June 7, 2019
278
In A Little Me, Amy shares what it was like growing up with dwarfism, how she struggled to overcome obstacles both physical and emotional-navigating the average-size world as a little person, bullying, and issues of body image and unachievable beauty ideals-while learning, as we all must, to accept herself for who she is.
I was cleaning my office space over the holiday weekend and found a stack of books that I have not read yet. Picking up A Little Me by Amy Roloff, and holding it in my hand reminded me why I decided to launch this website so many years ago. All my life, I have had a love of reading and the written word. I had garnered a little following at the height of my writing and was enjoying the contacts that I made with fellow writers. Reading and writing book reviews brought me so much joy over the years and it’s finally time to get back into it.
When I opened up A Little Me by Amy Roloff again, I was about two-thirds through. I spent New Year’s morning picking up where I left off and finished it in about two hours. I am so happy that I did because it brought out several life truths for me. Like Amy, I have faced some challenges in my life and put up walls to protect myself. Although my challenges were much different than Ms. Roloff’s, I managed to see a few similarities – health and moving far away from family and friends.
Real Life vs Edited Version of Life
The last third of the book spoke to me on many levels. When she wrote about the reality show and made the point about what is real life versus the “edited version of real” that we see, I thought about my own life. How much of my real life was an edited version that I wanted others to see? That alone gives me pause to reflect on moments in my life that were very painful.
Finding What You Need to Face Challenges
A Little Me shares a story of a woman, who reflects on her past, takes us through a painful moment in her life, and comes out the other side to an awakened sense of self. Amy Roloff used four things to navigate through her journey. Having faith, getting rid of the “what ifs”, surrounding herself with the community, and realizing that she has value and a purpose in life is all she needed to make it to the here and now.
Finding and clinging to the things to navigate life’s challenges is what we all need to do. With the grit and resilience she exhibited in A Little Me, we can all take a page of Amy’s book and apply it to our own lives. Amy Roloff is in her second act, and like her, so am I; all the more looking forward to reawakening my purpose in life.
Thank you Amy for giving me that reminder.