Present over Perfect cover art

Present over Perfect

Leaving Behind Frantic for a Simpler, More Soulful Way of Living

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Present over Perfect

By: Shauna Niequist
Narrated by: Shauna Niequist
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New York Times bestselling author Shauna Niequist invites you to look at the landscape of your own life, consider how it might feel to leave behind the pressure to be perfect, and begin the practice of simply being present in the middle of the mess.

A few years ago, Shauna found herself exhausted and isolated, her soul and body sick. She was tired of being tired and burned out on busy. It seemed like almost everyone she talked to was in the same boat: longing for connection, meaning, and depth, but settling for busy.

But then something changed. She decided to trade the hustle and bustle for grace, love, stillness, and play, and it changed everything. Shauna offers an honest account of what led her to begin this journey and a compelling vision for an entirely new way to live: soaked in rest, silence, simplicity, prayer, and connection with the people who matter most to us.

As you witness Shauna's journey, you'll be inspired to embark on one of your own. She gives you the encouragement you need to:

  • Put an end to people-pleasing tendencies
  • Embrace moments of simplicity, quiet, and stillness
  • Accept that you are worthy of love, belonging, and joy

Written in Shauna's warm and vulnerable style, this collection of essays focuses on the most important transformation in her life, and maybe yours too: leaving behind busyness and frantic living and rediscovering the person you were made to be. Present Over Perfect is a hand reaching out, pulling you free from the constant pressure to perform faster, push harder, and produce more while maintaining an exhausting image of perfection.

Join the over one million others who have already started walking this new path away from frantic pushing and proving and toward their true selves.

©2016 Shauna Niequist (P)2016 Zondervan
Christian Living Christianity Personal Development Personal Success
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A beautiful narration of realness, learning and evolving that was hard to stop listening to and will be listened to again as I start to unravel and rewrite my own story.

This story has already started to unearth my soul

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whether you're a person of faith or not this is a great guide to bringing for presence back into your daily life and a torch to shine some light on our ever present need to push ourselves and twist ourselves into something other than who we are. Loved it!

Intuitive, Powerful and Informative

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I appreciated many parts of Shauna's story and will probably listen to it again in the future, but I'm not so much of a whimsical person and was looking for a simpler, more practical book.

More a poetic memoir than the self-help genre

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This book is on repeat in my busy kitchen. Completely loved it, identified with it and recommend anyone seeking grace and peace in their daily life to read it

Love love love

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that slushie machine story... wow!
i dont have kids. i dont have a partner.
but i can relate yo it so much in reference to my busy work life. bending over backwards for my jobs.

thank you

i LOVED IT!!!

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Love this book so much. I keep coming back time and time again. Take tidbits as you need, remind yourself of what's important. Fantastic for Christians and non-Christians alike.

A book to keep coming back to

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Thank you Shauna Niquist for putting pen to paper in such a raw and vulnerable way. I have no doubt I'll come back to this book a thousand times through out my life!

Life changing book

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I was listening to this alone on a roadtrip and just kept driving because I didn't want to stop the audio book

Couldn't recommend highly enough!

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good to hear the words in the authors own voice. things to think on about being "busy" over simply getting the job done

lots to think on

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A beautiful book with a simple yet often untold story (or one regularly muted by ones self or others), this book was calming, enjoyable, and heartening, and as such provided courage to breath deeply and stay the course with ones own choices. A few bumps in a chapter or two in the middle of the story were momentarily not my cup of tea, but I could see their point and it was so worth staying the course. Share widely with those you love.

Impressive, heartening, enjoyable, insightful, calming

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