FORT WAYNE, Ind., March 13, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- For William C. Jarvis, a quick errand on a snowy day turned into a battle for survival. An auto accident in 2000 left him with injuries doctors said he would not survive. Leaning on Faith: How to Get Through Adversity with Maximum Success (now available through AuthorHouse), he offers the 13 strategies for overcoming hurdles that helped him reach normalcy again.
The accident left Jarvis with a twisted brain stem, punctured lung, lacerated liver, 14 broken ribs and fractured vertebrae. He was in a coma for five weeks and spent a year and a half in hospitals. For the past five years, he has worked diligently to defeat the limitations many told him he could never topple.
The strategies he presents give practical, effective advice for anyone with a debilitating condition. He offers ideas for recording personal physical and psychological progress by using a daily scoring rubric. The methods are proven; he triumphed over his own trials using these motivational techniques.
Faith also played a major role in Jarvis' recuperation. His spirituality strengthened and guided him and his family, and his faith in his own power to heal also helped him. His hobbies of oil painting and performing magic tricks also helped him build up his motor skills, cognitive abilities and verbal expression, and images of several of his oil paintings are included in the book.
"If a person implements these strategies and believes that he will improve, then he will be far better off than if he had no plan and no hope of recovery," Jarvis writes. "There is always hope of improvement, even if very little. The question is: Do you believe it, and do you see it?"
Snail to the Finish -- Leaning on Faith: How to Get Through Adversity with Maximum Success, written by a living example of the messages included, gives many ideas on how to see that improvement.
Jarvis has been an instrumental music teacher, supervisor of fine arts and school principal in New Jersey. He is currently teaching one education course with a colleague at Taylor University in Fort Wayne. Jarvis has also published articles on effective teaching techniques and holds a Master's in education from the University of Kentucky, a Master's degree in music from Trenton College and a doctorate of education from Rutgers University. He has been a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians for more than 35 years. He uses his award-winning magician skills to illustrate how to achieve success in getting through adversity, has made presentations at magic conventions on "Hope through Magic for People with Disabilities" and has been a guest speaker at many churches on "Leaning on Faith" during trying times.
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