Life coach Jeff Batton shares a vivid, inspiring life story full of unexpected trials and triumphs

DETROIT, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES, January 7, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Jeff Batton, a longtime life coach, today announced the publication of his new memoir, Grinnin’ Like a Jackass Eating Briars. This deeply personal book blends poignant humor and brutal honesty to inspire readers in their struggles with life’s unexpected challenges. Grinnin’ Like a Jackass Eating Briars reveals the remarkable trajectory of Batton’s life, which began inauspiciously at a home for unwed mothers in the deep south in 1962 and carries through to his coming out as gay late in life. The book relates Batton’s experiences as a restaurant entrepreneur, an advocate for the poor and an airline employee—before launching his successful career as a life coach.

“I wrote the book because people convinced me that I had a unique story,” Batton explained. “When I set out to write the book, I didn’t really have any agenda. I certainly didn’t want it to be a gay coming out story and definitely not a church book! What I realized, in the writing of it, is that I wanted to challenge people indirectly to realize there is a different way to look at life. A lot of difficult experiences has shown me that changing your circumstances or trying to cram yourself into a preconceived box won’t fix anything! As people told me growing up, ‘You can’t kill a tree by pulling the fruit off of it!’”

Early reactions to the book have been strikingly positive. Kirkus Reviews called Grinnin’ Like a Jackass Eating Briars “A compelling first-person account… Elements of his life are desperately sad yet recounted with a brisk frankness… From recounting his endeavors to find his birth mother to describing his struggles with fatherhood, Batton presents a richly textured autobiography—readers grappling with their own sexuality may well relate to his journey of self-discovery. A captivatingly candid and sharply written account.”

As Batton relates, after being put up for adoption (displayed in a supermarket delicatessen case, as he recalls it), he got new parents in the form of Curtis and JoAnn Batton. According to Batton, JoAnn adhered to the standards of Emily Post and the Bible (in that order), while Curtis was a third-generation Georgia farmer and true Southerner who filled his tea glass with something stronger each night.

Batton grew up on their seven-hundred-acre peanut and tobacco farm, so far from town that they had to “pipe in sunshine,” as he recounts. Coming of age during the civil rights movement, Batton experienced both the Tom Sawyer existence of idyllic barefoot freedom—including a deep friendship with a kid from the other side of the tracks—and blatant racism at home, along with the confusion and angst of figuring out who he was and how he fit into this world.

About Jeff Batton

Jeff Batton has been coaching people for over 25 years. He didn’t start there. Rather, it has been a long journey of searching for truth and not being willing to settle for mediocrity that brought him to this point. He thought if he could suffer enough, run as fast he could, and do all the right things, this would change his life. It didn’t. In fact, it did just the opposite! He traversed all over the globe looking for the elixir that changes all things, only to find it was right here in front of him. He just had to figure out how to tap into it.
With his marriage over, no job, no money and three children to support, he finally gave up. He didn’t know what he was going to do, but he knew he wasn’t going to be miserable another nano second. He didn’t realize what he was embarking on when he made that proclamation, but it was that intention that eventually got him here: Living his passion!

To learn more, visit https://www.jeffbatton.com/book/ or https://www.jeffbatton.com

Barbara Bonds
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