Chronic pain and illness forces a person to their knees. It leaves us grasping for the lifeboat, but each time our hand reaches out-the boat gets a little further away. It has the potential to torment a person until they lose sight of their dignity and self-respect. "Spring Devotions" is the fourth and final book of the "Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain" series. It is a book of tips and strategies for rebuilding life, finding balance, rediscovering passion, overcoming fear and isolation, and standing toe to toe with chronic pain and illness. It is priceless to anyone seeking to renew his or her inner strength. Sharing their medical expertise, and Celeste as patient and advocate, the authors add a flavor of ancient traditions of healing to contemporary thoughts, as they nudge their readers into realizing their own potential. This is your lifeboat, reach out and grab it, climb in and hold on tight for a wild ride. You will explore things you never thought possible.

There is nothing charismatic about chronic pain regardless of its source. Pain is greedy and demanding. It consumes our time, our relationships, and our function, and it threatens everything that is important in our lives, our character and our dignity. The winter season is often compared to death. In this case, it is the dying off of old thoughts and behaviors. It is a season that offers the experience of many feelings and the opportunity to be born into a new way of thinking. Winter Devotions provides the necessary tools to fight the grotesque monster that plays on fear, agony, loneliness, and resentment. As patient and professional, the authors use their practical advice for coping. Their readers start with a blank canvas as white as the pure driven snow, full of possibilities. Offering a blend of integrative therapies and day by day tidbits of wisdom and famous quotes, the authors help their readers finalize a picture worth a thousand words, encouraging them to explore their unique, and sometimes, universal experience. Readers have the opportunity to devise their own plan bringing hope to the challenges of living with chronic pain. Come with us as we walk the barren winter land appreciating that it is necessary to rid ourselves of previous conceptions in preparation for the spring season of rebirth.

Being forced to look at life through a peep hole is petrifying, and that is exactly what chronic pain and illness does. It isolates, dominates and threatens the things all human beings hold dear. Chronic pain and illness is a bully with a ravenous appetite for creating mayhem in one's life. Anguishing physical and emotional pain is often overlooked. After all, "the person doesn't look sick." From the outside pain isn't visible, but from the inside, it is an unwanted intruder to the person experienced it. It is a thief of goals and dreams, finances and socialization. Finding balance and avoiding isolation when struggling with chronic pain is difficult. But, this book bursts from its bindings a metaphor for the reader to break free from the shackles it imposes. The authors expose their readers to infinite possibilities for viewing life through a door wide open to a landscape of honor and hope. Using their expertise as RN, educator, and clinical psychologist, the authors guide their readers through the physical and mental chaos.

Imagine a dragon breathing its inferno and then, watch it engulf everything in its path. Chronic pain acts like that; it is a raging fire that devours logical thinking. It incinerates comfort, companionship, dreams, and goals. When pain dominates, it's a force that must be challenged. Celeste Cooper and Jeff Miller have provided an arsenal to fight this dragon that threatens energy, growth, and healing. By focusing on each summer day, the authors send their readers on a personal journey of mindfulness and self-awareness, allowing the reader to create enduring images on how pain is perceived. Summer Devotions is the second of a four book series, Broken Body, Wounded Spirit: Balancing the See-Saw of Chronic Pain. It is a tribute to everyone committed to living a fearless life despite the roadblocks caused by living with chronic pain and illness.