The Myth of Bouncing Back: Ditching the Lies of Resilience and Learning How to Rise for Real

by Charaia Rush

There's no such thing as bouncing back. Whether that sentence made you frown in disagreement or sigh with relief that someone finally gets it, this book is for you. There's a lot of talk about resilience these days, but true resilience isn't just maintaining a positive attitude in the face of obstacles or returning to where you were before some difficulty or trauma occurred. It's a lifelong practice of falling, learning, and rising again with each new challenge. It's about becoming who you're meant to be.

With deeply personal stories and biblical reflections, Charaia Rush guides you through a process of building resilience through the cycles of failure, faith, and transformation. She shows you how to
· face your fears
· own your story--yes, even the hard parts
· release relationships, roles, or mindsets that no longer serve you
· reclaim your intrinsic worth apart from achievements or approval
· redefine success
· trust the process
· hold on to hope even when the future feels uncertain
· and more

Firmly grounded in God's promises, this practical and hopeful book offers a road map for rising again after life's hardest falls--while finding purpose in the process.

208 pages, Paperback

Published April 14, 2026

About the author

Charaia Rush is a writer and speaker who is passionate about telling the story of the gospel and watching how it softens the hardened corners of our hearts and illuminates the dark rooms of our spirits. She has written for outlets such as Christian Parenting and SheReads Truth. She resides in Colorado with her two lovely children.

Reviews

[Richard Propes · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the last five years, I've had eight surgeries with seven being inpatient. I've experienced limb loss, cancer twice, kidney stones twice, and ongoing wound care issues.

But, I rise.

In the last five years, one of my best friends has died. I've lost my younger brother, mother, and father in that order.

But, I rise.

Having been born with spina bifida, I was set up early on with a trajectory leading toward relentless struggle with an expected short life span and low expectations for how I would live.

I am now 60-years-old, an elder statesman in the spina bifida world, and living a quality life in a job I love, a home I own, and truly living my good life.

Oh yeah, I rise.

So yeah. I was probably the ideal reader to pick up Charaia Rush's upcoming release "The Myth of Bouncing Back: Ditching the Lies of Resilience and Learning How to Rise for Real."

Rush dives in rather quickly in the pages of this relatively short yet immensely relatable read that balances Rush's personal stories with threads of self-help, spirituality, and just plain hope tossed in for good measure.

Let's face it. We hear a lot about bouncing back. We hear a lot about resilience. We hear a lot about positive attitude. Yet, as Rush points out throughout "The Myth of Bouncing Back," true resilience isn't just about painting on a happy face but it's a practice of failing, learning, and rising again. And again. And again. And again.

There's something refreshing about a writer not so much coming from an expertise as the old school of hard knocks. Rush isn't one to really even pretend she's gotten her life completely together, because there's always again and again and again.

Sometimes, you can't help but get tired of again.

I suppose being born with a disability helped me prepare for those "again" moments. We knew early on I would face challenges. To be honest, I do have a natural smile and a relentless sense of optimism that I'm pretty sure I inherited from my mother. Yet, there were those hard knocks. The childhood sexual abuse, the betrayal by my childhood church, the death by suicide of my wife, death of our newborn, and my own flirtations with suicide in my early twenties.

Yet, somehow I rose. I don't always know how. I do know I felt a certain kinship with Rush, a sense of relatability that always makes me appreciate an author more. As she encourages the reader to own our stories, face our fears, trust the process, redefine success, and let go of people, places, and things that no longer serve me, I saw my own journey and I felt and related to her journey.

"The Myth of Bouncing Back" is, indeed, an encouragement to let go of the myth and to embrace the reality that rising for real is a lifelong journey toward becoming who we were meant to be.

I don't want to minimize it. My life has been so, so hard. Yet, my life has also been so, so amazing and so, so real.

I have a feeling Charaia Rush gets it.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charaia Rush’s The Myth of Bouncing Back honestly hit me at the exact moment I needed someone to say maybe we’re not actually supposed to “bounce back” from every hard thing life throws at us because some seasons change you forever. Published by Baker Publishing Group, thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the gifted ARC because this book felt more like a conversation with a wise friend than a typical self-help book trying to fix me in twelve easy steps.

I think what stayed with me most is how real this felt. Charaia Rush doesn’t write like someone standing on a mountain yelling motivational quotes down at everybody. She writes like someone who has lived through disappointment, heartbreak, exhaustion, and those seasons where getting out of bed already feels like an accomplishment. And honestly? That made this book so much more comforting.

There were multiple moments where I stopped reading and just sat there thinking, “Okay wow… somebody else gets it.” Especially the parts about how resilience isn’t always loud or inspiring. Sometimes resilience looks like surviving the week. Sometimes it looks like crying in your car and still showing up for work the next morning with coffee in hand pretending you have it together. Been there. Bought the overpriced latte.

What I appreciated most was the balance between encouragement and honesty. This book never tries to force positivity down your throat. It acknowledges grief, fear, burnout, failure, and the emotional weight people quietly carry every day while still gently reminding readers that there’s life on the other side of hard seasons.

“There is strength in the rising, even when it’s slow.”

That line pretty much became the emotional support quote of this entire reading experience for me.

I also loved how personal the stories felt throughout the book. Nothing came across overly polished or preachy. It felt vulnerable in a way that made me trust the author more, and I think readers who are emotionally tired, rebuilding after loss, navigating change, or simply feeling stuck in life will really connect with this one.

This isn’t a “girlboss your way through trauma” kind of book. Thank goodness. It’s softer than that. Gentler. More honest.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What’s a book that made you feel deeply seen at exactly the right time in your life?"

[Rebekah Kopenski · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s not often that I read a book that truly feels like sitting down with a new friend over a cup of coffee as she shares vulnerable truth over my heart. This book read like a much-needed letter of validation over parts of my heart that I rarely acknowledge to myself.
If you find yourself too tired to get back up, too unsure where to find the strength to rise after a fall, or you have finally wandered out of that dry season and are not sure how to find the path to flourishing and resiliency, then maybe this book is for you.
Or if you just need a quiet book to read to you, like a letter from a good friend that speaks truth to you, then read this book.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. My review reflects my honest opinion.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC. I enjoyed this look at what true resilience is, rooted in theology and personal experience. It's well written and well researched.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest, tender, and strong. Thankful to have received these words of encouragement in this season.