Book Review: "The Real Me: Awakening Your True Self"

If you’re looking for spiritual guidance, a way to be happy being you, and a better life in the New Year, look no further. Sandra Agazzi Chimenti has the answers you’ve been searching for. Chimenti, a former teacher, now works hard at her own publishing company and helping others empower themselves with her book. “The Real Me: Awakening Your True Self” is more than a book; it is a journey you make with yourself. Featuring the “Seven Aspects of Spiritual Awakening”, which are divine creation, communication, apology and forgiveness, gratitude and praise, loving choices, flowing in life, and sharing gifts and talents, lead you with positive affirmations and beautiful quotes.

The book provides an overview on Chimenti’s teaching methods based on allowing yourself to feel your emotions fully before you can truly move on and actively seek happiness and peace within yourself. After an explanation of the “Seven Aspects of Spiritual Awakening” you are given positive statements and affirmations for each aspect. Some are short, others longer, but all are uplifting messages designed to empower you. What is truly great about this book though, is the way you are actively involved in it. You are not simply the reader; you are the writer as well. As you read on, there are pages for you to write your own positive affirmations as they come to you and exercises such as “Mirror, Mirror” and “Release Strife, Enjoy Life”. These exercises are part of the “awakening process” and allow you to write down your experiences and fill out surveys designed to break through the barriers we put up when we try to ignore our bad emotions. By doing so, Chimenti says, you allow yourself to get rid of these feelings and make room for the new peace you’ll find within yourself. Also included are pages and pages of resources for specific issues, a gratitude journal, Chimenti’s original poems and songs, and meditations to try.

This book is definitely different from most books I’ve read, as it is more of a self-help book. But upon going through it, it taught me to trust myself and be positive. As a child, I was definitely that girl in class that always cried over nothing and as I’ve gotten older realized I have issues with anxiety. I always tried to ignore these facts and stemming from crying a lot as a child, I try to hold in the tears now and act as if everything is okay. I hold things in until I explode, basically. Chimenti’s book taught me that you can’t do so to be a happy and empowered person. You have to get through the bad emotions and learn where they come from to get rid of them. While I know I am nowhere near the “Real Me” as the book describes, I am happy to have this book to continue to look at and learn from. The positive affirmations are ones that I can look at if I’m having a tough day. This book may be tough to understand if you are not spiritual at all, as God is often talked about, but the great thing is no matter what your religion or if you are religious at all, you can use God as any God. All in all, a great read for those actively seeking a better self.

Visit her website for more information on her book, her empowerment presentations, and more.