“Becoming Happy and Healthy” Book Review
I bought this book a couple of weeks ago because I have been a follower of Jeanine Amapola on social media for many years and wanted to support her. She is a Christian influencer with a YouTuber channel, Instagram, TikTok, and Podcast. I know some parts of her story because I have been a follower for a while. I was excited to read her book to learn more about her and her message.
“Becoming Happy and Healthy” is a Christ-centered Christian self-help book. In it, she writes about many facets of life and how to navigate them with a Christ-centered perspective. Having Jesus as your priority in every area of your life will make you happy and healthy. She talks about friendships, dating, career, health and more. Jeanine shares her testimony throughout the book and how Jesus brought her through difficult times. At the end of each chapter, she includes devotional questions you can write down in a journal and answer.
This book is targeted toward young adult women in their early twenties. Jeanine just turned 30 and writes to a younger audience. Throughout the different chapters, Jeanine shares parts of her story where she had self-doubt and struggles in college and post-grad life. She gives her advice to younger readers on navigating your twenties and how to take your relationship with Jesus seriously.
This book is excellent for the young twenty-something girl who struggles to find her place in the world. Personally, I didn’t get much out of the book. I am in a similar season to Jeanine because I have a serious relationship with Jesus and have grown from my mistakes in my early twenties. I am not saying I am perfect and mastered everything in the book, but God has already taught me many of the things she mentions through my own trials. Also, I already knew her testimony from following her from her college years and wasn’t surprised by the events in her life. I thought the book wasn’t a deep, thought-provoking book. Being a self-help book, the chapters had little narrative or timeline. It is arranged by topic and not in sequential order. The book is a light read with questions you can use as a devotional. I prefer her podcast over her book. I was influenced by her podcast with her husband, and I learned so much from it. In the podcast, she interviews different people and shares different life stories. She goes deeper into the topics of her book and invites others to share their opinions. Her podcast speaks to a broader range of people than her book. Overall, it is still a good book and not a waste of time if you decide to read it, even if you are older than the target audience. I would definitely recommend this book to someone early in their faith.
Jeanine is an amazing woman and follower of Christ. Congratulations on your first book!
Because I didn’t learn much from the book, I wanted to include my advice I would give my younger self. In my early twenties in college, I was on fire for God. I even decided to change my major to Religious Studies because I loved academic studying of the Bible and the Church. I learned so much from my professor about the life and culture of Jesus and the church. However, before changing my major, I was obsessed with making the right decisions and being in the Will of God. I would become so stressed about what I was supposed to do with my life and what path I should take. The semester before I changed my major, I was depressed in the waiting season because I thought I wasn’t in God’s will. I was so wrong. I would tell my younger self that you are not powerful enough to be so far gone that you are forever out of God’s will for your life. “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:4).” I may have been in a transition period, but God’s rod and staff will comfort me. What is God’s rod and staff? A shepherd uses a rod and staff to guide sheep on the path and protect them from predators. Like a shepherd, God will guide and protect you. If you steer from the path, he will guide you back on and protect you from the enemy. Whatever decisions you make, God will either continue to guide you on the path or steer you back on the path. God will help you no matter your decision. As you grow in your faith, your decision-making will improve, and you will stray less from the path. Wherever you are in your life, do everything for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
