Untamed Summary

1-Sentence-Summary: Untamed is an inspiring memoir of Glennon Doyle, a woman who found peace and inner strength by challenging life in all its areas, from love to parenting, personal growth, and work, after going through a powerful change that led her to discover crucial aspects about herself and allowed her to build a new life.

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Untamed Summary


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If you ever don’t know what your direction in life is, you’re not alone. When Glennon Doyle turned her life around from the roots, things became challenging. However, she knew there was no other way to escape her unhappiness.

Sometimes, intuition is the best tool we have. The author herself had to learn this the hard way. After years of striving for dreams that didn’t even feel like her own anymore, she decided to follow her gut. She did away with the unfitting life guidelines she once set for herself.

As such, when she met Abby Wambach, the woman she would soon fall in love with, her life started to take a twist. Her true nature showed up and she felt as if her cage broke open. Now, there was nothing holding Glennon back from being her unapologetic self. 

Her memoir, Untamed, will inspire you to embrace the power within yourself and open up to new challenges, opportunities, and situations.

Here are my three favorite lessons from the book:

  1. Don’t repress your true self, it will lead to unhappiness.
  2. Putting yourself first can make you a better parent for your children.
  3. Stop fighting what’s meant to be and embrace your true destiny.

Want to find out more about the hidden meaning of these lessons? Stay with me as I’ll go through each and every one of them!

Untamed Summary

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Lesson 1: Your true nature will show eventually, so don’t force yourself into hiding it.

There are times in life when we feel as if we’re stuck in a place where we don’t belong, no matter how hard we try to fit in. Sometimes these situations force us to learn important lessons about ourselves, such as who we are, what our boundaries are, or what we want out of our life. 

This was the case for Doyle before she revealed her true identity and sexual orientation. Before meeting Abby, the author was living a picture-perfect life: she had a husband with whom she had children, a prosperous career, and a healthy family. 

In reality, she didn’t feel attracted to her spouse. And she was trying hard to keep up with the appearances she was presenting to her circle of friends and family. Then, she met Abby. Her soul started to feel unsettling, disrupted, and different.

After careful introspection, she realized that divorcing her husband was the best choice, and she was right! Currently, she’s living a happy, fulfilled life with Abby, has a fruitful career in writing, and has a great relationship with her children and ex-husband. Although difficult at first, living up to her true identity was worth it.

Lesson 2: Being a good role model for your children sometimes means doing what’s best for you.

Being a perfect parent is an impossible feat, yet every loving mother or father tries to achieve it. Frankly, many of them get pretty close, but mistakes do happen. 

However, as long as you love your children and support them in their endeavors, your connection will grow stronger than ever. Doyle was the kind of parent who did everything right. 

For this reason, when she first considered getting a divorce, she felt awful. This decision could ruin her children’s lives, but staying unhappy could do the same for hers. What was there to do? As she was struggling with this decision, a thought popped into her mind.

What if her daughter went through the same situation? How would she, as a mother, feel if she knew her child was struggling with their marriage? Without a doubt, she would advise her to do everything in her power to find happiness in her life. 

Then, she knew exactly what she had to do. After all, what kind of example was she setting for her children? If pursuing and finding happiness was the ultimate goal, she had to achieve it, and that implied getting a divorce. 

Her decision not only made her proud of herself but also strengthened her image as a role model for her children.

Lesson 3: When it’s meant to be, it will be, so stop fighting your true self.

Just like Doyle, you too have a destiny of your own. Whether you’re directing your efforts in the right direction, or not, chances are you know deep down what it is that makes your mind, body, and soul happy. 

Therefore, it would be wise to actively acknowledge that before it’s too late, and start living your life accordingly. Fortunately, the author realized that pretending to be the perfect mother, Christian, and wife wasn’t something she wanted to keep on doing. 

When everything kicked in, her life looked pretty stable and happy. In fact, she was scheduled to go on tour with her book. Still, when something is meant to be, it will be. So the timing was only a small impediment in her upcoming journey.

After careful consideration, she decided that it was time to let everyone know that she will be getting a divorce. She assured her children that their family would still be a loving place for them. And so she let her followers know what was going on in her life. 

Without further hiding or excuses, everyone was on the same page ― Doyle was now dating a woman. Instead of hurting her career, the news made her book release as successful as ever. Moreover, her love life took off as well. 

All the arrows were finally pointing in the right direction, and everything felt well in her heart. This powerful story now serves as an inspiration for people all over the world willing to turn their lives around for the better by following their intuition and dreams.

Untamed Review

Untamed will help any struggling, broken soul find the courage to break out of their misery and make their ambitions come true. Use Glennon’s hard-earned lessons as a wake-up call if you live under unrealistic expectations, unfit societal standards, or a life that you don’t want to claim as your own. 

Reading her memoir will lift your spirit and teach you what a powerful mother and woman can do once she sets goals and boundaries and starts to respect herself truly.

Who would I recommend the Untamed summary to?

The 30-year-old woman who feels miserable in her marriage and wants to find a way out, the 28-year-old single mother who is looking to become a better role model for her children, or the 35-year-old activist who is researching real-life stories about sexism, social injustice, or feminism.

Last Updated on June 15, 2023

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Maria Deac

While working with my friend Ovi's company SocialBee, I had the good fortune of Maria writing over 200 summaries for us over the course of 18 months. Maria is a professional SEO copywriter, content writer, and social media marketing specialist. When she's not writing or learning more about marketing, she loves to dance and travel all over the world.