al28894 | Book Review — Embracing Imperfections: Women's Stories of Triumph by Lian Wai Bee

I originally got this book by winning a department-wide campaign for World Book Day 2026 at my office, and I have found time to finish it cover-to-cover by reading a few pages every day when I could make time.

The book is about how women could be more than what other people assign them to be, teaching topics such as self-acceptance, assertiveness, and embracing imperfections to become better people. There are also four stories interleaved between the pages that add a humanising touchstone to the book’s lessons, given from various experiences of women in Malaysia.

I'll start with the downsides: at least one of the personal narratives had a religious angle that felt weird reading. It was about a woman who suffered through personal struggles and depression while raising two kids, and one way she slowly climbed out from that hole was by reframing her mental illness. But she did it in this way:

>>> "God, I thank you for the depression. I may not understand why, but if I can praise You during my good fays, I will also praise You during my bad days. May I know what lesson You want me to learn?". Slowly and gradually, as I drew closer to God and thanked Him on a daily basis, practicing gratitude instead of complaining, I grew happier and healed from my depression.

While I don't doubt this reframing helped her, it genuinely took me out. I don't think I could do the same thing she did.

Now for the positives: the topics therein were originally written by and for women, but I was surprised to find myself musing on my own self-reflection after reading a few chapters. In particular, the chapters on cultivating self-compassion, imposter syndrome, asserting myself, and navigating life’s transitions made me think long and deep. The last of the mentioned chapters particularly struck me with the advice of embracing the uncertainty of life:

>>> [...] Recognizing that change is a natural part of life can help individuals approach transitions with greater resilience and openness.

>>> [...] By embacing uncertainty, setting realistic expectations, seeking support, practicing self-care, and focusing on strengths, individuals can navigate transitions with confidence and resilience and emerge stronger and more resilient on the other side.

I recall then and there a quote from a dimly-remembered blog:

>>>“𝘋𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘋𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥.”

Somehow, this book added to the growing pile of straws that have been piling on my back, slowly breaking me with a truth: "I need a new job I that can love, becauce I can now and be with the things I love, which are books."

(The other straws were comprised of fanfics, articles, and media that pretty much say the same thing)

While Embracing Imperfections did not make me decide to switch my career, or led me to start updating my resume, or send out inquiries to bookshop chains, it did lead me closer to accepting that truth. And for that, I am grateful.

I am now embarking on switching away from a corporate job to something that I have been thinking of doing for a long while. To be honest, I am deathly scared of the future, but I am choosing to embrace the uncertainty, because I owe it to myself to try. To be happy.