Today I’d like to welcome Heidi Siefkas. Heidi is the author of When All The Balls Drop: The Upside of Losing Everything. 

The main topics of When All Balls Drop: The Upside of Losing Everything are survival, life change, and looking up.

In her memoir, Heidi share her powerful true story of surviving a traumatic accident and losing everything: health, love, and career.

What has been your biggest obstacle while writing and how have you overcome it?

The biggest obstacle in writing this book was reliving my experience, all the pain, emotional turmoil, and joy together. However, this time I didn’t have the painkillers or sleeping pills to soften the blow. Reliving it was draining, resurfacing old wounds. I was on edge with my triggers hypersensitive as I was sharing my most private moments of pain, deceit, and loss.

I overcame the obstacles by taking breaks away from writing, whether traveling or just getting out of my writing space and into nature hiking or walking.

Why did you write this book?

I wanted to share my story and the wisdom that I gained from my experience in hopes of inspiring others through their difficult times. I wrote the book in short easy-to-read vignettes with a good dose of humor to make a seemingly uncomfortable story of tragedy and pain a fun read. I only tell a portion of my healing in this book. There will be more in my sequel.

What do you hope readers would take away from your story?

The major take-away of the book is the concept of looking up, which I call my mantra. It was my major life lesson from my recovery. It stems from the strongest tool that we all have in life, the power of perspective and the mind.

Looking Up is a principal that has two crucial components to remind us all to:

1. Be aware of our surroundings and in the moment, appreciating the beauty around us as well as hazards (ex. crashing tree limb, falling coconut, or swinging sailboat boom)
2. Spin each situation positively as many circumstances that appear negative are opportunities in disguise.

Looking up and this shift in perspective helped me through a major health scare, bad relationship, and career loss. It can help others too through hardships as well as daily frustrations that add up. Remember the principal the next time, you are stuck in a traffic jam, you spill coffee on your shirt on your way to work, or you get in a tiff with a sibling or friend.

Here’s to looking up!

How long did it take you to write this book?

I launched this book to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the life-altering event that sparked my life change and story. I started writing portions of this book nearly five years ago. However, I did take about three and half years completely off from this topic to concentrate on other projects. I really started polishing my drafts and adding to them in 2013. So, I would say the story has been percolating for five years, but the writing and editing took a year and a half.

Title: When All Balls Drop: The Upside of Losing Everything

Author: Heidi Siefkas

Genre: Non-Fiction, Inspirational, Memoir

The true story of a survivor
who through losing everything,
redefined having it all

Heidi Siefkas was a happily married, globetrotting professional who seemingly “had it all”—until a tree limb in New York’s Hudson River Valley struck her down, breaking her neck and leaving her unconscious. Suddenly, life as she knew it stopped. She lost her independence. She lost her career. She watched her marriage disintegrate as she confronted a trail of devastating lies about her husband’s double life.

She had lost all that mattered, but she was a survivor. She fought to restore her health, repair her broken heart, and rebuild herself. Along the way, she gained clarity about her core values, ultimately coming to a deeper understanding of what it means to have it all.

Through down-to-earth, short vignettes, When All Balls Drop shows us how it’s possible to “look up” in spite of pain, deceit, and loss. Heidi’s memoir–rich with hope and humor, inspires anyone who’s had to confront tragedy and reassess their life in the wake of life-altering events.

Purchase When All Balls Drop: The Upside of Losing Everything on Amazon.

About the Author

Heidi Siefkas is an author and adventurer. Originally from small-town Wisconsin, she lives in Kauai and also calls the Midwest and South Florida home. Heidi is currently crafting a sequel to this memoir, embracing both her wanderlust and love of writing by documenting her many travels. You can connect with Heidi at www.heidisiefkas.com, Facebook, and Twitter.

Giveaway

Win a copy of When Balls Drop.

 

[wysija_form id=”4″]