When Changing Nothing Changes Everything
The Power of Reframing Your Life
Short assures that happiness and fulfillment are attainable even in difficult and unchangeable circumstances.
In When Changing Nothing Changes Everything: The Power of Reframing Your Life, Laurie Polich Short argues that fulfillment is achievable regardless of present circumstances. Her book provides a plan for embracing the process of living by shifting to a broader perspective of life.
Short identifies and explains four different lenses for re-viewing life: the Big View, the Present View, the Rear View, and the Higher View. By applying the ideas associated with these “views,” anyone can begin a path to fulfillment. Short asserts that living through, rather than circumventing, difficult or painful situations is part of the process. Each of us lives a script where the next or final scene is unknown. The essential “power for reframing your life” is having faith in the scriptwriter—God.
Each lens is thoroughly explored in a section of the book. Short uses Bible stories, personal anecdotes, and other short narratives to illustrate each lens. She often focuses on the inspiring stories of those she has met through her work or during her travels. These more personal stories are fresh and effective. Some examples (Ghandi, Mandela) are too familiar to be as effective. Whether she is talking about the ALS ice-bucket challenge or a fateful drive in California, Short writes with the conversational ease of a polished public speaker.
In addition to being a motivational speaker, Short is an associate pastor in Santa Barbara, California. She often uses aphorisms to highlight the text (“Live fully right where you are”). Short moves her discussion beyond the range of a Sunday sermon in several ways. She quotes philosophers like Kierkegaard (“Life can only be understood backwards”) and includes passages from secular texts like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. These features invite reflection without requiring the absolute faith that Short prescribes.
When Changing Nothing Changes Everything ends with an invitation to begin a life of reflection. Short assures that by re-viewing your life, happiness and fulfillment are attainable even in difficult and unchangeable circumstances.
Reviewed by
Geraldine Richards
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
