Beyond the Surface: A Gold Medalist’s Guide to Finding and Loving Yourself

In Beyond the Surface, beloved Paralympic swimming world champion Jessica Long offers a message of self-exploration, self-love, and healing - rediscovering our true purpose in life and using our inner power to create change in the world. Following the narrative of Jessica's own personal journey of adoption and her experience as a double amputee, Jessica delves deeply into the insecurities and deep self-doubt that we all encounter, and offers practices and exercises to challenge readers to look within themselves to find healing, a renewed sense of self-worth, and purpose on their own terms. She also invites readers to question how we as a society value appearance and ability, and challenges us to use our own circle of influence to create a new narrative. Featured themes: • Learning to accept ourselves fully, so we can live fully • Recognising that our worth is not based only on our accomplishments - we are inherently worthy and deserving of love and acceptance • Appreciating our differences and vulnerabilities as assets rather than liabilities • Acknowledging that we all have challenges (visible and invisible) - and learning to see ourselves and others through a universal lens • Understanding the systems that determine the 'value,' 'attractiveness,' and 'acceptability' of people and questioning those systems • Using our available influence to create change in the world