Rising Above the Ashes: Reigniting Your Joy After Any Loss

By Dortha Hise

Rising Above the Ashes will compassionately guide you through your grief and help you to identify what brings you joy. You will learn how to grieve your loss—whether it’s of a loved one, your beloved family pet, a business relationship, or big job or client—and identify and reignite your joy. You will also learn that grief doesn’t define who you are.

This book will help you to grieve on your own terms—to cry through it, lift you up, and reignite your passion for life. If you’re willing to do the work to heal, there will be joy after all of this overwhelm and chaos. If you’re ready to get out of the overwhelm you may be experiencing and begin the journey to healing your broken heart, this book is for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483546230

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 Dortha Hise

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form by any means, graphics, electronics, or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of reprints in the context of reviews, quotes, or references.

Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ All rights reserved.

Published by: Purposely Created Publishing Group™

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN: 0-692-29487-2

ISBN-13: 978-0-692-29487-1

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Praise for Rising Above the Ashes

Dortha has taken the emotionally charged topic of loss and made an objective resource that can be used no matter the type of loss you may be experiencing.  Dortha's ability to combine all types of loss is appreciated because oftentimes attention, sympathy and empathy is only provided to those who have lost a loved one—not a four-legged friend or business relationship. Not only does this address the emotions of a loss, but this also can be considered a resource guide as you work to get the tactical items taken care of. I appreciate Dortha's ability to take what many would consider a devastating time, based on the number of losses she has encountered, and turn it into a supportive companion in a time of grief. While reading, it felt like she was right there, coaching me through the experience.

–Kaira S. Boston, The Small Business Whisperer

www.thesmallbusinesswhisperer.com

"Grief is a natural part of life, no doubt. We all have a choice. When grief walks in, we can choose to invite it to stay in our hearts forever or let it visit for a while and then command it to leave so we can rediscover our joy! Loss is real and it’s painful, but we are stronger than we can imagine. There is a powerful phoenix that lives within our spirit that can mount up and rise above the ashes of loss and grief. We, you and I, have that power and Rising Above the Ashes reminds us just how powerful we are. Dortha Hise has bravely poured her heart and soul into this book and embodies the phoenix as a shining example of the power in choosing joy over grief. Rising Above the Ashes will evoke a tear, validate your loss, affirm your power, unleash your phoenix within, and inspire you to reignite your joy! If you are struggling through grief and loss, this brilliant book is the light you need to navigate your way out of the darkness into the light of living a joyful life again."

–Catrice M. Jackson, Speaker, BOSSLady of Branding, and International Best-Selling Author 

www.bossladyofbranding.com

"If you’re grieving the loss of a loved one, the breakup of a business relationship, or any other loss, I highly recommend Rising Above the Ashes. It has provided me with many nuggets of wisdom and comfort, and Dortha's personal journey through a myriad of grief over a two-year period has inspired me and helped me greatly in dealing with the losses in my own life. The vast variety of resources she provides are very effective in reigniting joy and hope. This is a truly remarkable book!"

–Stacey Hall, Author of Chi-To-Be! Achieving Your Ultimate B-All, Founder of The Hall Institute of Intuitive Wellness

www.chi-to-be.com

Dedication

I’d like to express the deepest gratitude and love for my husband, Jason Hise, and to my dad, Daniel Ingham. These two men love, protect and care for me without hesitation or obligation and have always believed in my vision and dream to share my message. I am a blessed and grateful wife and daughter. Thank you to my family, all of my friends, and colleagues who see my vision and my passion and love it, cheer me on, appreciate my presence, love me for who I am, and share my joy. I am grateful for your love and support.

I also dedicate this book to those who have passed and have touched my life. I’m honoring their love, the cherished memories of each of those who helped form the beautiful and wonderful person I am today, allowing me the experience that has shaped the pages of this book.

Sometime shortly after my mom passed away in July 2012, I got a clear message on my heart that I was meant to write a book about my journey of losing my mom and how I’ve grieved our strained relationship. I also got a message that I was to create a Bible study with this book, which was at the time, hard for me to own. After going through the process of rebranding and identifying my true gifts in how I support others through their grief—whether through death or a business loss—I have been blessed with a compassionate heart and an ear honed to listen. This book is dedicated to every person who has passed away in my life and to anyone who is experiencing a death or loss in theirs. Without the experiences I’ve endured, I would not be where I am or who I am today. It’s an honor and a joy to share this message with you.

Table of Contents

Praise for Rising Above the Ashes

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Foreword by Lisa Wilber

Introduction

YOUR JOURNEY TO JOY

Chapter 1: A Little Family History

Chapter 2: Hearing the News

Chapter 3: Where Do I Go From Here?

Chapter 4: Grief Process

Chapter 5: Giving Voice to Your Story

Chapter 6: Grief and Support Groups

Chapter 7: Connecting Authentically

Chapter 8: Physical Manifestations of Grief

Chapter 9: A Game I Call Grief Chicken

Chapter 10: Levity in a Time of Grief

Chapter 11: A Death Map

Chapter 12: Sucker Punched

Chapter 13: The First Gathering Without

Afterword

Reignite Your Joy Tips at a Glance

About the Author

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I give thanks to God for giving me such a courageous vision. I could not have completed this project alone and I am truly grateful for my amazing design team who brought their individual gifts and talents to the table to help me create a book that moved me to tears of joy upon completion. I’m deeply grateful for everyone who cheered me on as I wrote, held my hand when I felt weak, prayed for my successful completion of this book, and was simply there when I needed to talk something through.

I’d like to especially thank Theresa Angello, my rock star photographer, friend, and owner of Natural Moments Photography in Folsom, CA, who brilliantly captured the essence of who I am as a woman of God, a business woman, wife, daughter, and friend. I’d like to thank Deangelo McCoy, graphic designer and owner of The Creative Suite, for creating the fabulous and beautiful book cover.  I’d like to express thanks and deep gratitude to Tieshena Davis, publisher and owner of the Purposely Created Publishing, for her fantastic services and support in helping me identify key points of the book, how to get it done and move forward. I’d also like to express profound heart-felt gratitude to Catrice Jackson, my mentor on this journey, and creator of Brand You with a Book program and BOSSLadies ROCK, her signature branding program. Without her guidance, patience and support, this book would have been much more difficult to complete.

This book is truly a divine inspiration put into my heart to support others through their grief and loss, and I hope it inspires you to REIGNITE your joy!

Thank you all for supporting me in rising above the ashes~~

Dortha Hise

Foreword by Lisa Wilber

Either stop talking to your mother, or I’ll stop talking to you.  Those are the last words I remember hearing from my father.  He didn’t die, but his absence from my life was still a loss.  We had been really close when I was growing up.  He was the one that I went everywhere with. 

Both having an interest in buying and selling, we worked together at a flea market booth many summers together.  That all changed when my parents divorced. My father wanted me to choose between them and I’ve never liked ultimatums. This book is about more than recovering from a death. The subject of loss is a big one.  It can be emotionally challenging to recover from many kinds of losses. Whether the loss is at work, if it’s the loss of a relationship, or the loss of your home from a disaster, a loss is a loss. Working through it can give you a strength you did not know you possessed.  I wish that I had read this book when I lost my father because the information is relevant and needed.  Looking at loss from another angle can help you deal with it but also help you move forward. 

The Overwhelm Eliminator, that’s the title Dortha Hise has under her name in her company and how appropriate—not just for her company, but also for this book. I have known Dortha so long that I can’t tell you for sure where we met or how long ago it was! What I know for sure is that my business would not be the same if not for her business and that knack she has of taking work that I dread off my plate and making sure that it gets done. She introduced me to the concept of a virtual assistant just at the right time in my business. I needed the extra help but couldn’t justify the commitment of adding employees. When I first heard about this book that Dortha was writing, my first reaction was she is going to do it again—save people from themselves on an even deeper level! This book is about overcoming.