Perfect Me

How looking beautiful has become a moral imperative in today's worldThe demand to be beautiful is increasingly important in today's visual and virtual culture. Rightly or wrongly, being perfect has become an ethical ideal to live by, and according to which we judge ourselves good or bad, a success or a failure. Perfect Me explores the changing nature of the beauty ideal, showing how it is more dominant, more demanding, and more global than ever before.Heather Widdows argues that our perception of the self is changing. More and more, we locate the self in the body--not just our actual, flawed bodies but our transforming and imagined ones. As this happens, we further embrace the beauty ideal. Nobody is firm enough, thin enough, smooth enough, or buff enough-not without significant effort and cosmetic intervention. And as more demanding practices become the norm, more will be required of us, and the beauty ideal will be harder and harder to resist.If you have ever felt the urge to "make the best of yourself" or worried that you were "letting yourself go," this book explains why. Perfect Me examines how the beauty ideal has come to define how we see ourselves and others and how we structure our daily practices-and how it enthralls us with promises of the good life that are dubious at best. Perfect Me demonstrates that we must first recognize the ethical nature of the beauty ideal if we are ever to address its harms.

“Imperfect World … Perfect Me! is a step-by-step handbook to living the full life that is found only in Jesus Christ. In her transparency, Karen shares her testimony regarding some of her own personal struggles. She explains how she overcame the obstacles each situation presented by trusting God, applying His Word, and knowing her identity in Christ. “Karen covers everything from having a personal relationship with Jesus to marriage to self-esteem and gives encouraging truths from God’s Word that will move you from a mindset of defeat to a mindset of faith, all rooted in the promise of God.

Recover. Rinse. Repeat. Dana Bowman can’t escape the lure of perfectionism, trying to be a flawless wife, mother, and person in recovery. When Dana experiences a short-lived relapse during the Christmas holiday, she has the startling realization that recovery is more than just giving up alcohol. In this funny and revealing follow-up to her best-selling book Bottled, Dana reflects on how we live in a society of excess, always pushing ourselves to do and be better. However, it doesn’t take her long to realize that self-care and getting over herself is the key to happiness.

The Christian faith is not only about belief and practices, it is also about the kind of people that we become. Yet some of the biggest barriers to our transformation come from our toxic self-narratives. These narratives shape the way we see ourselves and the way we interact in the world. God designed us with a deep longing in our souls to be wanted, loved, alive, and connected to God. Healing our souls requires more than knowing what God thinks about us. Our healing comes not through reason alone, but through revelation. "The best practice I have seen in Christian spiritual formation" was Dallas Willard's endorsement of the Good and Beautiful series a decade ago. Now this fourth book in the series, The Good and Beautiful You, addresses the self-narratives that hinder spiritual growth and the desires of the soul that only God can satisfy. James Bryan Smith reminds us how Scripture reveals the beauty and goodness of our own souls and how we long for healing that only God can provide. Complete with spiritual practices that help us live into that reality, The Good and Beautiful You will serve as a welcome companion on your journey to discover who you truly are in Christ. The Good and Beautiful Series includes four essential discipleship books from James Bryan Smith. Work through these proven Bible study resources individually or with a group to learn who God is, what it means to be a Christian, how to live in community, and how to address toxic self-narratives that hinder spiritual growth.

Verbs are the backbone of any language, and if you can't conjugate them, you can't communicate. This compilation of more than 500 common verbs helps beginners as well as the most advanced Spanish students. Each page focuses on an individual verb, presenting full conjugations of multiple tenses, plus several sentences that illustrate common usage. This book is equally suitable as a classroom text or as a guide to independent study.

John and Charles Wesley generated a heritage that reaches well beyond the worldwide Methodist movement which they founded. This collection of their essential writings shows how they harnessed resources from across the breadth of Anglicanism (and beyond) to forge a distinctive, dynamic and influential approach to religious experience.

Bringing a message of Hope for living with Alzheimer's Disease - "The Extreme Makeover" "The Unlikely Dancer" "Just Believe In One More Day" Promoting early diagnosis: Treatment with Meds, Coupled with Ballroom Dancing To rehabilitate the mind and body Diagnosed with Alzheimer's at age 53, Everyday I fight a battle to still be me. A battle wages within - a silent predator - The thief of my mind, memory, and me. I am a voice that needs to be heard - A mind that needs to be understood - A disease that needs explanation - a cure! "Dancing is Life" states Tony Dovolani - "This is a quote that is a direct parallel to life. It rejuvenates us, keeps us sound, keeps us creating, instead of dying." - quote - Tony Dovolani of Dancing with the Stars World Rhythm Champion Traveling through the Valley of the Shadow of Death - When you hear you are dying, you feel yourself disappearing - just fading away - "There is a Time to Dance!" "God Changed My Mourning into Dancing!" Ballroom Dancing - the Missing Link in My Rehabilitation. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength - they shall mount up with wings as eagles" "When You See a Single Bird Soar in Flight Remember Me!" Living in My Shadow records my personal journals, celebrating my real life with Alzheimer's Disease from 1999 to the present. I want my writings to reflect the Hope I have in my Heavenly Father's plans for me, reflecting His sustaining companionship on this my journey living with Alzheimer's.