I love when counselors write books because not everyone has access to counseling for a variety of reasons, such as cost, time constraints, transportation issues or really, just feeling too uncomfortable to go because grief is a very personal subject, especially if the person you loss was someone very close to you. So I do thank him for sharing his knowledge and experience with his readers in the comfort of their own home, when they are ready to read it and at their own pace.

This book aims to connect a person who has suffered a tragic loss not only after they've accepted it, but while they're in the midst of it, with nature, literature and others, using a positive approach to loss. While I admire this approach and think it may be beneficial for some people, for me, this concept can only apply long after the loss and because I don't feel like I'm there yet, I'm not sure if it'll apply to me even then.

I lost my dad two years ago, the closest person to me and honestly, there's no positive. That man and I were soulmates, in a non-romantic, non-weird way and while I appreciate books, nature and others, there is nothing that could make me feel better while I was going through it. It felt so heavy, so traumatic, so overwhelming, especially because my dad was young and suffered tremendously, that while I admire what this book and the author aims to do, I don't find it possible. Still, today, two years after the loss, I found it hard to read the book because it's hard to care about other things even though, we have to, to some degree because like it or not, life does go on, even if it doesn't always feel like it to the person who lost someone.

My husband's grandma lost her husband early in life and told me someday, things that remind you of them will make you smile and I hope that someday that will be true for me, because I still feel pain and I still don't find anything positive about the loss of my dad. I miss him terribly.

I don't know if I'll feel differently about this subject and the book in time, but honestly if I wouldn't have promised a review, I probably wouldn't have finished it, not because I don't think it's written well, I do, just because I don't relate to it and I think I may not be ready to read it.

How do you deal well with grief? The author offers beneficial advice: practice acceptance, reduce reactivity, and give yourself permission to have a bad day. Whether you are suffering through tremendous loss, or are encountering small griefs in this journey we call life, this book provides a wealth of helpful information.

Everyone should add this book to their 2025 TBR list. It was so full of knowledge and hope. I loved all of the information given and the way it was laid out. Wonderfully done!