Although as a journalist I have, over the years, interviewed hundreds of people (including researchers, psychologists, therapists and religious leaders) in order to discover what makes for a happy existence, I write to share these assurances with you not as any expert, but simply as a fellow traveler on the journey of life.

I know because I have walked this road myself.

I know what it feels like to live through intense emotional pain that takes over and shuts down your life. I know, too, the relief, the joy and the sense of power and possibility that is your reward when you march out of that troubled section of your journey in this world.

This book came about during a period when I experienced the unhappy coincidence of a number of difficult circumstances: the bitter end of a relationship, a tough career change, feeling isolated from my family in a small town in a foreign country, and a major schism in my family.

I felt life had knocked the wind out of me and I couldn’t get back up. For days, I would lie on my bed, paralyzed by the thought that my life was as a wreck. I felt all chances for love, children, financial success, recognition, peace and happiness had been cruelly ripped away from me. I would swing from crying and wanting to end my life to boiling with a fierce rage. These thoughts were so powerful and the feelings were so intense, I became terrified of myself.

I knew this was no way to live. I felt I was sinking and it was only a matter of time before I would go under completely. It was in my most wretched moments that I realized I needed divine help to get me to sure ground. I had to open up my soul to receive inspiration. That was when I began to rise in the purity and quiet before dawn to write messages to revive myself. I never planned what to write. I would pick up my pen and let the words flow. It is these messages, revised slightly for publication, that I share with you in this book.

These writings, which tapped my many years of truth-seeking at a time when I needed it most, showed me how to start living again. They took me from feeling totally lost to creating a new life of joy. As I applied the principles contained in this book, my world began to open up. New opportunities presented themselves before me, including the challenge of lecturing at college level. I began a more rewarding phase in my writing career. I started my own business. I saw my income increase seven-fold and I paid off my mortgage. I opened myself to a more fulfilling relationship and the troubles in my family ceased to be a worry.

I am in the best place I have been all my life. Now, each day when I awake, I jump out of bed with a prayer of thanks. I feel privileged, as if God has given me a second chance to live. Actually, no, what I truly feel is that for the first time, I am truly living. My life today is filled with peace and gratitude, and my days are fuelled by purpose. And when the blues threaten to return, because they do and always will, I know where to turn for support.

INTRODUCTION
Life presents a door to a better way
A personal passage
Self-love is the key
How to use this book
Create your circle of strength

Read the Preface