#1 New York Times Best SellerNamed a Best Book of 2017 by Barnes & Noble and Amazon From Facebook’s COO and Wharton’s top-rated professor, the #1 New York Times best-selling authors of Lean In and Originals: a powerful, inspiring, and practical book about building resilience and moving forward after life’s inevitable setbacks. After the sudden death of her husband, Sheryl Sandberg felt … the sudden death of her husband, Sheryl Sandberg felt certain that she and her children would never feel pure joy again. “I was in ‘the void,’” she writes, “a vast emptiness that fills your heart and lungs and restricts your ability to think or even breathe.” Her friend Adam Grant, a psychologist at Wharton, told her there are concrete steps people can take to recover and rebound from life-shattering experiences. We are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. It is a muscle that everyone can build.
Option B combines Sheryl’s personal insights with Adam’s eye-opening research on finding strength in the face of adversity. Beginning with the gut-wrenching moment when she finds her husband, Dave Goldberg, collapsed on a gym floor, Sheryl opens up her heart—and her journal—to describe the acute grief and isolation she felt in the wake of his death. But Option B goes beyond Sheryl’s loss to explore how a broad range of people have overcome hardships including illness, job loss, sexual assault, natural disasters, and the violence of war. Their stories reveal the capacity of the human spirit to persevere . . . and to rediscover joy.
Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside us. Even after the most devastating events, it is possible to grow by finding deeper meaning and gaining greater appreciation in our lives. Option B illuminates how to help others in crisis, develop compassion for ourselves, raise strong children, and create resilient families, communities, and workplaces. Many of these lessons can be applied to everyday struggles, allowing us to brave whatever lies ahead. Two weeks after losing her husband, Sheryl was preparing for a father-child activity. “I want Dave,” she cried. Her friend replied, “Option A is not available,” and then promised to help her make the most of Option B.
We all live some form of Option B. This book will help us all make the most of it.
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This is a helpful guide on dealing with grief from someone who has experienced it first hand. I found this a positive, easy to read book that gave numerous examples to support the information that was being presented. I leant from what I read and would recommend this book as a one to read to get a perspective on how to deal with, not just grief, but also traumatic events that may happen to you.
Helped me immensely
This was an accessible and applicable study on grief, not just from the death of a loved one, but from any trauma experience. I found myself applying it to my life immediately.
I’m usually not one for self help books and I’m not sure what made me pick up this one written by the COO of Facebook after the sudden death of her husband, but I’m glad I did. From processing past hurts to dealing with slight daily disappointments, the tidbits she and co-author Adam Grant have gathered from extensive research are priceless. This was easy to read and digest and apply. I’ve managed to use it in my interactions with others as well, without seeming like someone who just read a self-help book.
This is a short book on handling grief, or as the author calls it “Option B”. That’s the plan you have to go with when life takes you off course and on a new path. Sheryl Sandberg is an executive at Facebook and was on a vacation in Mexico with her husband Dave, and their friends. Dave died on that trip while working out at the resort gym. It was completely unexpected. This started Sheryl and her two children on their path down Option B. This book covers the uncomfortable situations that she often found herself in after his death, learning to be strong for her kids but vulnerable enough to let them know it’s okay to grieve. Sheryl also talks about becoming resilient and eventually moving on and finding happiness in life.
This is a great book for those who are grieving but also for those who are supporting those who have had a major loss. In particular, I was inspired the chapter on dealing with the “elephant in the room.” We are often not sure what to say to someone who has just suffered a loss. Sometimes, that person just wants to talk and reflect and that was the case for Sheryl. It relieves the tension and awkwardness. In the future, I’ll remember to ask and to allow the griever to talk if they would like.
Many of the topics covered can be applied to other losses as well. Loss of jobs, homes, relationships, etc. There are different types of grief and our ability to deal with loss means we have to face it head on and adapt if we are going to find joy in our lives once again.