Book Review: Past Tense By Shawn Kilgarlin

PAST TENSE
365 Daily Tools for Putting Stress Behind You – for Good!

By:  Shawn Kilgarlin

Published:  April 1, 2013

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In this reader- and consumer-friendly, stress-beating, daily dose of relief book, Shawn Kilgarlin (with help from her husband Ron and crackerjack editor Skip Press) provides solutions to any triggered stress response that may darken your mind, from environmental and workplace stressors to daily events and unavoidable life changes. With sections for every season and pages for each day of the year, Past Tense is guaranteed to have something for everyone—even you. If you feel the need to stress, read this book first, and learn how to handle those worries immediately, or even set them aside forever!


Have you noticed a theme in my reading lately?  I’ve been reading books to help me handle stress and that “overwhelmed” feeling.  PAST TENSE is another book I highly recommend for those who feel like life is unraveling, like they will never catch up, that the world wants too much from you, and that you just can’t handle any more stresses of life.

This book really covers it all.  With sections on handling your anger, your health, organization, marriage, family, and time management to name a few, I dare you to find a section that doesn’t benefit you.  It even has a section for the new college student! It just might make an excellent graduation gift for someone you know.

While reading this, I marked so many pages that I realized this book was made for someone just like me.  A mom juggling a part-time job, a home, three kids and their crazy schedules, several volunteer obligations, church and family obligations and all the extra stuff that comes up….it can get pretty stressful and I can frequently feel overwhelmed.  I look forward to reading this book at a much slower pace, really reflecting and putting to use the tips offered each day.  I was delighted to see one of the earlier pages titled, “Let Go, Let God” which is something I try to do every day.  Other days titled “Control Your Tongue” and “Smile” were excellent reminders.

Another section that is related to friendship reminded me that “Moving On” and “Getting Rid of Toxic Friends” will go a long way towards relieving stress in your life.  Don’t we all have that friend who continues to hurt your feelings or is a constant complainer???  Why do we allow them to continue to stress us out? This section gave powerful examples for handling just those situations.  

As a volunteer who finds it difficult to say No, “Saying Yes to Saying No” was music to my ears.  Next time I get asked to lead or chair or run something….I may actually be able to say NO and mean it! 

Each reading for the day begins with a quote, then covers the topic in a short devotion and ends with another quote or Scripture.  It is easily read in just a few minutes and could be read over the course of one page/day for a year, or just by focusing on each section as it applies to you throughout your days.  If you are a quote lover, like I am, you will enjoy all the life-lessons included from Mark Twain, Billy Crystal, Aristotle, Albert Einstein, Kenny Loggins, Regis Philbin, and so many more.

The only down-side for me is the size of the book.  Since I have an uncorrected proof and the final copy is not yet available I am not 100% sure on the final size.  But, according to Amazon, it states it will be 10x7x1 inches which is the size of the book I have.  It is large and heavy and not something I would carry around, but one I would leave on my night stand. Since the book is large, the print is also not so small that you need a magnifying glass to read, which I appreciate.

I really enjoyed the thought-provoking, current, and convicting lessons in this book and I am convinced you would also. I would love to see this as a Page-A-Day calendar in the future. How about 2014… anyone????