Getting Up When Life Knocks You Down: Five Steps to Overcoming a Life Crisis

by Jerry White

The loss of a loved one, a bitter divorce, a serious injury or financial crisis―we must all, at some point, face those unavoidable moments that divide our lives into "before" and "after." How do we muscle through tough times and emerge stronger, wiser―even grateful for our struggle? In 1984, author Jerry White lost his leg in a tragic accident. He has personally endured the pain of loss and the challenge of rebuilding. As cofounder of Survivor Corps, White has met thousands of victims of tragedy. With this book, he shares what he has learned.

White outlines a specific five-step program for turning tragedy into triumph. In their own words, his survivor friends share their stories. It's a group that includes the well known, like Lance Armstrong, Nelson Mandela, and the late Princess Diana, and also everyday survivors. Through their stories and the author's words, this book takes readers step by step through the process of not only surviving tragedy and victimhood, but going on to thrive.

Genres: Self Help

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 2009

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Jerry White is a recognized leader of the historic International Campaign to Ban Landmines, corecipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace; as well as cofounder of Survivor Corps. He lives in Maryland and Malta with his wife Kelly and four kids.

Reviews

[Daniel Te · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a little bit better than I expected for a self-help book. Jerry White has good credentials - working on the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, giving him a wide swath of stories to pull from both domestically and internationally. The stories, which there are ones on literally almost every page, are great. It shows a lot of different scenarios to learn from, making it feel more like reading a collection of stories than a book trying to teach you something.

I will note one crucial aspect missing in this book: the stories don't seem much to do with relationship/sexual, interpersonal, or racial trauma. This is notable because an underlying premise of the book is that past a crisis, the crisis can be over, but with those types of trauma, sometimes it can be ongoing, even when it's over. Most stories lean towards physical traumas (e.g., the author's own amputation after stepping on a landmine), and I think the advice in this book still holds true to that.

The advice really does boil down to being proactive in building yourself up after a crisis, which I think can't be debated against. If you don't do anything, you can't expect for things to get better on their own, which holds... most of the time.

[Thomas Zegray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most inspirational books I've read in a while. When you truly believe in your cause. I recommend it to anyone and everyone regardless of your tragedy that hopefully only temporarily set you back from your journey through the human experience.

[Chantelle J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book deal 84% off with @bookzio it was an encouraging read.

[Roshan · Rating 3 out of 5]

So why read a self-help book? 1) I'm working with the author, so it's professional research, 2) The guy had his left leg blown off by a landmine when he was 20 and won the Nobel Peace Prize at 37, so its worth listening to what he has to say, 3) As he puts it "Everyone has a date with disaster in their life" (i.e. this means you too). It wasn't bad - and will probably be very useful next time I'm facing serious personal trauma.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great tips. Loved the insights on trauma and how the body internalizes those experiences. Interesting note about people having "before dates". (Or whatever the term is..) Enjoyed the notes on others that the author had interviewed. Will definitely recommend this to others.