Book Review: Expectation Hangover

By Christine Hassler
Review by Erica Lynn

Overcoming Disappointment in Work, Love, and Life

Why do so many unsatisfied people camp on the sofa watching life pass them by? In Expectation Hangover, Christine Hassler shows us how to turn an expectation hangover into an unexpected opportunity to grow. What is an expectation hangover? Everything we’re left with when the rug has been pulled out from under us: when things don’t go our way, or they do and we remain unfulfilled.

The writing is thoughtfully organized and thorough, giving us a treatment plan that works on the emotional, mental, behavioral and spiritual levels. Hassler discusses the relationship between our “goal line,” our material aspirations; and our “soul line,” our soul evolution, reminding us that, “because our expectation hangovers hit us hardest on the goal line, we find our way to the soul line almost by default.” She beautifully illustrates how disappointments are an opportunity to begin living inside out instead of outside in.

The exercises Hassler includes are accessible and illuminating; applying the discipline that this workbook offers may be the next best thing to a good therapist. She is, in fact, credentialed with a Masters Degree in Spiritual Psychology, and succeeds in taking the discussion out of the theoretical and making it practical. However, to get full value from it requires self-motivation and follow-through. (New World Library)