How High Can You Bounce?: Turn Setbacks Into Comebacks

In his new book, Crawford (Playing from the Heart) presents his philosophy of resilience. While stressing the necessity of maintaining an optimistic outlook, he distinguishes his method from that of the ""positive thinkers,"" who, he claims, see only silver linings but no clouds. He purports to be more realistic, acknowledging that we suffer moments of defeat and depression but pointing out that the resilient person can bounce back from them. His own life is testimony to the potential of that outlook: born with physical handicaps so severe that he lacks several fingers and had to have a leg amputated when he was six, Crawford has built a career and a happy marriage. The contagiously upbeat author urges readers to ask themselves three questions: ""Where are you coming from?"", ""How long have you been there?"" and ""Where are you going?"" According to Crawford, these correspond with attitudes, self-image and motivation. Along the way, he offers nine keys to resilience and what he terms ""bounce higher tips,"" which round out his presentation, e.g., ""If you're not making mistakes, you're not learning and growing."" (Jan.)