Debbie Ford Dies: Best-Selling Self-Help Author Dead At 57

Debbie Ford, a best-selling author of the self-help book The Dark Side of the Light Chasers, has died in San Diego at age 57.

Ford died after a long battle with cancer, a family spokeswoman told The Associated Press.

During her life, the author wanted to help people break free from emotional baggage and fear, her sister said after Debbie’s death. It was this desire that led her to write The Dark Side of the Light Chasers, which was aimed at helping readers overcome their darker side. The book went on to inspire a self-help enterprise for Ford, who wrote eight more books, led workshops, and hosted television and radio programs on the topic.

Debbie Ford faced her share of darkness during her life. She wrote and spoke often of her battles with drug addiction, divorce, and struggles with her own work.

But despite her struggles, Debbie Ford maintained an uplifting message for her readers. On her MySpace blog she wrote:

“You have been called to be who you are — the whole luminous light. No one can dim your light when you are fully present to the depth and breadth of it. No one can say no to a light so bright. No one can deny who you are unless you are, in some way, minimizing the power and the force of your divine substance.

“Don’t go to sleep now for you have been awakened. Don’t shut your eyes or you will put out the light. Stay awake to the power and force that guides and protects your divine essence.

“Look for the light. Look for it in everything. Look for it in yourself, in your children, in your job, and in your dreams. Look for it in the food you eat and in the people you surround yourself with. Look for it in the music you listen to and in the words that you read. Look for it in your communication and in your heart.”

Shortly after Debbie White died on Sunday, her sister posted a letter to Debbie’s personal website about her final days and saying that her legacy will live on through the work she created.