In the Life is Too Short Collection by Connie Sokol women find solace, peace and reassurance sprinkled with humor. I love the format of short two to three page stories that illustrate a point and give doable guidelines to follow. This inspirational tool comes in paperback and Kindle versions.

Here is one example of comfort I received from reading Life is Too Short. Ms. Sokol describes a long sleepless night with a fussy child in one of her stories. “I realized she had stuck pieces of paper and bits of crayon up her nose some time during the previous day. In the dawn’s early light, I sat with tweezers and her head between my feet to pull out the contraband.

This story reminds me when my son stuck a dry pinto bean up his nose and it sprouted. I wondered for days why he stank – no matter how many times I gave him a bath. Then is nose became swollen and he started dripping green gook. I took him to the ER doctor when he started running a fever. He looked up his nose with his scope, grabbed a long pair of forceps and removed the bean that had roots connected. Being a registered nurse I was absolutely mortified. Reading Connie’s vignette I felt like perhaps I wasn’t such a terrible mother after all.

Connie Sokol is a mother of seven, a local and national presenter, a regular speaker at Education Week and a contributor on KSL TV’s “Studio 5” and “Motherhood Matters” blog. She is a former columnist for Deseret News and Utah Valley Magazine, and former TV and radio host. Mrs. Sokol is the author of several books including 40 Days with the Savior, Create a Powerful Life Plan, Motherhood Matters, Faithful, Fit & Fabulous, and the romance, Caribbean Crossroads. She is also a member of Writers Unite to Fight Cancer. Mrs. Sokol marinates in time spent with her family and eating decadent treats.