Life Won’t Ever Be Perfect, but It Can Be Good
In Making Sense When Life Doesn’t Cecil Murphey helps readers accept, adapt and flourish when the trials of life throw them off track.
Life is like cleaning the
house—no matter how hard you work to clean up the mess, tomorrow the clutter
and disorder will reappear, and it will just need cleaning again. In Making
Sense When Life Doesn’t: The Secrets of Thriving in Tough Times (Summerside Press, April 2012, ISBN 978-1609362249, $14.99)
best-selling author Cecil Murphey writes that while life’s messiness is
unavoidable, it’s how a person chooses to respond to the mess that matters.
None of us wants to be an
expert on messes, but Murphey has walked through many hard times himself,
including the tragic loss of his son-in-law in a fire that destroyed his home
and everything in it. In his career as a writer, pastor and missionary, he’s
been a witness to what tragedy and change have done in the lives of countless
others. Combined, these experiences allow him to share the secrets of thriving
in tough times with wisdom and compassion.
Murphey explains that
while you don’t get to choose your crisis, the crises will happen. Companies downsize, relationships end, trauma
hits, and illness comes, but there are three ways in which we can
respond: decide
to live with the mess and comfort yourself with the memories of the past, move
on with life and resent the change, or tell yourself that this can be the best
time of life and try something new.
One of the most important
lessons we can learn is that life will never be perfect, but it can be good.
The secret is learning that our lives will be made better because of adversity,
not in spite of the hardships we face. “As long as you
tell yourself that the chaos and disorder will disappear when an event happens or after some event, you fool yourself—at least for a time,” says Murphey.
In a gentle and
encouraging way, Murphey offers simple and profound insights for living a
significant life such as:
- I need the empty spaces in life to learn to accept fullness in life.
- I need my opponents. They often speak the truth that my friends won’t.
- To appreciate others’ accomplishments enables me to enjoy my own success.
- We all have regrets about the things we’ve done. The biggest regrets are about the things we didn’t do.
- It’s okay to feel sorry for yourself or get angry or depressed—that’s normal and natural. But don’t let those negative emotions control your life.
- Changes will happen. I can accept them now, or I’ll be forced to accept them later.
- We all have soft spots, and as long as they remain, we’ll automatically switch into a defensive mode to protect ourselves.
Making Sense When Life Doesn’t will leave readers viewing life from a new perspective and better equipped
the next time they are faced with difficult times.
About the Author
Cecil Murphey has written or co-written more than 125
books, including the bestsellers 90 Minutes in Heaven (with Don Piper)
and Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (with Dr. Ben Carson). His books
have sold in the millions and have brought hope and encouragement to countless
people around the world.
Murphey stays busy as a professional writer
and travels extensively to speak on topics such as writing, spiritual growth,
caregiving, significant living, sexual abuse, and recovery.
Prior to launching his career as a full-time
writer and speaker, he served as pastor of Riverdale Presbyterian Church in
Metro Atlanta, as a volunteer hospital chaplain for ten years, and was a
missionary in Kenya for six. For more information, visit www.cecilmurphey.com.
Cecil Murphey is
available for interviews to promote the release of Making Sense When Life
Doesn’t. To request a review copy, schedule an interview or for more
information, please contact Audra Jennings, audra@litfusegroup.com.
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