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Grabbing Lightning: The Messy Quest for an Extraordinary Love
Grabbing Lightning is a gripping memoir, a remarkable story that explores the meaning of true love--an extraordinary love that surpasses what most of us believe is possible.
Donald Marrs was 20 years into his career as a powerful ad executive when in his early 40s, he found himself in crisis--in both his professional and personal lives. His marriage was crumbling, he was working on client products that conflicted with his values, and he felt like he had reached the end of the road in himself. Then the unimaginable happened.
A spiritually transformative epiphany, an out-of-body experience, turned his world upside down.
Now understanding why so many of his past choices backfired and old relationships failed, he vowed to let his new perceptions about the transcendent nature of love guide his choices moving forward. It was a turning point that would change his career and love life forever.
In these pages, readers will get an unvarnished look at what it means to:
Find lasting, true love in a beloved relationship Move through uncertainty and disappointment with transcendent love as a form of guidance Make a successful career that aligns with your soul Discern the language of your unique inner guidance system amid the noise and messiness of a chaotic world. Part memoir, part self-help guide, "Grabbing Lightning: A Messy Quest for an Extraordinary Love" is a deftly written, extraordinarily insightful, thought-provoking, life-enhancing, life-changing read from the first page to last. While an exceptional and unreservedly recommended addition to community library Self-Help/Self-Improvement and Contemporary American Biography collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that Grabbing Lightning is also available in a digital book format. --Critique: Midwest Library Review, Feb 2020
Donald Marrs was 20 years into his career as a powerful ad executive when in his early 40s, he found himself in crisis--in both his professional and personal lives. His marriage was crumbling, he was working on client products that conflicted with his values, and he felt like he had reached the end of the road in himself. Then the unimaginable happened.
A spiritually transformative epiphany, an out-of-body experience, turned his world upside down.
Now understanding why so many of his past choices backfired and old relationships failed, he vowed to let his new perceptions about the transcendent nature of love guide his choices moving forward. It was a turning point that would change his career and love life forever.
In these pages, readers will get an unvarnished look at what it means to:
Find lasting, true love in a beloved relationship Move through uncertainty and disappointment with transcendent love as a form of guidance Make a successful career that aligns with your soul Discern the language of your unique inner guidance system amid the noise and messiness of a chaotic world. Part memoir, part self-help guide, "Grabbing Lightning: A Messy Quest for an Extraordinary Love" is a deftly written, extraordinarily insightful, thought-provoking, life-enhancing, life-changing read from the first page to last. While an exceptional and unreservedly recommended addition to community library Self-Help/Self-Improvement and Contemporary American Biography collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that Grabbing Lightning is also available in a digital book format. --Critique: Midwest Library Review, Feb 2020
314 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2019
2 people want to read
About the author
Donald Marrs
2 books5 followersDonald Marrs, by his resume, is a distinguished corporate executive whose career in advertising took him into the boardrooms of some of America’s most powerful corporations. A closer look reveals an insightful man on an abiding quest to resolve the split between his career and his values, and to find deeper meaning in his work, and in his life. Executive in Passage, his first book, describes his treacherous but ultimately triumphant journey out of a painful, career crisis into a more whole, more personally meaningful way of life. Don is an inspiring personal coach on life and career change.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 15, 2019
I loved this book! Grabbing Lightning is about what happens when two people who are following their inner voice get together and alchemy happens. Exhilarating, liberating, magnetic. But not a simple trajectory from bliss to more bliss. From the story, I learned a lot about how to handle the bumps that come up and still hear the inner voice that’s guiding you even when you’re filled with doubt. It tells of that synergy that lifts both people beyond where either can go alone, an upward spiral that’s endlessly expansive. I’d recommend this book to anyone who is learning to follow their inner wisdom in the face of doubt, both internal and external.
November 3, 2019
Finally a page turning self help book with an engaging story!
I highly recommend this book. It’s so refreshing to hear people be so vulnerable. The point of view feels authentic and relatable without seeming preachy. The book is spiritual. It’s messy. Hey it’s real life! I loved the how the chapters are structured into short bits with reflections coming after to help see the story in a deeper context. I have a really hard time reading self-help books but I never got bored reading this story. This book has many lessons into the inner experience of life and I've learned a lot reading it.
I highly recommend this book. It’s so refreshing to hear people be so vulnerable. The point of view feels authentic and relatable without seeming preachy. The book is spiritual. It’s messy. Hey it’s real life! I loved the how the chapters are structured into short bits with reflections coming after to help see the story in a deeper context. I have a really hard time reading self-help books but I never got bored reading this story. This book has many lessons into the inner experience of life and I've learned a lot reading it.
November 5, 2019
Here's a story of what can happen when two people really come together in a quest for love and get so much more back in return. If life were only that kind to all, then again, it's clearly distinguished by both Paige and Donald that it takes work and a deep commitment to one's self and each other to achieve the love all human beings desire. I really enjoyed their journey of the necessary lessons and pitfalls that we all suffer to reach those glorious mountain tops. Thanks for sharing your story of love!
April 27, 2020
This book, “Grabbing Lightning”, gets your attention pretty quick with the way it’s written. It’s easy to follow along Don’s storyline and fall “into” the book. I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen next in his life saga. He’d gone through so much, and I couldn’t help but want him to succeed through all of the trials and tribulations he was going through. He takes his followers on a journey through many of his ups/downs after moving out to California to pursue his dreams. *Which have nothing to do with being a movie-star, mind you.*
This book tries to identify what it’s like to actually listen to our inner selves and what we really WANT out of life. For example, I work in the corporate world…. Prior to a few weeks ago, I had been in the same cubicle in this office for about 8 years…. And now in a new role, I’m just a few rows away from where I was before. This isn’t “it” for me though. I have dreams in this life and sitting in this cubicle is never going to get me there. Don had pretty much MADE it when he was working in Chicago… but he wasn’t satisfied with the direction his life had taken him. So, he made a major career move and changed his whole lifestyle to head to California and try out his luck there with all of the knowledge he’d learned in the first “part” of his life; if you will.
From there, it seems like the rejections and disappointments will never end; but eventually, he finds his “niche” and begins anew and starts to MAKE it. That part of the story is wonderful and so good at offering hope to the readers…. There’s more to your life if you want to take the chance on trusting yourself and pursuing it!
It’s not always about work though, or power, fame, or whatever else you may be thinking. It’s about love. No matter who you are, everyone wants love….true love. Whatever that love may be. Don had to go through his fair share of hurt and loss – in order to find that one true love. That’s what grabbing lightning was all about to Don and his wife, Paige. They co-wrote this book together – and I’m so fortunate I was given the chance to read it and follow their love story, as messy as it may have been once they did decide to go for it.
To this day, Don and Paige celebrate their love and marriage together. Who knows what’s in store for them! They’ve had plenty of adventure and this book was just one stone in their adventure playbook.
This book tries to identify what it’s like to actually listen to our inner selves and what we really WANT out of life. For example, I work in the corporate world…. Prior to a few weeks ago, I had been in the same cubicle in this office for about 8 years…. And now in a new role, I’m just a few rows away from where I was before. This isn’t “it” for me though. I have dreams in this life and sitting in this cubicle is never going to get me there. Don had pretty much MADE it when he was working in Chicago… but he wasn’t satisfied with the direction his life had taken him. So, he made a major career move and changed his whole lifestyle to head to California and try out his luck there with all of the knowledge he’d learned in the first “part” of his life; if you will.
From there, it seems like the rejections and disappointments will never end; but eventually, he finds his “niche” and begins anew and starts to MAKE it. That part of the story is wonderful and so good at offering hope to the readers…. There’s more to your life if you want to take the chance on trusting yourself and pursuing it!
It’s not always about work though, or power, fame, or whatever else you may be thinking. It’s about love. No matter who you are, everyone wants love….true love. Whatever that love may be. Don had to go through his fair share of hurt and loss – in order to find that one true love. That’s what grabbing lightning was all about to Don and his wife, Paige. They co-wrote this book together – and I’m so fortunate I was given the chance to read it and follow their love story, as messy as it may have been once they did decide to go for it.
To this day, Don and Paige celebrate their love and marriage together. Who knows what’s in store for them! They’ve had plenty of adventure and this book was just one stone in their adventure playbook.
November 3, 2019
Finally a page turning self help book with an engaging story!
I highly recommend this book. It’s so refreshing to hear people be so vulnerable. The point of view feels authentic and relatable without seeming preachy. The book is spiritual. It’s messy. Hey it’s real life! I loved the how the chapters are structured into short bits with reflections coming after to help see the story in a deeper context. I have a really hard time reading self-help books but I never got bored reading this story. This book has many lessons into the inner experience of life and I've learned a lot reading it.
I highly recommend this book. It’s so refreshing to hear people be so vulnerable. The point of view feels authentic and relatable without seeming preachy. The book is spiritual. It’s messy. Hey it’s real life! I loved the how the chapters are structured into short bits with reflections coming after to help see the story in a deeper context. I have a really hard time reading self-help books but I never got bored reading this story. This book has many lessons into the inner experience of life and I've learned a lot reading it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews