Reclaiming Joy by Joy Lewis

About the book

It happens to the best of us. A relationship ends, and we are left with pain, anger and broken promises. No one taught us how to handle the hurt, how to handle the rejection, and how to take our lives back and move on. My manuscript is intended to help people heal and regain their happiness.

My book details a plan on what to do the first few days and weeks after a breakup and provides the reader with daily affirmations for healing. It describes common mistakes victims of a breakup make and how to avoid them, as well as explain how to move through the hurt and take your power back.

Many people become stuck or bitter after a divorce; this book will help them break that pattern. Reclaiming Joy: Letting Go Of Heartbreak And Loving Your Life Again contains interviews with more than 100 adults who have experienced a painful relationship breakup. It discusses techniques for dealing with the hurt, rejection, loneliness, fear, and anger.

The book is divided into three sections. I take the readers from their victim state, feeling as if their whole world is falling apart, to a role of a survivor, beginning to heal, and finally embracing a new vision, where they love their life again. It gives step-by-step instructions of how to let go of the pain of the past and move forward with hope. After a person completes the difficult journey of letting go, something miraculous happens. Their life opens again to create joy and new possibilities.

Each chapter contains one or two concepts for the reader to absorb rather than longer chapters. The task of becoming unstuck and letting go is a difficult process. By breaking the process down into smaller chapters the reader is not overwhelmed. The reader can complete one concept and move along to the next.

As I worked through my own healing, I searched for books to help me. Through my research, I realized that there is not another book like mine, written by one who has lived through this devastating experience. I found many books written by psychologists on the subject of divorce offering the reader a very clinical approach. Reclaiming Joy was written from the heart and speaks directly to the heart of those who are living through the pain of a breakup.

About the author

I grew up in Harrison Township, Michigan. I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Western Michigan University and a Masters Degree in Administration.

I am a middle school educator and truly love my job. Dealing with adolescents on a daily basis has kept me young in spirit and still enthusiastic about my profession, some twenty-six years after I began.

Although I have two degrees, no college class ever prepared me for heartbreak and divorce at 38 years of age. This event devastated me.

I began journaling, writing down my thoughts in an attempt to heal myself. Eventually, I "reclaimed joy" and became happy again. My journal was the basis of my book. I wanted to help others regain their happiness, after suffering such a loss.

As I worked through my healing, I searched for books to help me. All I found were clinical books, written by psychiatrists and psychologists. My book was written from the heart and speaks directly to the heart of those who are living through the pain of a breakup.

I have, indeed, "reclaimed" myself. I enjoy dancing, working out, long walks, movies, humor, classes and workshops, reading, spiritual growth, music, traveling, and time with family and friends.

I currently live in Rochester Hills, Michigan, with my son, Ryan.