The Reality Slap: Finding Peace and Fulfillment When Life Hurts

The “reality slap” takes many different forms. Sometimes, it’s more like a punch: the death of a loved one, a serious illness, a divorce, the loss of a job, a freak accident, or a shocking betrayal. Sometimes it’s a little gentler. Envy, loneliness, resentment, failure, disappointment, and rejection can sting just as much. But whatever form your reality slap takes, one thing’s for sure—it hurts! And most of us don’t deal with the pain very well.

The Reality Slap offers a four-part path for healing from crises based on acceptance and commitment therapy. In these pages, you will learn how to:

• Find peace in the midst of your pain
• Rediscover calm in the midst of chaos
• Turn difficult emotions into wisdom and compassion
• Find fulfillment, even when you can’t get what you want
• Heal your wounds and emerge stronger than before

Unlike some self-help books that claim you can have everything you ever wanted in life, if you only put your mind to it, this book claims that you can't have everything in life. The hard truth of this world is that we are all going to experience disappointment, frustration, failure, loss, rejection, illness, injury, aging, and death at some point. However, in spite of all this, you can still lead a rich and rewarding life. Let this book be your guide.

Russ Harris is a medical practitioner, psychotherapist, and bestselling author of The Happiness Trap, which has now been translated into twenty-two languages. He is one of the world’s leading authorities on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and he regularly travels all of Australia and internationally to train a wide variety of professionals in this approach. His other books include The Confidence Gap, ACT with Love, ACT Made Simple, and the novel Stand Up Strummer.