Daniel D. Maurer presents Endure: "The Power of Spiritual Assets for Resilience to Trauma and Stress"

What does a Syrian refugee forced to flee his homeland have in common with a victim of domestic violence, a woman whose sister died at the hands of a serial killer and a mother whose beloved son died of a drug overdose?

They are among the people whose stories are featured in Endure: The Power of Spiritual Assets for Resilience to Trauma and Stress written by former pastor and resilience expert Daniel D. Maurer. Minnesota publisher Mount Curve Press will be releasing the book on Oct. 2, 2017.

“What I wanted to do was look at the psychological concept of resilience. How people bounce back after stress and trauma. I wanted to share their stories in the first person, and then analyze what was the same between all these different people. What I found is that this is a book about spirituality, about spiritual assets,” said Maurer.

Among the seven individuals whose stories are featured in the book are Cathy Riley, whose spiritual asset of gratitude for life has come to define her very existence. Riley was nearly killed by her ex-husband who attacked her with a machete in a fit of rage.

Also in the book is a Syrian refuge named “Raja,” who shares a harrowing account of leaving his war-torn homeland because he had hope for a better future. Jennifer Maurer shares how her love for her son, who died of a drug overdose, has enabled her to work to save other people’s children from a similar fate.

Kitty Fallgren’s story explains how faith carried her through after a serial killer took her sister’s life. “Hunter” talks about the role active acceptance, or the Cherokee Harmony ethic, played in his survival during his time as a U.S. soldier in Iraq; and Pastor Rick Rouse shares how finding the ability to forgive the serial arsonist who burned down his church changed his life.

Author Daniel D. Maurer features his own personal story in the book as well. He shares how honesty with himself and others played a role in his recovery from a drug and alcohol addiction.

“I hope people will see bits of their own life, a common experience, in these stories. Then they can take a spiritual asset—honesty and endurance, love and acceptance or gratitude—and then incorporate it into their own life to learn how to be more resilient—to bounce back after stress and trauma in their own lives,” said Maurer.

For more information about Endure: The Power of Spiritual Assets for Resilience to Trauma and Stress and the book’s author, Daniel D. Maurer, go to www.changeisreal.com.

Daniel D. Maurer is an award-winning Hazelden author and nationally-recognized public speaker on addiction and recovery, as well as an online journalist documenting others’ accounts of personal change. He lives with his family in St. Paul, Minnesota.