Hoda Kotb’s inspiration book is about six people who conquered huge physical and emotional challenges and overcame tragedy.

Amy Barnes was the first story in the book, and to me the most insightful.  Amy had to overcome her circumstances including herself to regain control of her and her children lives.  This is a story about physical and mental abuse.  It’s hard to understand how any person would stay in an abusive relationship, but Amy’s story sheds some light on that.  It started very slowly and built over the years.  The first incident was a subtle rebuke where Amy felt bad for hurting his feelings.  Slowly, the incidents grew and the severity with them. Until she was chained to a bed.

No self-esteem left, no money, grossly overweight she sat chained on her bed. In her rock bottom place she vowed that she would rather die than live like this anymore.  In that moment she fought her demons and her abuser.  A light clicked on within her soul. She regained her life slowly, bit by bit. She painstaking jump one hurdle than another. Today, Amy is a shining example of how courage and perseverance overcame adversity.

The other stories involve illnesses, addiction, grief, and job loss. All six people forged new and better lives out of the darkness they came from.

We talked about the six stories at book club and how some pieces of these stories hit our own lives either through ourselves or our families or our friends. We marveled at the resilience of the six. We discussed how they overcame their circumstances and how inspirational each story was.

In my dark moments, I now have Amy, Lindsay, Patrick, Diane, Ron, and Roxanne to urge me forward one step at a time.

Definitely worth the read.

Rating: 8