When I read the blurb to Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant I requested it right away.
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.
Then when it arrived I thought, 'oh gosh I actually have to read this book and reflect on it and it could be a hard slog.' Thankfully I was completely wrong about the slog. What Sandberg and Grant have achieved is the perfect mix of narrative with good psychological research and information.
I underlined so many sections in the book and I read it fast. Then I started recommending it in conversations which is always a good sign that it is in fact a book you really, really think is worthwhile.
Essentially I feel like this book is a great read for anyone doing life. We are all faced with challenges and each of us needs the tools to both develop resilience in ourselves but also to be able to respond with compassion and intelligence to the people around us who are facing trauma. Intelligence may seem a strange choice of word but what I mean is to have actual real tools to journey with people we love who are in trauma, rather than just feeling the feels with them. This book provides both of these.
Personally I also felt there was a lot in the book for me to challenge me about my own attitudes to failing and making mistakes and what I can learn from them.
Straight after I finished reading this book a colleague from my work died unexpectedly and we were launched into an incredibly draining and difficult week (and season). Dealing with this as a teacher is a strange thing, there is the sadness, shock and grief that the staff have experienced and then you are also still dealing with children, their responses and their learning needs in the midst of it.
All this to say that this book is such a worthwhile read and it is very readable. I think that the challenge of a well researched book that is grounded in science is to hold the reader. Sandberg and Grant have also really made a wide net - the book could have been one woman's journey through her own grief and related only to losing a spouse but they have stretched the horizon so much broader than that.
Super highly recommend.
Details - Option B, Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant. Penguin Random House, May 2017 RRP $45.00 (or ask your local library to order it in and place a hold.)
love you more than knowing more than I knew yesterday xxx
