A Preview of “Finding My Way”

Last week, I wrote about how important it is to know the value of your truth, regardless of what other’s are saying. In my new book “Finding My Way, Facing My Journey with Courage,” I write about this in more detail, using personal stories. In this blog post, I will share my book’s introduction and hope it will inspire you to live big, laugh hard, and challenge yourself each day.

Embracing the Tapestry of Our Lives

“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards”

…. Soren Kierkegaard

As I sit in my beautiful lake house, overlooking the majestic mountains of New Hampshire, taking in the beauty of all the pine, maple and birch trees, enjoying birds of different colors and sizes, perching and singing on those trees, I feel a sense of inner peace. This place I call home is often referred to as God’s Country. As I write this, I am able to contemplate how lucky and grateful I am for having such a wonderful life.

It wasn’t always that way

“Why would you want to expose your life in a book? You have to be crazy to do that. No one wants to go back and revisit all the shit that happened to them.” My husband, Steve, graciously reminded me. He had a valid point. But, I kept asking myself, “Am I going to make a difference in someone’s life by exposing my own truth?” I finally got my answer and that is when I began my writing.

This book will take you on my journey and its purpose is an open invitation for you to reflect on your own journey and to help you find the many lessons you may have yet to find.

My story starts with growing up with family members with mental illness. It will seem depressing and dark at first, but you will soon see the significance it played in my life as a young child.

The examples and stories in this book are my own personal struggles and how through them I opened up to find a better way, whether that was changing my inner belief system, finding people who inspired me to grow, or educating myself to help me get through a serious health condition.

Each story’s purpose is not to spill my heart and soul out as a memoir, it is to demonstrate by example how I was able to learn and grow through each challenge, navigating my way out of the madness, out of pain and suffering, out of emotional self-sabotage, out of depression and disease.

It was as if each time a challenging person or issue appeared in my life, I approached it like hitting a baseball. Each time that ball (challenge) was heading towards me, I found a way to hit it back out into the field. In baseball, sometimes you hit the ball, sometimes you miss. In my life, most of the time, I missed. The point of my story is that I got back up and tried again.

I believe there is an intelligence within us all that is always guiding us towards the path that will bring us inner peace. It’s having a determination, an inner knowing, to tap into that intelligence and believing that you have what it takes to survive the mess that is going on in your life at this moment. Some people choose to listen to this early in their lives, for some it takes years. And for some, they need a little nudging, a little guidance, to start the ball rolling. That is the purpose of this book.

I believe all of our challenges teach us to be a better (and stronger) version of ourselves. We go from feeling like “this shouldn’t have happened to me,” which keeps us locked inside our own emotional prison, to opening up our hearts, and asking, “What have I learned from all of this?” We grow into a stronger, more resilient person. Having that awareness helps us approach life with confidence in our ability to work through challenging times.

Too many people who can’t see their own worth, their own intelligence, their own value have wasted their lives. They numb themselves and live on autopilot letting others make important decisions for them. This happens most when it comes to our health. We believe that our only option is to listen to the doctor’s advice, take a pill, and we’re supposed to feel better. However, when we don’t feel better by doing what we’ve been told to do, we blame ourselves. We believe our poor health is our fate, and we give up, as we let disease win, without investigating it further.

I hope by reading this book, you will begin to investigate and be open to changing your current perspective. I hope you learn to question everything you have accepted into your reality that’s not working and ask yourself, “Is there something more I can do that is going to help me find a better way?”

If there is one challenge in this book that motivates you to make a change, then I have done my job. That may be investigating a new job, or career, or deciding to stop letting other people walk all over you. Maybe you look into alternative medicine for that autoimmune disease you have been living with, or you decide it’s time to take care of your body, mind and soul with good nutrition, quiet time, and daily exercise. These are all good choices make one for yourself!

When we start to listen to our inner guidance, we will receive more information that will help us reach that place that we all desire – health, happiness and inner peace.

In Part 5 of this book, I have included a companion workbook to help you work through that process. I hope you take full advantage of it!