchange for this review. The opinions are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review.

4/5