Recently I read Bridge Over Adversity: True Stories About Overcoming Personal Challenges by Kevin Desrosiers, whom I know through our local publishing group. As someone who encourages lifewriting, I enjoy reading about “regular” peoples’ lives and was curious about this book. It is meant to be inspiring and to bring hope, and I was impressed by the stories about overcoming big life challenges and obstacles, including some who had to change their whole lifestyle to become healthy, happy individuals ready to succeed in having a fulfilling life. If they can do it, so can you! At the end of each story Kevin added a few bullet points summarizing the qualities the person discovered they had that helped them overcome. They all had perseverance, but there’s more than that.
I asked Kevin what inspired him to write this book:
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It was my parents who inspired the book. Originally it was going to be their story and written as a tribute to them. But as I talked to people about the book, several suggested including other stories about overcoming challenges in life so more people would be interested in and benefit from the book. As I did not know very many people facing challenges in life well, I reached out to my friends. I emailed about 15 people and asked them if they knew people that had faced and overcame challenges in their lives. I told them I was looking for a wide range of struggles such as addictions, legal issues, health issues, divorce, loss of loved ones, etc.
My friends came through better than I ever imagined. They connected me with 20+ people. I interviewed them all on Zoom and narrowed it down to 12 to get a good enough mix and stories that were interesting. After I sent the book to my beta* readers, there was one common thread, that I needed to establish credibility as someone who also faced challenges in life and overcame them. That is how my story became part of the book.
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Maybe you have a story about how you overcame a challenge or a bad situation. Your story may inspire someone now struggling. Writing your story would also honor your perseverance in climbing your personal mountain, and it will give your family a new perspective about you and an appreciation of what you accomplished–and perhaps more understanding of what shaped you.
Kevin Desrosiers is a Distinguished Toastmaster and speaking coach who works with corporations, organizations, and individuals to help people improve their business and life skills. He also goes through methods to face life’s challenges, based on his book, Bridge Over Adversity.
* A beta reader is someone who agrees to read your book or story before it’s published and gives their impression and concrete suggestions to make it better, in their opinion. Usually this is not a close family member. Pick someone not afraid to give constructive critique for you to consider. Cheri Postill wrote an excellent book, How to Train a Beta Reader.
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