So Long Status Quo: What I Learned From Women Who Changed the World [NOOK Book]

An Easy Read that Could Change Your Life

Susy Flory is one talented and ambitious lady. I read the book looking for a little enjoyment, and some education about women I've long admired such as Eleanore Roosevelt. The author's style brings you right into the pages (and nearly into her living room!) with its warmth and its conversational tone. While I was busy reading the author's innermost thoughts about her own life and the lives of these remarkable women, a funny thing happened. It changed me. The author's courage and audacity at honestly evaluating her own life and choices forced me to do the same. I realized that there is so much more that I can do in this life and I have already made changes to do so. I didn't plan to have this book change my life, but it did. I highly recommend this to anyone, but most especially women. Give it to a mother, sister, daughter, wife, friend, or coworker. Every woman on my Christmas list will be getting this book from me come December! Readers are sure to be moved by these stories of remarkable women, and challenged to become remarkable themselves. I can't wait to see what Susy Flory writes next!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Get up offa that couch HUH!

Okay Ms. Flory. You've gone from "inspirational writing" to "meddling." My couch is my command center. I can bark orders at the kids from it, with some degree of success. I can reach both remote controls and enjoy Netflix and my DVR, including educational and spirit-feeding shows. I dream up things I might do to make someone else's life better. I've even planned Women's Ministry events from deep within the fuzzy throw blanket. A lot of thinking gets done there. But could I be spending too much time stretched out on the cushy cushions?

This book is full of incredible stories of real women of history who did truly amazing things which impacted their world, as well as mine. But throughout the reading of SLSQ I felt an annoying background discomfort. Like the itchy tag on my shirt. It didn't take long to figure out why. With each passing chapter my couch was being outed for what it really is. An avoidance center. Instead of personally engaging in making a difference, I often hide behind my title of "Women's Ministry Leader" and direct others to go and make a difference by using my couch-induced plans. An inconvenient truth of mine.

I read SLSQ while at a transition point in my life. As a result, I deeply resonated with each phrase of Flory's question "What can I do/that isn't going to get done/ unless I do it/just because of who I am?" I plan to keep this question before me and the Lord to see where He takes me. I have a feeling my couch is on its way to becoming something else, just as I am on my way to becoming someone else. I'm full of anticipation. Thanks, Susy!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Wonderful, encouraging book!

"So Long, Status Quo" is the kind of book that you should buy for birthday presents for people you know, give as Secret Sister gifts, Mother's Day presents, graduation gifts and pretty much any excuse you can think of to pass this book onto a girl/woman in your life that needs a little encouragement. I personally have already recommended it to the homeschool moms I know to use in school (and just found out that Suzy has put together a reader's guide to use with the book that makes a great educational enrichment) and loaned my copy to my mom. She in turn has started recommending it to ladies at our church.

Here is the set-up of the book...
It starts with a little peek into Suzy's personal life that reveals some area of her life that she is lacking in or needs work on (an overflow of material items or lack of sympathy for the children of the world) and then she delves into the biography of a woman that made an impact in that particular area. Following the biography she then figures out a way to make that relevant to her life and somehow implements it. She rounds out the chapter with some ideas for how you can do something in that area of your life.
This is a great book that kept me absolutely captivated the entire way through and while I normally plow through non-fiction at a slow pace - I breezed right through this book because I just loved it.

Inspiration by book clubs and breaking out of your comfort zone

So Long Status Quo by Suzy Flory is an intriguing book about getting out of your comfort zone and moving into the Spirit. I tend to read a lot of inspirational books, but I can only think of a handful that have actually changed my life in a real way and left lasting change. Flory was much like that, comfortable in her life, happy with her family and career, and enjoying all that she had. Admittedly, that's a feeling many people are never able to achieve, but she realized that contentment wasn't enough; she wanted more, to be more. She sought out biographies about famous (and some not-so-famous) women who had a single definable characteristic: faith, devotion, humility, etc and then set out to emulate that trait in a small way. After reading about Mother Teresa's vow of poverty, Flory fasted for 24 hours just to get a taste of going without. Eleanor Roosevelt sent her to Cuba, and Harriet Tubman to sell her jewelry for wells in Darfur! Each woman Flory writes about did something amazing and awe-inspiring with their life, and while most of us are incapable of that kind of world impact, as Mother Teresa said: We feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But if that drop was not in the ocean, I think the ocean would be less because of that missing drop. At the end of each chapter Flory offers suggestions for readers to stretch their own limits and become more than who they are. This would be perfect for book groups; I wish I had one to read it with!

What we can learn from women who saw a need and did something to change the world.

A delightful peek into the accomplishments of some famous and lesser known women in history. But more, it's a challenge to impact history ourselves, and not stand idle while needs are as close as the person next door. Each chapter concludes with suggestions how each of us can change the world, especially helpful for those who want to do something but don't know where to start. Flory's style is a blend of intelligence and humor, honesty and humility that allows the reader to feel as if they've been alongside Flory in her activities, and compels the reader to look for ways we can do the same in our world.