Fran Harris, Ph.D.

ISBN: 9780757305498

“Fran Harris, former WNBA player, national television commentator and female minister” has a seven-step plan that may provide spiritual enlightenment that will ultimately assist the reader in finding happiness and success.

We learn that we should make choices with regard to career, family, and finances based on not what society encourages, but what is best for each of us. We learn what spirituality is and how to use it to make choices that we can live with.

Harris explains that we must retire our ego, embrace our spirit, accept our greatness, abandon illusions, strive for righteousness, overcome fear and replace it with faith, and unleash our genius. She believes that experiences come with lessons and blessings and she shares so much of herself that I instantly liked her. She was “real.”

She prods us to answer questions for ourselves, shows us there are signs if we are open to receiving them, and we all have a gift. There is a “real deal” and a “real you.” Through “Will The Real You Please Stand Up?” we are encouraged to find the deal and remove the mask that we have been wearing. We have within us a spirit that has no concept of fear, rejection, betrayal, or doubt. We all have the potential to be a “person who gives without need for recognition, lives without the need for approval, and loves because it is its own reward.” But, we use excuses that stop us from having the life we want and have allowed illusions to “steal” our joy. Lies rule our life and we avoid truths -- holding us back from being the real us.

Fran suggests we live life as if it were our “first” day of life. She claims that living life as if it were your last day alive is “one of the biggest bloopers of humankind.” After reading more, I fully understood. If we were new to the world, we would be adventurous, full of excitement, and have boundless energy. If we live each day as if it were our last, we would be “running around trying to right your wrongs, saying good-bye, tying up loose ends, and cleaning up your damage.” This is not living life – it’s a “colossal waste of time.”

We need to love ourselves, get out of the abusive relationship we have with another or ourselves, and know that we only control ourselves – as opposed to controlling everything around us. We are to give up the need for acceptance. Know that not everyone will like us, agree with us, or accept us. We need to release the guilt and pain and self-pity, as well. We need to learn that we don’t need to be recognized, rewarded, or applauded.

Harris equates life to a movie with characters – teachers, if you will. You are the hero, but there are others in this movie, your life. They need to be there to make it interesting. These people are neither good nor bad, but help us to grow in order to move on in our lives. These people are outlined for a better understanding of what their roles are and give us insight as to what we need to learn.

After reading “Will The Real You Please Stand Up?” you should have a clearer picture of the self-help Harris has lived and now teaches.

This book is an easy read and provides a new insight on becoming the person we want to be. Fran Harris will be a guest on the In Short Order show at www.highway2health.net on September 13, 2007, 9PM EST. Listen in and have your questions for Harris ready – it’s a call-in show that welcomes questions and comments.

The above review was contributed by: Sue Vogan, Writer & Author of NCO-No Compassion Observed: To read more of Sue's reviews Click Here