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Reviewed by Makeda Cummings for Readers' Favorite
In Elaina Kelly Smith’s Choice, the author shares her life journey from being raised in a very restrictive religious home to traveling all seven continents. It’s an honest look at how a person rebuilt self-trust after years of simply doing things for everyone else. Smith uses her life as a backdrop to introduce the PARQS method, a five-element approach that stands for Preferences, Awareness, Right Action, Questions, and Self-Acceptance. Throughout the chapters, she gives concrete practices—like the single point reset, the butterfly hug, box breathing, and the four-seven-eight breathing technique—to help travelers step out of their autopilot lifestyles. Her book also provides helpful prompt layouts to help readers track their own patterns. She talks openly about her real struggles with sensory overload in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and the emotional exhaustion she faced after witnessing a cremation ceremony in Varanasi, India. Through these experiences, she shows how shifting from judgment to curiosity can calm a spinning mind.
Elaina Kelly Smith’s Choice is a memoir and self-help guide that offers a profound reading journey; it feels like reading the heart-to-heart experiences of a person who has lived through deep isolation and survived. While reading it, I found myself thinking about how often I ignore my own emotional state during busy days. Seeing Smith open up about converting to Judaism to find a healing community added a beautiful element of truth to her book. The tools she shares, especially the one where you use simple "of course" statements to validate your own anxiety, are very simple to try right away. I really loved reading about how she handled the passport control kiosks during that local strike in Chile, because it proved that her tools actually work in real, high-stress moments, not just calm ones. Overall, it’s a very thoughtful read that highlights the true strength found in everyday self-honesty. If you struggle with overthinking, people-pleasing, or autopilot living, then this memoir is for you.
