June 10, 2010
It’s An Extraordinary Life: Don’t Miss It
Randall Broad and June Grushka-Rosen, M.Ed
Aviva Publishing (2010)
ISBN: 9781935586098
“Live Each Day As If You Have Cancer” is New Book’s Unforgettable Message
In March 2008, Randy Broad was diagnosed with Stage 3 Lung Cancer. After he got over the initial shock and fear this knowledge caused him, he decided that rather than fight his cancer, he would choose to live with it. That doesn’t mean he didn’t seek treatment, but he also accepted his cancer and decided not only that it would not stop him from living, but he would do everything he could to live an Extraordinary Life. Although the doctors predicted his life would cease long before this book was published, Randy credits his positive attitude and his efforts to make each day extraordinary with his prolonged life.
But as Randy points out in the first paragraph, this book is not about cancer. It’s about living “as if you have cancer.” He hopes the book will make the reader appreciate life and see how extraordinary it is—a lesson he learned the hard way—but a lesson the reader can collect from these pages to change his or her life.
Soon after being diagnosed with cancer, Randy asked his children what they would most like him to leave them—what could he write down for them so they would have it after he was no longer around. His daughter requested that he give her his knowledge about running a business, and his son simply wanted Randy to share stories about his life. The result is “It’s an Extraordinary Life: Don’t Miss It,” an amalgamation of practical and astute advice about business and how to live life to its fullest. Randy asked his friend, June Grushka-Rosen, a life-coach, to assist him. June provided numerous “Mastery Questions” and follow-up sections to Randy’s stories that ask readers to focus on specific situations and start their own journeys toward how to make their lives extraordinary. Between Randy’s advice and examples and June’s exercises, readers will find that “It’s an Extraordinary Life” will also be a life-changing journey for them.
This book is so rich in personal stories, from Randy’s days trying to make it as an actor in Hollywood—including being a stunt-double to Jeff Daniels and learning how to earn while he slept from the residual income of making commercials—to how he partnered with Microsoft to plan extraordinary golf tournaments. He tells heart-wrenching stories about the importance of enjoying a snow day with his family, and how to look for positive aspects in less than optimal situations. The entertaining stories of different characters he met in Hollywood are alone worth the price of the book. The lessons he learned and his advice are invaluable.
In addition, the book is full of wonderfully humorous yet poignant stories, and inspirational quotations. Readers should prepare to open their eyes to the magic of life—it is all around them in every moment and experience, and if we live as if we have cancer, we will come to appreciate it—let Randy Broad and June Grushka-Rosen show you how.
For all the fuss that “Tuesdays with Morrie” made in the book world over a decade ago, “It’s an Extraordinary Life” is as full of wisdom and far more entertaining. And who needs Jack Lemmon? Randy Broad is an experienced actor. As Randy says about life:
My recommendation is to go for the highest highs and accept the corresponding lows. Because life is short, if you don’t experience the greatest on the top end, what’s the point? A life of living in the middle of the bell curve? I don’t think so. Taking the maximum risk you can take will make for living a more extraordinary life. After all, if your life isn’t worth making a movie about once it’s over, it must have been pretty dull.
Randy, let me know when the movie tickets go on sale. Until then, readers will just have to enjoy the book.
For more information about “It’s an Extraordinary Life,” visit Randy’s blog at:
http://6th-life.blogspot.com/ or www.itsanextraordinarylife.com
— Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D., and author of the award-winning “Narrow Lives”
