I Used to Be ___ - by Chuck Elliott & Ashley Elliott

I started reading this book with the intention of learning a few things about how to help other people in their grief. Little did I know how much the book would actually apply to my own life, and help me learn to better communicate my own struggles with other people and have deeper relationships with those around me. Living in this world, one can guess that probably most people have some sort of grief in their life; it is just unavoidable. Also, considering the nature of humanity, it is likely that most people have had hurt in their life. Some of us cope by completely shutting down and sinking deeply into depression, some of us cope by doing destructive things like drugs or alcohol, some of us build walls around ourselves so that we don't chance being rejected which creates loneliness. This book addresses all of those things and more while also giving so many tools to help bring healing. They (the authors) do this by giving many real life, relatable examples. This is definitely going to be a book I keep on hand to pass out to others who need some healthy encouragement, and for myself to reference from time to time.