Sheryl Sandberg picks 'Option B' in her book on resilience

"The grief felt like a void, like it was sucking me in and pushing on me, pulling me in and I couldn't even see or breathe," she said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Facing Adversity, Building Resilience and Finding Joy, written with psychologist Adam Grant — chronicles the devastating loss, her grief and how she emerged from it with a new perspective on life.

A humbled follow-up to her first book, "Lean In ," it's also a how-to, drawing from studies and the experiences of others to describe techniques for building strength and resilience and ways to support those going through hard times.

Surveying the world as a wealthy corporate executive rendered her oblivious to the circumstances faced by less fortunate women, she acknowledged.

At Facebook, Sandberg has long been an advocate of "bringing your whole self to work," meaning a willingness to share your personal life with co-workers.

Sandberg found it difficult, and even considered carrying around a stuffed pachyderm to encourage co-workers and even friends to talk about the "elephant in the room."

[...] one day, about a month after Goldberg died, she decided to post on Facebook about her grief, her gratitude toward her friends, and her related tumultuous feelings — for instance, coming to believe she would never again feel real joy.

Facebook has recently extended its bereavement policies to allow employees more time off after the death of a loved one.

Sandberg said she believes strongly in pre-traumatic growth — people's ability to build up resilience before something bad happens so that they are able to deal with it better.