Frank Viola - Hang On, Let Go: What to Do When Your Dreams Are Shattered and Life Is Falling Apart

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Hang On, Let Go: What to Do When Your Dreams Are Shattered and Life Is Falling Apart

Copyright 2021 by Frank Viola. All rights reserved.

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ISBN 978-1-4964-5222-1

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What is to give light must endure burning.

Anton Wildgans

Ive written this book for anyone facing an impossible situation. One where youve lost all control and hope has evaporated.

Maybe your child has gotten into serious trouble. Maybe youre facing a severe illnessyour own or that of someone you love. Maybe your marriage is in peril or someone dear to you has walked away. Maybe youve lost your job, your career, or your reputationor perhaps some other turn of events has completely stripped you of power.

The circumstances I have in mind would qualify as a first-class disaster. It could be a health crisis, a relational crisis, or a financial crisis. A crisis so drastic that you feel as though your life is coming apart at the seams. A situation where all your problem-solving powers have been rendered useless and your fix-it skills arent worth a bucket of warm spit (to borrow a phrase commonly attributed to John Nance Garner).

If youre in such a situation, this book is for you. If youre not, you will be someday. (Sorry to break the bad news.) In the meantime, what I will share can be of tremendous help to anyone you know who is presently walking through the southwest corner of hell.

Let me make it clear at the outset: This is not a book about suffering. While I will discuss suffering, it isnt my primary topic. This book is about how to survive and thrive despite the worst that life can throw at you. And how to be developed by adversity rather than destroyed by it. Its about how to respond when you are facing a major crisisa crisis where your world collapses and the sky seems like its falling. And how to come out on the other side, where you become version 2.0 of yourself.

Theres no way I can know exactly what youre going through. Maybe its more horrible than anyone could imagine. But Im penning this book because Ive been through the deepest and darkest of caverns myself, and I have learned some vital lessons that can ensure your survival.

Like you, Ive known what it means to drown in an ocean of broken dreams, searing pain, and acute disappointmentto experience suffering that is incalculable and inexplicable.

This book is a lifeline. The principles I sketch out will equip you to kick yourself safely to shore. You might get wet and even beat up, but you wont drown.

I understand the overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and despair that accompany prolonged suffering. Ive had times in my life when I felt like a crushed man, on death row, waiting for a pardon that might never come.

Ive written this volume to share what Ive learned, so that you will be encouraged to keep going, to press on, especially when your circumstances seem the darkest, as well as to navigate the minefields that await you.

Throughout my life, Ive made countless mistakes in reacting to hardship, and I have the scar tissue to prove it. So beyond providing encouragement and direction, my hope is to spare you the pain of repeating those mistakes.

Ive made the chapters intentionally short. Think of the entire volume as a paint-by-numbers field guide to steer you through your crisis. A practical manual that will help you navigate your personal hurricane and rescue you from sinking into emotional quicksand.

For that reason, I regard this book as a ready resource, a helpful companion that you can return to repeatedly until the clouds lift and the crisis is behind you.

You cant learn to swim only by reading a book. People who try tend to drown. So as you read, its crucial that you put into action