Shit Happens
How to Navigate Adversity
Without a Complete Meltdown
Shit happens. But it doesn’t have to take you down with it.
Life doesn’t wait for us to feel ready.
Sometimes adversity is obvious. A relationship ends. You lose your job. Someone gets sick. Life changes overnight.
Other times, it’s quieter. A never-ending mental to-do list. Constant pressure. Feeling overwhelmed by things that “shouldn’t” be a big deal. Snapping at the people you love. Lying awake at 2 a.m. replaying conversations that ended hours ago.
Shit Happens explores why adversity affects us the way it does, how stress shapes our thoughts, emotions and behaviour, and why so many of our less-than-stellar reactions make perfect sense once we understand the system behind them.
Drawing on ideas from psychology, neuroscience and philosophy, the book combines relatable stories, humour and practical tools to help you understand yourself better and navigate life’s inevitable challenges with more awareness, more choice and a little less self-judgement.
Because life doesn’t come with a user manual.
But you can build your own.
So, what’s actually in the book?
Part I
The Nature of Adversity
Understand what’s actually going on when life goes sideways — what stress does to your system, why emotions can take over, and how familiar patterns can make a difficult situation feel even bigger.
Part II
Understanding Yourself
Get to know the operating system running in the background — the beliefs, values, priorities and patterns quietly influencing how you see the world, make decisions and occasionally get in your own way.
Part III
Dealing with Adversity
Put all of that understanding to work — figuring out what helps before, during and after life goes sideways, and building a toolbox you can reach for when shit inevitably happens.
I didn’t set out to write a book about adversity.
It started with me trying to make sense of my own.
Like most people, I’ve had my share of things not going according to plan. Some were genuinely difficult. Others probably didn’t deserve the amount of mental airtime I gave them.
And somewhere along the way, I became curious about why some things knocked me sideways while others didn’t. Why I could handle a genuine crisis reasonably well, then completely lose my shit over something comparatively small.
So I started digging.
Into stress. Emotions. The nervous system. Beliefs, patterns, values and all the other things quietly influencing how we respond when life doesn’t cooperate.
The more I learned, the more things started to make sense. Not just about adversity, but about being human.
Shit Happens grew out of that curiosity — and the idea that understanding what’s going on inside us might give us a little more choice in what we do next.
Want to know when Shit Happens is out?
The book is in the oven. Join the list and I’ll let you know when it’s ready.