This Is Not the Life I Ordered: 60 Ways to Keep Your Head Above Water When Life Keeps Dragging You Down

by Deborah Collins Stephens, Michealene Cristini Risley, Jan Yanehiro

Become Your Own Life Coach

An inspirational book of self-care. For over a decade, four women came together for weekly “kitchen table coaching” sessions that they designed to enable them to support each other through life’s ups and downs. The power and strength of their collective friendship has enabled them to not only survive but to thrive, and the remarkable results can be found in this collection of lessons, stories, and wisdom. With this book, you can learn how to turn any unfortunate event into a joy-filled opportunity.

Overcome adversity, embrace change, and discover your power—together. In addition to stories and advice, This Is Not the Life I Ordered will teach you how to put together your own gathering of kitchen-table friends. At the end of each section, you will find tools that you can work with as a group to help each other grow, learn, and thrive. Don't get stuck telling your friends that "everything happens for a reason" over and over again—learn how to encourage them effectively and love them well.

Show yourself and others compassion, kindness, and forgiveness. Part autobiography, part self-help book, and all useful and actionable content, the authors and friends pulled from their experiences supporting one another to help you do the same. If you are struggling with work, family, love, or just life in general, This Is Not the Life I Ordered is for you. In this book, you'll find advice and stories that will help you grow to be better than before. Topics include:

Managing misfortune Finding courage Understanding money Reinventing yourself Learning to love your mistakes Facing naysayers And much more!

Readers of motivational books and personal growth books like Tell Me More, On Being Human, and Carry On, Warrior will be inspired by This Is Not the Life I Ordered.

Genres: Self Help

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2019

Reviews

[Elizabeth]

I wanted to like this, but was really disappointed by how dated it feels, even though this edition was published in 2019. Maybe when the first paperback came out in 2008 the jokes about women loving chocolate were radical. There are a few references to #metoo but they aren't integrated into the text.

This makes Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In look woke af.

[Sahana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a treat to read. I loved the collective wisdom shared by these women! So many inspiring anecdotes and life lessons.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cheerfully optimistic about getting through this thing called life.

Merged review:

Cheerfully optimistic collection of essays about how to get through this thing called life. Hint: yes you can.