This is a superb book, in the top 5 of my recommendations to my clients, students, and friends, because it works just as Carol Orsborn assures you that it works. Give yourself one full day alone with the book and follow her from page one, and within 5 to 12 hours, you will have found resources within yourself to solve a major problem or question or concern in your life. Period. And, she explains why it works as you are finding it working with you. It is well-written and interesting, and powerfully life-changing. And, there is not a one of us who truly can not give ourself one day to ourselves... Love yourself, and explore your illuminated way to your happier, more effective path. Waging Peace!

Of all the self-help books I have read this one is definately the best. Not only did it help me, but it literally felt good to read it. The author suggests setting aside a day to work through the book. I was not able to do that so I read and worked the exercises as I could get to them. I made time to work on it every day and in 5 or 6 days had completed it. As a result, I think that I was much more aware of the process and the changes that were occuring within me. Some of the changes were pretty small, but they made a huge difference. It was like turning a Kaleidescope slightly to form a completely new picture! The copy of the book that I read was checked out from a library. I will be ordering my own to use in the future because I plan to go through the book again within the next year. The author asks the reader to pick out a specific problem or area to concentrate on as you work through the book. Most people have more than one problem so I am going to keep this book on hand right next to my aspirin!

I have found that solving problems is, at least in business, traditionally a left brain focused attack. This book gives great ideas about how to let your right brain kick in and intuit higher level solutions for issues that would otherwise have us unsettled for days. The promise of a 24 hour solution may seem to be stretching it a bit, however, I personally have had this intuitive right brain approach kick in in an amazingly quick time span and with an unusual and innovative approach and result. My advice, get the book and try it - only dismiss what you have tried and personally found to be ineffective. Until you experience this type of a process (operative word - experience!), you just will not know which approach is most effective, will you?

Carol Orsborn wrote Nothing Left Unsaid: Words to Help You and Your Loved Ones Through the Hardest Times to help people nurture their relationships while there is still time. She 'focuses on the experience of being with someone who is sick or dying, and encourages the reader to move to a new level of connection and relationship with the one they love.' Orsborn wrote it following her own experience with a personal health crisis and after a vigil with her critically-ill father.

A master teacher and theologian, Orsborn has written ten other books applying spiritual philosophy to the challenges of life.

She begins with a collection of inspirational readings, prayers, and affirmations from a variety of cultures and traditions. Brief essays from her personal experiences follow each of these, along with suggestions as to individuals may incorporate them in their own lives.

Following that is a section of 'Rituals for Healing and Resolution.' Orsborn includes several techniques for releasing negative feelings such as guilt and grief. She also describes a forgiveness meditation and several methods of effective communication.

The final section is designed to help with introspection. It contains questions which the individual may use for journaling, or to initiate conversations with loved ones.

Orsborn's desire is that her words will 'help you to grow your love and minimize your regret, come what may.' In Nothing Left Unsaid, she's provided a compassionate and inspirational guide for anyone who is struggling with trying to find the right words to say at difficult time.

When my favorite aunt was dying, I didn't know how to deal with the pain and the emotion. Especially in the last few months when I was sitting there with her. This book helped both of us to come to terms with the big step that would be taken in both of our lives. I would reccomend this to anyone who is losing or has lost a loved one.

This book help me to find the right way in my life when I was pretty on the bottom. It also supported me to change my life and find out the new position.

I am a big fan of Carol Orsborn's books (including "Inner Excellence at Work: The Path to Meaning, Spirit and Success.") It's great to read her in an informal interview with the folks at New Dimensions. They really capture the flavor of her wisdom and advice. All the authors who are featured make an important contribution to the field of spirituality and business. Read this book!

I spent all of 1999 dealing with breast cancer. Aside from Dr. Susan Love's Breat Book, this was the singularly most helpful book I read, even though I read it after I was through with breast cancer, if ever one is. It was direct, personal, spoke concretely from experience, and rang true, even though each person's experience differs. These women offer a great gift amidst the large selection of cancer books.Cannot recommend highly enough, and friends, I read a heck a of a lot of cancer books this year!

When my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer several weeks ago, I began the search to find books that offered more than just descriptions of symptoms and treatments. While those are useful for her for now, I needed something more. This book was beautiful--and I would recommend it for anyone. Each woman is in a different stage, has taken a different route, and comes from a different spiritual perspective. The words were healing and I know I will refer back to them time and again. Each writer truely gave a gift.

Susan Kuner, et al. have managed to craft the quintessential cancer guide by women for women. I wish I'd had this book at hand when my best friend was diagnosed in 1995. So many of the hard questions she asked were thoughtfully and brilliantly answered by the four women who shared their personal experiences and the answers they found in this marvelous book.

Women approach illness and the possibility of death with a completely different mindset than their male counterparts. Going to war against a disease does not come naturally for most women, and the gentle, philosophical thoughts offered by Kuner, et al should be required reading with any woman facing a diagnosis of breast cancer.

Bravo! Marvelous writing, and even better advice. Thank you for creating such a worthwhile project.

I found the Art of Resilience a worthwhile read, particularly for someone dealing with grief or loss of some type. The format would appeal to one who suffers as it is organized into brief chapters containing vignettes, philosophy, or advice. It is not a long, heavy read of how you SHOULD feel, but rather an uplifting look at how you could choose to confront an illness, a death, or just one of the many setbacks that we are all destined to encounter on the journey of life. It would be a wonderful gift to place into the hands of a friend in need.

I absolutely, wholeheartedly recommend this book. There is so much contained in it that allows you to transcend change/pain/discomfort and grow because of it. I learned that just because things happen, it's not the end of the world, that things do get better in life. I pull it off the shelf from time to time just to remind myself that I am not alone.

This book is both inspired and inspirational! I suggest you keep it on your nightstand and read a section every morning and night. The readings are short and to the point. Don't be surprised if this book becomes your best friend.

This is a very interesting book for anyone who wonders why he or she is unhappy at work or how to make the workplace more human. The book is based on the "Seven Principles of Inner Excellence." Each principle is stated at the outset of a chapter and then explained through storytelling, using both personal stories and classics. You will recognize the stories told by the author, but their application in a business context has new value.

Some readers might have difficulty appreciating the concepts raised in this book, although it is written in a very simple, direct style. As the author acknowledges, these spiritual concepts may be foreign to most business people. Still, you may enjoy getting to understand them. In fact, the messages in this book tend to grow on readers after a few days. We [...] recommend this book to middle level managers who wish to consider these humanistic principles for themselves and their employees, and to owners of small to medium-sized businesses who want to introduce a spiritual element into their business practices.

Carol gives an outstanding view in simplistic terms of present day workplaces, and the people who work in them. The view that she projects, is one of the ability of the reader to confront their own surrealistic existence, and be able to project for themselves and their families a future, which is not plagued by others view of you as a person. She has given us all a roadmap to a more placid and real aspect of present day living. Congratulations and well done.

As the western world spends more and more hours at work, we seem to become less and less fulfilled. Carol Orsborn shows that it simply doesn't have to and shouldn't be this way. True success in whatever you do can only come from living fully, and this book shows how this can be done. It should be a MUST READ for all entrepreneurs and MBA students, or anyone who believes working hard is the answer.

This book is a great read for anyone interested in the practical applications of philosophy, or even someone looking for the right spiritual answers to day-to-day work problems. Carol Osborn has taken the learnings of the ancient Chinese scripture I Ching and applied them to a hundred commonly faced modern-day work situations. The solutions presented are not quick-fix, step-by-step guides on what to do but to someone who has a little bit of faith, they can open up a lot of doors. Most importantly, they force one to think deeply about each situation and what it means in one's life. Definitely a handy book to have around.

As a fellow traveler of Ms. Osborn, I was extremely troubled by some of the comments made here about Return from Exile and feel compelled to offer my own comments. I, too, am a Jewish student making his way through theological studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School. Unlike Carol, I came to VDS with already solid roots in my Jewish faith and heritage. I was not searching for spirituality, or connections, but for education. And that VDS provides quite well. I know with certainty that neither Carol nor anyone else makes it through this program on sloppy scholarship.

While my journey, and many of my experiences at VDS have been quite different than those that Carol relates in her book, what she describes in her narrative rings true. While I suspect that my own surety in my faith has made my encounters with Christianity at VDS less threatening, or at least temepered my feelings, I can fully understand and appreciate Carol's reactions and commend her willingness to write about them so publicly. This is not vitriol, there is no chip on the shoulder here. Just plain honest reaction and feelings. It is writing that does touch a nerve, as another reviewer suggests. That's a strength, not a wekness.

Her path, her intention, and her outcomes may not be those that others approve of, or seek for themselves, but that, after all, is not the point of such a literary effort as "Return From Exile." It is the courage, the willingness to so expose oneself, that is important. This book offers encouragement to others to do the same, and that is its highest recommendation.

I commend this book to all who seek courage to pursue their own path. I especially commend it to Jewish readers, not as a model for spiritual search or renewal, but for its unspoken candor, its unresolved issues, and its willingness, like Torah, to allow for apparent contradictions, incosistencies, and uncertainty. The challenge is always to exegete meaning from the differences.

Carol's journey is one that all Jews, all people of faith (or lack thereof) for that matter, can learn from. Those of us fortunate to have solid roots in our faith should not be so quick to criticize those trying to find their way in, lest they frighten them off.

Carol Orsborn's works are always fun, exciting, informative, and a great read. When she lets us share her own experiential search and research, we know we have a good, solid guide to higher understanding. We recommend this and her other works unconditionally and hope that readers will give themselves the treat of reading them.In 'Return from Exile,' she once again guides us, this time on her own journey back to her Jewish roots and a deeper understanding of this ancient tradition. In so doing, she invites all of us to rethink the traditions on which our lives stand, finding gold where we might have only seen dust. Using her own experiences - which she shares with humor and candor - she allows her readers to experience with her the process of spiritual seeking as both a way of returning to one's own roots and a way of life.

Whether your background is Jewish or not, this book can help you find genuine wisdom on your own spiritual path - and with Carol Orsborn, you know you'll find yourself both lighter and enlightened as you walk.

Carol Orsborn movingly describes her return to the faith of her childhood, Judaism. No sentimental hash here; this spiritual renewal came through study and hard work while Orsborn was a student at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School. She paints a very realistic picture of the current state of education in university-related divinity schools, and the composite characters she uses are sometimes howlingly funny (and familiar). This is not just a book for Jews; anyone hoping to make peace with the faith of his or her early years will find in this book a helpful, hopeful story. I have loaned it to several members of my church who are struggling with Christianity. What is important for me and the readers I know is not so much the faith to which Orsborn returns, but the journey she makes. That journey can be universal.