Firm Grip: Learning to Thrive When Life Doesn't Go as Planned

by Bill Nelson

Do you ever feel like you've lost your grip on life? Have setbacks shifted you off course from the life you planned? Do the scars of your past stir fear of a future that looks no better than your present? At some point, we all feel this way. It's inevitable, because life is hard. But is this our final destiny? Is there a way forward--beyond our negative thoughts?
What if we could thrive, despite pain and fear, and even in the face of an uncertain future?
Raw and vulnerable, Bill Nelson takes you into his journey with a rare, incurable cancer. He reveals what he discovered about living after realizing he wasn't dying, at least not yet. Discover how he shifted his thoughts and made new choices to create his life, not watch it happen. In FIRM GRIP , Bill offers practical wisdom to help you choose to create a new, hopeful life, even in the midst of adversity. This book will help
- Understand the power of your thoughts. - Recognize the life-creating capacity of your choices. - Trust in God's firm grip on your life. - Live with more confidence in the aspects of life that matter most. - Become awake and aware to what's happening in and around you.
No matter how off-track life feels, you can find hope again. The firm-grip life is a path to face your challenges, thrive in an imperfect life, and find peace you never thought possible. Motivational and inspiring, this book is an invitation to find a better grip on your life. Are you ready?

338 pages, Hardcover

Published October 29, 2021

About the author

Bill grew up in Northwest Indiana in a small town just off the southern tip of Lake Michigan. His family was small, and lived a small-town life; simple, hardworking, and church-going––every week––sometimes multiple times a week. Faith and spirituality have always anchored Bill’s life in the Divine.

Bill had a great childhood that grew into a great adulthood. Some would say he was blessed. He often thinks he was just lucky because he did nothing to earn any form of a blessing that became his life. But life didn’t stay that way. It never does, does it? The darkness eventually found him and wreaked havoc in his life in the form of a rare, incurable cancer diagnosis. That didn’t feel like much of a blessing. But Bill has learned that God does things a lot different than he would. And God wastes nothing.

So far, this cancer hasn’t killed him, which means he’s getting bonus years. And he’s not wasting them. Bill is grateful for what he’s discovered about living after feeling like he cheated dying. Don’t take him wrong, cancer sucks. But once he accepted it for what it is in his life, his mind and soul opened to what the journey could teach him. So he became a student of life after cancer. It’s a school he never wanted to attend, but he chose to sit in the front row.

As he pursued better ways to live, Bill had conversations with others about what he was learning. And he began to write. Bill has always been fascinated by the creative process; how there was nothing, then through focused effort, something arises, comes into existence. Friends encouraged him to share his thoughts on a wider scale. That became a book. If you’re inclined to read it, you might find inspiration to reflect on your life, maybe shift some thoughts, make a few new choices, and discover how you can live with more joy, more peace and create a hopeful future, even if it feels like life isn’t going as you planned.

The Simple Facts:

Bill is an attorney, writer, and speaker. He earned a Business Administration degree from Taylor University and a Juris Doctorate from Valparaiso University School of Law. He’s been in private law practice for 30 years and serves as a part-time Public Defender.

Bill lives an active lifestyle that includes fitness and exercise, skiing, bicycling, golf, and travel. And recently, he’s taken up Pickleball, and is still trying to figure out why it’s named after a vegetable. Bill enjoys reading, wine (particularly Napa Valley reds), a game called Kubb, watching baseball and hockey, and slow, easy, weekend mornings, sipping lattes with his wife, Jane.

Bill and Jane have two adult sons, Erik and Adam, and a grand dog named Covi.

The Nitty Gritty:

Bill still wants to…

 Attend the Division I College World Series
 Visit all the National Parks
 Travel to Sweden (the place of his family origin)
 Attend the Winter Olympics
 See the Northern Lights.

His favorite…

 Book: Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller.
 Bands: U2, Coldplay and The Rocketboys.
 Album: Joshua Tree by U2
 TV Series: Breaking Bad
 Podcast: The RobCast by Rob Bell
 Sport: Baseball
 Teams: Chicago Cubs and Chicago Blackhawks
 Movies: Top Gun and About Time
 Quote: “Deeper than our instinct to live, is our longing to be alive.” (Erwin McManus)

Reviews

[Julee Balko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the writing style of this book. It felt like it was a friend talking to me and encouraging me to take a better path forward. While it is faith-based, you don't need to be a Christian to get so much out of this book. No matter what you believe in, you will be a different person at the end. You will be inspired to make changes in your own life. I can't thank the writer enough for sharing his journey with us so that we all may lead better lives. I have recommended this book to many people!

[Stacy Hawks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bill Nelson's debut titled Firm Grip is one of those books that reach out and touch readers in a pivotal and emotional way. Inspirational, Nelson captures what it means to be greatful and that just because we go through dark times in our lives it does not mean it needs to engulf us. We can learn from any situation, and find the strength and courage to move forward. Firm Grip is wonderfully and genuinely written. I highly recommend this book.