What If It's Wonderful?: Release Your Fears, Choose Joy, and Find the Courage to Celebrate

by Nicole Zasowski

Overview

Family therapist Nicole Zasowski challenges you to let go of dwelling in your anxieties and fears and instead ask yourself the question: What if it’s wonderful?

These questions haunt many of us, leaving us sick with anxiety and frozen into inaction: what if my hope only leads to disappointment? What if I embrace joy only to have it ripped from my hands? What if my celebration is the cause of others' sadness? What if my joy takes me away from the God I knew so well in my pain? But these fears don’t have to control your life.

Author and marriage and family therapist Nicole Zasowski knows what it's like to suffer a blow that makes it difficult to look to the future. Despite the struggle, she found the courage to celebrate, and discovered that God is as present in our joy as He is in our pain.

Yes, God's purpose for us is worked out in our struggles. But what if it is also worked out in our dreams and our delighted joy? In What If it's Wonderful? Nicole helps you:

• Overcome the fears that keep you from looking toward the future with joy
• Let go of the lies you've believed about happiness and embrace celebration as a part of spiritual growth
• Approach life with an expectant heart and courage to trust God's good gifts

With a psychological and spiritual case for celebrating, Nicole challenges you to let go of the habit of practicing disappointment and fully embrace joy, beckoning you to ask yourself a new question: What if it's wonderful?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780785226499
Publisher:	Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Publication date:	03/08/2022
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	536,388
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Nicole Zasowski is a licensed marriage and family therapist and the author of From Lost to Found. As an old soul who wears her heart proudly on her sleeve, she enjoys writing and speaking on topics that merge her professional knowledge, faith, and personal experience. Nicole lives in Connecticut with her husband and their three young children. 

 

Table of Contents

Foreword Jess Connolly xv

You're Invited xvii

Part I Release Your Fears

Chapter 1 What If It's Wonderful? 3

Chapter 2 Broken Toys 13

Chapter 3 The Shadow of Shame 25

Chapter 4 Protective Pessimism 35

Chapter 5 Comparison's Cost 45

Chapter 6 This Is It? 53

Chapter 7 Where Is Jesus? 61

Part II Choose Joy

Chapter 8 Love Lavishly 71

Chapter 9 Receive Affirmation 81

Chapter 10 Joy in Sadness 91

Chapter 11 The Dance of Grace 101

Chapter 12 Hope in the Middle 109

Chapter 13 Joining Others' Joy 119

Part III Find the Courage to Celebrate

Chapter 14 Keep the Thank-You Notes 129

Chapter 15 Practice Savoring 139

Chapter 16 Be Expectant 149

Chapter 17 Share the Good News 157

Chapter 18 Learn to Play 165

Chapter 19 Rhythms and Rituals 177

Chapter 20 The Source of Celebration 187

Don't Wait to Celebrate 197

Discussion Guide 199

Acknowledgments 209

Notes 213

About the Author 217