Customer Reviews

Courage: The Heart and Spirit of Every Woman

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This book celebrates the everyday courage in woman.
It shares several inspirational stories on how woman have had to use courage in their daily lives, from overcoming loss, starting a new job, raising a child, or fighting an illness.

Most of us don't realize that courage is one of the 4 cardinal virtues of Classical times. Ms. Walston reminds us why this virtue is so important by demonstrating that courage is about acting from the "heart and spirit." Our modern understanding of courage as acts of bravery or heroism has hidden the deeper meaning of courage and serves as a "glass ceiling" when it comes to women recognizing their courage and taking courageous action.

As Ms. Walston points out, the most empowering step that a man or woman can take is to recognize his or her unique brand of "heart and spirit" courage. Having tapped into the power of innate everyday courage, anyone can reap the rewards of a more joyous, fulfilling life.

Especially recommended during tough times.

This book is an excellent journey that allows women to recognize and embrace courage within. I was deeply inspired by Sandra's interviews with women who shared their viewpoints on what it means to be courageous. This book allows women to realistically look at ourselves and begin the journey of recognizing the strengths (courage) that we utilize internally and externally daily.

This book carries an inspirational tone and will help anyone feel more confident about oneself! Full of great ideas for adding 'courage' to all of your important relationships. This book helps one to take small and comfortable steps to more success in all areas of one's life.

A journey of self-discovery will present one with unexpected insight, experience, opportunities and people that will alter your life. Sandra's book Courage is a journey of self-discovery. As a business consultant and Life Coach, Courage gave me the tools to help open my clients' eyes to change. Sandra is a thought-leader in the field of conscious change. Her writing transcends the traditional boundaries that block people from achieving their true potential. I can't wait for her next book so I can share it with my clients.

Lee W. Livermore
"The Practitioner"
Balanced Life Change

What I love about Sandra's work is that she has been enitrely rigorous about her subject. She has spent years deeply exploring courage from a quantitative perspective in order to validate what she knew intuitively. The redefinition of Courage is important not only for women but for all humanity. Heroes and warriors belong to a world that is failing and at war. Given we are in a time of conscious transition and transformation, we need people like Sandra to help us recontextualize our language and our experience to support our world NOW. Working the root of the word Courage "heart and spirit" as a guide to the essential meaning is obvious maybe, yet inspired. Thank you Sandra for your dedication. In Chile we are in a project on women's courage and your work is profoundly helpful in helping women to realize their feminine courage.
Mi Coraje, Tu Coraje
[...]

Empowering, enlightening, vulnerable and encouraging...this book is on my list to give every woman in my life who needs a nudge toward her power and her capabilities. Thank you, Sandra!

This beautifully and heart-fully conceived and written book finally expands our traditional notion of courage. Women have been historically excluded from the most understood definitions of courage -- sadly, most often by themselves! Yes, we remember Joan of Arc, Rosa Parks and . . . well, I had to stop there for a moment because that's where the history books usually stop. How are we training young girls to think of themselves through history? Where will they fit if courage continues to mean going chest to chest in the face of danger?

Sandra Walston's extensive research, over many years and with a great sampling of women, tells us that women have bought into the notions of courage as physical valor and she refutes the easy characterization to plunge us into self-knowledge -- and self-action to better our lives.

What about that woman down the street who leaves an abusive relationship? That single mother who is raising four kids while tending to an ailing mother but makes the decision to leave a job to go back to school for the greater possibilities of a brighter future? Or the whistle-blowing lower-level employee who risks severe repercussions as she alerts others to corruption or other malfeasance where she works? And YOU? How do you define yourself? Is courage one of your top three self-defining adjectives? Probably not, according to Sandra's research. But it could be! It takes a different perspective and achievable actions that Sandra shares in this breakthrough book that should be on every woman's bookshelf.

Filled with excellent tips, powerful revelations and many examples of the courage within us all that is just waiting to be tapped, I choose to give this book as gifts on every occasion, and to use it in my teaching. I eagerly look forward to more from this talented thinker.

As the founder of the Compassion Fatigue Awareness Project, I use "Courage: The Heart and Spirit of Every Woman" as a training tool in my workshops for caregivers. Sandra's book gets to the heart of how to live an authentic, sustainable life - and that is to have the courage to fulfill your dreams and desires for a happy life. The writing is easy to understand, gentle and kind. Sandra understands her reading audience and offers support and encouragement. The book has a permanent place on my reading Resource List. If and when she publishes again, I'm sure her future books will also share a place on the list.
Patricia Smith
[...]

Sandra Walston presented me with the opportunity to step back and review my personal definition of courage. I found that, although I would like to think I have a more enlightened concept of courage, subconsciously I have stored some old stereotypes that are still there. "Courage" and "courageous" are words often used to describe men engaged in heroic feats. With her step-by-step guidance, I was able to more fully embrace the knowledge that my most courageous act is to know who I truly am and live fully being who I was designed to be. Sandra's elegant writing style combined with the personal accounts of real women make this book an important reminder that, as women, we can live courageously every day of our lives.