Richard A. Swenson, Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives. NavPress Publishing Group, 2004.
Referenced in: Minister Self-Care
LifeandLeadership.com Summary
Swenson is physician and medical educator who practiced for fifteen years and then began researching and writing about the intersection of culture and life. In this best-selling book, originally published in the 1990s, Swenson champions the notion that the pace and complexity of American life is severely overtaxing our human capacity. He suggests we need “margin” or free, uncluttered space around our lives to guard against overload. Swenson divides the book into three sections:
- The Problem: Pain – the cultural condition that creates overload
- The Prescription: Margin – the space we need in the areas of emotional energy, physical energy, time, and finances
- The Prognosis: Health – the contentment, simplicity, balance, rest, pain, margin, health, and relationships that result from creating margin.
Swenson integrates sociological and cultural research, psychology, and scripture into a very readable and helpful volume. He may be a little heavy on analysis and light on practical strategies on how to actually achieve margin, and his use of scripture will appear weak to seasoned exegetes. Yet those looking to lead a more balanced life will gain considerable motivation and direction. Swenson also authored a very practical workbook, Restoring Margin to Overloaded Lives: A Workbook Based on Margin and the Overload Syndrome (NavPress, 1999). It is based on the earlier version of Margin and another of his volumes, The Overload Syndrome: Learning to Live Within Your Limits (NavPress, 1999). A combined work, Margin/Overload, was published in 2002.
From the Publisher
Margin is the space that once existed between ourselves and our limits. Today we use margin just to get by.
This book is for anyone who yearns for relief from the pressure of overload. The benefits can be good health, financial stability, fulfilling relationships, and availability for God’s purpose. Includes 180 daily readings. Indexed for easy reference.
About the Author
Richard A. Swenson, M.D. is a physician, a futurist, and the author of The Overload Syndrome , Hurtling Toward Oblivion , More Than Meets the Eye, and A Minute of Margin. Dr. Swenson and his wife, Linda, live in Menomonie, Wisconsin. They are the parents of two sons, Adam and Matthew.
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