In 2015, Sheryl Sandberg's husband, Dave Goldberg, died suddenly at the age of forty-eight. Sandberg and her two young children were devastated, and she was certain that their lives would never have real joy or meaning again. Just weeks later, Sandberg was talking with a friend about the first father-child activity without a father. They came up with a plan for someone to fill in. But I want Dave, she cried. Her friend put his arm around her and said, Option A is not available. So let's just kick the shit out of Option B. Everyone experiences some form of Option B. We all deal with loss: jobs lost, loves lost, lives lost. The question is not whether these things will happen but how we face them when they do. Thoughtful, honest, revealing and warm, Option B weaves Sandberg's experiences coping with adversity with new findings from Adam Grant and other social scientists. The book features stories of people who recovered from personal and professional hardship, including illness, injury, divorce, job loss, sexual assault and imprisonment. These people did more than recover-many of them became stronger. Option B offers compelling insights for dealing with hardships in our own lives and helping others in crisis. It turns out that post-traumatic growth is common-even after the most devastating experiences many people don't just bounce back but actually bounce forward. And pre-traumatic growth is also possible: people can build resilience even if they have not experienced tragedy. Sandberg and Grant explore how we can raise strong children, create resilient communities and workplaces, and find meaning, love and joy in our lives.

”Proteanism”—or the protean self—describes a psychological phenomenon integral to our times. We live in a world marked by breathtaking historical change and instantaneous global communication. Our lives seem utterly unpredictable: there are few absolutes. Rather than collapsing under these threats and pulls, Robert Jay Lifton tells us, the self turns out to be remarkably resilient. Like the Greek god Proteaus, who was able to change shape in response to crisis, we create new psychological combinations, immersing ourselves in fresh and surprising endeavors over our lifetimes.

"A powerful rumination on how we can draw on historical examples of "survivor power" to understand the upheaval and death caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and collectively heal"--

"Everyone experiences obstacles as they live their lives. The public seems to believe that successful people have not faced obstacles. That is not true. Successful people experience significant challenges and obstacles over the course of their lifetimes. The secret is in how they surmount those obstacles and use them to learn and to grow stronger. The Work presents short profiles of fifty women, who have been inducted into both the Colorado Hall of Fame and others, discussing how they dealt with significant obstacles and challenges in their lives. These stories are presented within a framework of ten key characteristics that are embodied in these Hall of Famers and that are responsible for their successes in overcoming the challenges and obstacles that they met throughout their lifelong journeys: mental intelligence; emotional intelligence; social support; moral compass - spirituality; determination - perseverance - persistence; optimism; creativity; resilience; action-orientation; and passion"--