THE FLIPSIDE by Adam J Jackson

This is one of the self help books. They are good to read when you are feeling down and out, they can pep you up for sometime but beyond that they may not serve much of the purpose.

This book, which talks about ‘Finding the hidden opportunities in life’, came to me for review. Like most self help books this book is also full of real life stories. Most of these stories show how individuals came out of the worst situations in their lives and how they not only survived the traumas that life threw at them but also found the opportunities that this situation had hidden inside the misery. If you have been a reader’s digest reader, lots of these stories would remind you of stories there. There are so many stories that it would almost make you feel that you would be a fool if you do not find that bright spot in a dark night.

On a lighter note, the stories reminded me of an old joke of a criminal telling the Judge that you can show me two people who saw me stealing but I can show you millions who did not. But having said that the stories do have the potential to inspire people to look beyond what they have lost in the tragedies and focus on what they are still left with. Author begins by focusing on what happens when a crisis or a trauma hits you and then goes on to share stories of people who were hit but who came out brighter out of their low points in life. He then gives a step by step way to find out flipside during a crisis, most of which is asking yourself questions from various perspectives like a commercial opportunity, an opportunity to discover your relationships and if you ask all these questions, somewhere you are going to get the positive. Now, if you hold on to this positive and start building your life from there on, you have found the flipside in your tragedy.

It’s a quick, fast and easy read. There are lots of examples that you might have read as internet forwarded mails. It may be a good gift for someone around you who may not have anything going right at the moment and the stories and theory in this book may inspire them, otherwise you can skip the book.