Tag: Adversity

Give Yourself the Permission You Need

Did someone in your past hurt you to the point where you can't let go? Were you abused as a child by a parent, guardian, or another adult? Or were you mistreated as a young adult and you're still waiting for that person to apologize for what they did? You are a beautiful, talented, and precious individual. The people you love need you here and now—100%. But it’s very possible that past experiences may be holding you back from living your dreams and being fully present for them. There’s also a chance you’re never going to get the apology you've needed for…

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Patience – A Practice for Success

As a survivor of a Traumatic Brain Injury, I experienced a rebirth in my life. As someone who had to re-learn how to successfully work and share with people in every aspect of life, there is one practice that applies everywhere. That practice is patience. Patience is fed with the ability to listen, stay centered and be thoughtful. Trust in those things and there will be patience. Patience proves that the old phrase endures: Good things come to those who wait. What are you waiting for? To get better from an illness? For a loved one to recover from a…

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Always Know Your Why

So many people reference survivors and how strong they must be. Yet strength is only part of it. An ability to be mindful, to dance with the full circle of emotions that arise from adversity, to process feelings of discomfort, to lean on another for support and to deeply attune with your own inner-truths are the qualities that make you resilient. In this you can do more than just survive. You can thrive. When you awake, take a moment to quietly experience the space. Open your minds’ eye with the curiosity of a child to see what is available to you. Take…

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You Always End Up Where You Are Supposed To Be!

Nearly everyone ends up in a situation that was not what they expected or wanted it to be.  For example, you may find your soul mate and discover that they lack the maturity necessary for your relationship to grow and blossom. Another example may be finding the perfect job and discovering within the first month or two that the environment is toxic, and your supervisor or manager is determined to destroy you or have you fired. Things like this happen all the time. Instead of beating yourself up, feeling like a caged animal and letting your fear take over, stop…

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5 Steps to Take Action

Take Action! So many of us wait for things to be perfectly aligned before we take action. I’m not talking about following a specific timeline that gives you the necessary steps to reach your goal. I’m referring to those who wait for things to be aligned just right before they make a move. We wait for the perfect time to get married. The perfect time to own a home. The right time to have children. The right time to start a business. The right time to take a family vacation. The right time to make a business decision. The right…

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Are You Ready to Embrace Adversity?

Live your life in such a manner that it makes yesterday jealous. Always seeking, always hungry, always yearning for greatness. Attach a purpose to all that you do, understanding that it is on purpose that you are here. Never take for granted this purpose, by remaining forever grateful. Love yourself more tomorrow than you did today. Always strive to show yourself more love than you give others, yet never forsaking the importance of paying it forward. This will create around you a circle of love that will grow not only yourself, but also everyone that you encounter. Never underestimate the…

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How to Transition From Cancer to Calm

In 2013, our dreamy life changed dramatically when my husband’s barber asked, “What’s that on your neck?” David saw three doctors and had six procedures by the time we heard the five words that rocked our world, “You have stage IV cancer.” The lump protruding from his neck was a malignant growth that had metastasized from the base of his tongue. Four days prior, our thirteen-year-old son was diagnosed with Lyme Disease. “What’s happening to our family?” I thought desperately, trying to make sense of it. Life was going along nicely, when suddenly our roles changed: husband and son became…

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5 Ways You Can Stand Up to Challenges

I started writing inspirational poetry for people 30 years ago. It wasn’t because I was a master of the English language; it was because I heard the poems when people would tell me about things in their lives. I didn’t pay much attention to it at first. But after the first hundred you start to notice that there’s something more going on. Over the years I’ve written poems for people facing just about every challenge imaginable. I’ve seen the same themes repeat themselves. For anyone facing challenge in their life, here are 5 things I’ve found to be true for…

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Invite the Lightning Bolt of Change into Your Life

There is a moment when the dirt and the dust rises up in your life, maybe it is abuse, lack of money, lack of kindness, whatever it is. There is a turning point when you stand still in time. Everything stops. It is very quiet. You say, this is going to change. You become a radical demand for change in your life, and in that moment, the world shifts. It is a glorious shift into the light when you know you're knowing, again. When you stand in the brightness of you. This is you that everyone else always knew and you…

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Blessed With a Hard Life

In Zaatari camp, a young Syrian boy with a love for soccer invited me into his home to show off his extensive collection of soccer medals. He so valued them that he packed them into a small pack slung on his shoulder during his journey fleeing the violence of his Syrian home, by foot, seeking refuge and safety in the desert. As I was leaving, he motioned for me to bend down, slipping one of his gold medals around my neck. I didn’t understand the Arabic words he whispered, but the power, love, and impact I felt in that exchange…

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Achieving Your Potential, Despite Adversity

Life is an adventure, a journey through many valleys with many mountains to climb. You're going to get tired, you're going to be hungry, you're going to feel lost. Some nights will be cold and filled with scary things. Some days will be long, hot and without comfort. Take the time, even when it's hard, especially when you don't feel like it, to stop and look back to see how far you have come. Look at your life in awe for what you have accomplished and know that you have the ability, the grace and the wisdom to continue moving…

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Sponsored: One Door Closes

Are you looking for a vehicle to break through the roadblocks and detours that have sidetracked you on life's highway? One Door Closes: Overcoming Adversity By Following Your Dreams presents the inspiring stories of 16 individuals from all walks of life who have triumphed over seemingly insurmountable obstacles to achieve their dreams. They share a road map guiding readers to discover how to live life with vision, courage, determination and passion. Also included are 10 holistic self-assessment tools readers can use to design their own, personal blueprint for success. One Door Closes will help you to clarify and set your goals, and then use the power you already have within to achieve your goals. Discover how to reach your dreams and be inspired!

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What You See is What Will Be

There was a time back, long ago, when knowing each other’s deficits was important. In fact it was critical to our survival. But today we live in a time when our environment can literally make up for any of our shortcomings. We have evolved past the need to link deficiencies with survival. Unfortunately, our instincts have not. Despite overwhelming evidence—the blind man with incredible hearing, the deaf woman highly attuned to body language, the dyslexic student with powerful memorization—society is too accustomed to seeing the world in terms of deficits and exceptions. And so are we. In trying to improve,…

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Find Your Motivation, and Find Your Way to Success

After I resigned my military commission as a naval officer because I lost motivation from the Vietnam War, I wondered what I could do for my future to make my life worthwhile. My best high school friend was in town as a civil rights lawyer and asked if I wanted to watch him argue a case for Cesar Chavez’s fledgling union against wine growers’ attorneys. His arguments demolished the private property claims of the ten slick business attorneys for the wine industry who tried to paint the farm workers as law-breaking scum. I was convinced I could never do anything so…

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How To Use The Mantra, “Just This Much”

If you watch your mind, you will see that it goes into the past or future all day long.  It especially loves to go into the future and when it really gets activated, it moves from a whole different place.  It will convince you that that you can’t do it right, or you can’t do it at all, or something bad is going to happen, and the thoughts go on and on.   These thoughts are just not true because we don’t know what is going to happen.  All we have is this present moment, but you can begin to see…

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You Can’t Do It Alone: The Power of Community

It is only in the most recent history that people subscribe to the ideal of "independence," of doing it on your own, of not needing anybody to support you. And in concept, this may be a good idea but only as a concept. We have millions of years of a genetic heritage that argues for community and we have maybe 75 to 100 years that argues for independence. Human beings have survived out of their interdependence, not their independence. When infants are born they are completely helpless and would surely perish if not for the love and care given by…

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Peace in the Midst of Life’s Storms

It is far too easy to get caught up in all the noise, chatter and distractions that come our way. Maintaining focus in the chaos is often a mighty challenge. In times of our greatest crises the power of doubt, fear, stress and anxiety has enormous force. As this adversity grips us, something as simple as finding peace and maintaining confidence can be incredibly difficult. As I lived through the early experiences of my youngest son's addiction, I found myself completely distracted by his every move, thought, action, and decision. I became uncontrollably focused on saving him from his illness…

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Are Those Heavy Burdens Actually A Gift?

Nature always teaches us lessons, if we just pay attention. Today, my husband and I went for a snowshoe hike by our home in Glacier National Park, with Koda (our 6 year old Samoyed). The snow was deep and beautiful. The temperature was just above freezing and unfortunately, instead of the forecast for several inches of new snow gently falling, it was lightly raining. The heavy snowpack from the last week combined with the wet, falling rain, increased the burden being placed on the trees, weighing them down with large piles of heavy, wet snow. Some of them were bent…

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