"Finding The Diamond Within: 10 Ways Every Woman Can Sparkle," by Mary Anderson Stosich, Cedar Fort, 122 pages, $12.99
Mary Anderson Stosich reaches out to Latter-day Saint women
through experience, empathy and wise words of advice in her book
"Finding the Diamond Within: 10 Ways Every Woman Can Sparkle."
Stosich introduces the topic that every living creature contains
a "worthwhile cause," something deep inside the soul that allows for
the search for purpose and joy, by relating the story of her dying
infant daughter's battle to live. She explains this desire to live as
the Light of Christ, which "(enriches) every cell of our hearts with
wonder and with the importance of life."
Stosich compares the life of a human soul to the development of a
diamond. Each goes through a process of refining, which process is hard
and painful. But because of that, both the human soul and the diamond
brilliantly shine.
Stosich gives 10 pieces of advice to women to help them succeed through and shine after the refining process.
1. Build a fortress of femininity: protecting happiness by nurturing.
Although she wrote, "motherhood has a refining power," nurturing is not
limited to giving birth. Opportunities for mothering can be found in
friendships, professions and with "every single person you meet."
2. Discover the truth: revealing superwoman.
Stosich advises women to not be fooled by "false templates" posing as
superwomen. Her requirements for the real superwoman are: "Female, any
age; beautiful in her individuality; humble in her success; still alive
and kicking, even in her mistakes; helpful; loving; concerned;
sometimes confident, and sometimes hammered and hidden; eager in her
questions; on the verge of change."
3. Perception without deception: wavy mirrors.
Changing your mind on how you look at life and what you see can bring
joy, Stosich advises. Increasing our understanding can help to get a
new viewpoint on life.
4. Do what it takes: walking the walk.
The "walk," she explains, must be a walk of principle and commitment; a
journey of peaceful, heart-felt congruency with passion combined with
persistence. Our thoughts and behaviors affect everything about us, so
Stosich suggests we rid ourselves of negative thoughts and practice
self-encouragement.
5. Remember who you are: your tie to divinity. Stosich recognizes that the key to happiness and tie to divinity is a testimony.
6. Muster courage through adversity: when cloud nine rains.
Stosich describes the "great phenomenon" of "makeup blessings." These
happen as God provides an opportunity to develop a particular talent to
make up for a painful shortfall. "A sort of heaven-sent extra credit."
7. Leave your signature: joyful creating.
We are given the desire to create from God and have been sent to an
"intensely interesting and beautifully diverse earthly sphere." The
modern world we live in, however, is toxic to our creativity. To help
bring about creativity, Stosich provides three necessities: (1) Give
ourselves time; (2) lose the need to be right or to be the best; and
(3) finish.
8. Turn mountains into molehills: the freedom of forgiveness.
Stosich describes forgiveness as our oxygen. When we breathe it in, our
bad moods melt away, our understanding increases and, as we continue to
breathe, we are not so easily offended. If someone happens to struggle
with forgiveness, Stosich challenges him or her to answer a question
that gives forgiveness a whole new meaning: "Can I forgive Christ?"
Because Christ has taken on every person's sins, Stosich suggests that
when looking at the person who harmed us, we could picture ourselves
looking at Christ.
9. Put all your eggs in one basket: risking intimacy.
The commitment to love is not foolishness. The risk of intimacy is not
just between husband and wife. It involves receiving help, asking for
advice, taking another's point of view. "Intimate relationships set
great people apart from the average."
10. Let the outside do justice to the inside: the beautiful wrapping job.
The first step to beauty is in our thought process. "Our personal
presentation should do justice to the good that lies within us."