This Is Not the Life I Ordered is for anyone who has ever felt overworked, overwhelmed, or just plain unlucky (and, who hasn’t?!). Through this collection of stories, wisdom, and practical advice, readers will meet four ordinary women who have faced extraordinary life challenges. Together, they have a history of six marriages, ten children, four stepchildren, six dogs, two miscarriages, two cats, a failed adoption, and foster parenthood. One of them was shot and left for dead on a tarmac in South America and two have lived through the death of their spouses.
This book started simply with four friends getting together for "kitchen table coaching sessions" to talk about their lives. Week by week and story by story, they realized their great advice to each other could help other women struggling with life's myriad issues of work, family, and love, as well as the big questions of life and death. For over a decade, the power and strength of their collective friendship enabled these women not only to survive but to thrive.
Each section of the book concludes with suggested action plans and exercises that the authors refer to as the WIT (Women in Transition) Kit. They realize women are busy, running from the moment their feet hit the bedroom floor, but what they have found is that by taking the time to follow up on the recommendations in the Wit Kit has made a world of difference in the quality of their lives, and that of their loved ones.
"If one woman sees another woman as successful, that woman will never fail, never feel alone…" — Florence Scovel Shinn, writer (1871-1940)
Whether trying to recover from overwhelming hardship or to celebrate a triumph, readers will find four amazing women to share hope and inspiration with through the true stories in This Is Not the Life I Ordered. This is a book for women of all ages.
