For the breakup you didn't want
Your world just broke apart. This short, honest book walks you through what comes next, from the first overwhelming days to the moment you feel like yourself again.
Kindle e-book · Included with Kindle Unlimited · read on any phone, tablet or computer · paperback coming soon
The problem
One moment the sky is calm. The next, you are alone in a small boat on a dark, wild sea, with a hundred questions crashing in from every side and nothing to hold on to.
If you are going through a breakup you did not choose, you know exactly what that feels like. Your mind won't stop asking why?. You wonder whether to reach out to your ex. Nobody seems to have a map.
Through the Storm is that map: gentle, honest and practical. It is not a clinical manual, and it does not put a deadline on your pain.
“This pain must be lived through, and that is a process no one can walk for you.”
The journey
Healing after heartbreak doesn't happen all at once. Each chapter follows one phase, told as a journey across a stormy sea, and ends with a Personal Glimpse: the author's own experience of that phase. Find the phase you're in, and start there.
The first days, when nothing makes sense.
Just keeping your head above water.
The first small decision that's yours again.
When it still hurts, and you wonder why.
The questions get quieter.
You see how far you've come.
A direction that's yours.
What you'll walk away with
A clear, honest answer, and the reasons behind it.
Small daily habits that keep your head above water on the worst days: writing, talking to someone you trust, moving, protecting your self-worth.
An understanding of what is happening in your mind when you can't stop thinking about them.
A way to stop replaying it and rewrite the story your mind keeps telling you.
Your own core values, as a compass for what comes next.
A sense of which phase you're in, and what tends to come after it.
A taste of the book
The sky was still blue, almost innocent. You believed it would stay that way, calm, predictable, gentle. There was nothing to suggest this moment would turn, nothing to prepare you for what was about to unfold. Without warning, a dark cloud moved in front of the sun. Then another followed, until the sky slowly and unmistakably changed.
Below you, the sea began to shift. At first, there was only a soft swell, almost kind, as if the water were gently trying to warn you. Soon, however, the waves grew taller and heavier, their rhythm erratic and unforgiving.
Do you recognize this feeling? Having no control, feeling powerless in the situation, and realizing that nothing you try seems to work. Those waves are your thoughts. They come from every direction, and right now you cannot steer them.
The person behind the book
I wrote this book because I needed it myself. After a breakup I never saw coming, I read everything I could find, from morning until night: books, research, podcasts, therapy. This is what actually helped.
Think of it as brain candy: some of it you may already know, some of it you've never thought of. That's where its value lies. I'm not a professional writer, and I didn't try to sound like one. I wrote it the way I'd tell a friend.
If it helps you even a little on your way through the storm, I'm happy I could be part of it.
Marlo
Marlo Celestri writes about the moments that turn life upside down. Through the Storm is his first book.
Get it on KindleQuestions
Through the Storm is available on Kindle. You don't need a Kindle device: the free Kindle app works on phones, tablets and computers.
A paperback edition is on its way. Once it's live, you'll find it on the same Amazon page as the e-book.
Yes. The first chapters give honest guidance on the first weeks, including whether to contact your ex.
That's not what it's for. It's about getting yourself back, whatever happens with your ex.
No. Each chapter follows one phase, so you can start wherever you are, whether it happened yesterday or months ago.
No. This book is experience, reading and metaphor, not treatment. It doesn't replace a therapist, doctor or anyone trained to help. If the pain feels like more than grief, or you don't feel safe with yourself, please reach out now: in the Netherlands call 113 or 0800-0113 (113.nl); anywhere else, findahelpline.com lists the number for your country.
No. It's written for anyone going through a breakup they didn't want.
You only have to keep sailing.
Available now
$4.99