It was 12:30 a.m. on July 5, 2013, when Andre K. Mickel, distraught over his recent divorce, began writing his feelings in a catharsis of positive thoughts that eventually became a book, It’s PROOF TIME…There is Hope! (Xulon, 2015).
“People often think I have this perfect life. But I’m a normal human being with feelings,” said Mickel, chair of the Department of Endodontics at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Dental Medicine.
Until the divorce, Mickel thought his life was almost perfect. That life-changing event led him to a good cry—until he decided to overcome the negativity by writing down positive thoughts. The words “spilled across the pages,” he said, and without realizing it, he had the makings of a book.
Mickel’s goal was to become better, not bitter.
“I wrote this for myself, but I want to share with others in case they can benefit from reading it, too,” he sad.
PROOF TIME is an acronym for things people can do to keep hope in troubled times: Praise, Remember, Obedience, Obedience, Focus, Trust, Inspire, Meditate and Energize. He offers hopeful thoughts and actions people can take to find comfort and feel better. (Yes, obedience twice, to God and his teachings, advises Mickel, a devout Christian who has attended Ashland Seminary.)
Mickel and his new wife, Estomarys, whom he calls the love of his life, have enjoyed the positive thinking. He also enrolled in Hebrew classes to read scriptures in their original language.
PROOF TIME is illustrated with photographs from the couple’s trip last summer with the dental school’s research team to Israel, and a later stop to Bora Bora—all memories of how life can change for the better.
Keeping a positive attitude in adversity is the key, he said.
For more about the book, which is available online, visit xulonpress.com/bookstore, Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. The paperback book is $23.99 and the e-book is $9.99.