Give to Your Heart's Content: Without Giving Yourself Away [Paperback]

Linda R., Phd Harper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2002

Many people feel exhausted from giving, trying to squeeze just one more commitment into their already too busy schedules. Believing that saying yes to all requests-be it for time or money-is doing the right thing, they deny their own needs and end up feeling depleted. Give to Your Heart's Content is not about giving more; it is about giving from the deepest self, in a way that nurtures rather than depletes. Offering practical, user-friendly self-inventories, Dr. Harper helps readers evaluate if their style of giving might be adding stress to their lives. This is a much-needed book for caregivers, people in the helping professions, volunteer organizations, and people in institutional settings, like churches and nonprofit organizations, which emphasize giving. Give to Your Heart's Content is a book for all who struggle with life's continual demands on time, money, and energy. The appendices include two 5-session outlines for use with discussion groups.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Linda R. Harper, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist in private practice for over 17 years, has Ph.D. and M.A. degrees from Kent State University. As the author of The Tao of Eating (Innisfree, 1998; over 7500 copies sold), she has given over 50 booksignings, lectures and workshops.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Inner Ocean Pub (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880913526
• ISBN-13: 978-1880913529
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,779,627 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Handbook for People who are Givers, October 6, 2002

By 

Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Give to Your Heart's Content: Without Giving Yourself Away (Paperback)

"Give to Your Heart's Content: Without Giving Yourself Away" is one of the best books available on the subject of giving. Continuous giving without taking time for yourself leads to exhaustion, frustration, and burnout. The book has some self-assessment exercises that can be used to help determine the type of giver you are. Do you give expecting something in return or do you give without expecting reciprocation? Do you take on more than you can do because you find it difficult to say "no"? Do you give so that you will be recognized for your giving or do you give silently without requiring recognition for your gift?
Once you know the type of giver you are the authors lead through several ways to change your giving patterns to ones that are more holistic in nature. Give authentically, give from the heart, give wholly, but learn where you have to draw the line so that you can continue to give in the future. In a society where we are taught that to give to yourself is selfish many people find it hard to take care of their own spiritual and emotional needs, but if we don't then our value to others is decreased. It is only by taking care of ourselves that we are able to truly help others. This is the basic message of "Give to Your Heart's Content" and it couldn't be more true. Highly recommended reading.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balance between sacrifice and a healthy, well-adjusted life, May 12, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Give to Your Heart's Content: Without Giving Yourself Away (Paperback)

Give To Your Heart's Content Without Giving Yourself Away by clinical psychologist and workshop leader Linda R. Harper is a practical-minded, "user friendly" book specifically written for volunteers, caregivers, and workers in social services. Focusing on how giving affects one personally, and finding balance between sacrifice and a healthy, well-adjusted life, Give To Your Heart's Content Without Giving Yourself Away is a powerful testimony and guide to enriching one's life without becoming a martyr, and very highly recommended for the non-specialist general reader undertaking a responsibility for the well-being of another individual as a caregiver or volunteer.

1 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A pure example of pablum, April 26, 2005

By 

Gloria - See all my reviews

This review is from: Give to Your Heart's Content: Without Giving Yourself Away (Paperback)

This book presents repetitive fluffy pablum that appears to be a pathethetic attempt to please. It is a mercifully short exposition of trivialities.