By Terri Schlichenmeyer
\nThe Truth Contributor<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve just about had it.<\/p>\n
Everything and everybody is on your last nerve, which marks the official end of any self-restraint you might\u2019ve had. You\u2019re out of patience, out of breath, out of any shred of willingness to give things more time. You\u2019re
\nout of cares. Nope, as of now, and in the new book Bloom How You Must by Tara Pringle Jefferson, you\u2019re taking care of you now.
\nAll it took was a minor health crisis.
\nWith two kids, a freelance business and 18 hour days, Tara Pringle Jefferson had been experiencing a lot of pain that she usually powered through \u2013 until she couldn\u2019t anymore. Her doctor examined her, then told her to take the weekend off. Seriously, rest.
\nThis made Jefferson think. For generations, Black women had made sure what needed doing was done. How did they cope under oppression, overwork, few resources?
\nLooking into the lives of influential Black women in history, she dis-covered the secret: self-care. Even Coretta Scott King took time away from Martin and the family, Jefferson says. Black women have a legacy of self-care that\u2019s usually passed down from mother to daughter, and it\u2019s up to each woman to make sure she finds what makes her feel complete again.
\nJefferson offers ways to get you started.
\nPhysical Wellness reminds you to moisturize your skin, eat right, get enough sleep and enjoy the body you have. Host a sister circle for Social Wellness. Find your own definition of success for Professional Wellness. \u201cDo church\u201d in a new way for Spiritual Wellness. Don\u2019t let a need for Mental Wellness to be stigmatized. Find your inner child, learn to play again and tap into your Creative Wellness. And know that you are a child of survivors who gave you strength but who also passed down intergenerational trauma, so be gentle and kind to yourself. Remember: you\u2019re still rehabilitating.
\nAs with most self-help books, Bloom How You Must is full of a lot of commonsensical things you probably already know. Also, as with most self-help books, it\u2019s always nice to be reminded, with the info you need all in one place.
\nThe best thing about this self-help book is that author Tara Pringle Jefferson focuses exclusively on the self-care and well-being of Black women only. In doing so, she reaches into history to remind readers that the stress they\u2019re experiencing today is a modern problem, but it\u2019s also nothing new. The care she advocates, there-fore, has tinges of an-cestry, which is com-fortable but can also be surprising, in that she candidly discuss-es sex, relationships, and changing the way readers approach their spiritual well-being. Readers who are open and willing to change for better health and happiness may be tak-en aback by that, but it\u2019s undoubtedly also going to leave you thinking.
\nMen who are curious can absolutely read this book but it\u2019s not for them \u2013 it\u2019s purely for Black women who need help they can only get from inside. If that\u2019s you, then find Bloom How You Must. Because you must have it.<\/p>\n
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