The Power of Giving Back

I had the pleasure of writing my first book a few years ago, Finding My Way Facing My Journey With Courage, and since, have continually met people who have shared their challenges after reading my story. For many, it was a way to reflect and appreciate those challenges, old belief systems, or limitations placed on them as they grew into their adult life.

When I set out to write my story, my motivation was to help others who may be struggling with challenges in their own life and to shine a light on how important it is to understand that everything that shows up is to serve our well-being. In other words, life never will be perfect, and it is in those dark areas, where we learn and grow the most.

Touching someone's life, helping them gain a new perspective, is the greatest gift I could ever receive. You cannot put a price tag on serving others. It is what we are all here to do. And when we wake up to that fact, we begin to be brave enough to step outside of our comfort zone to explore how we can be more creative in our everyday lives. When we don't pay attention to our gifts and talents, we slowly wither away to dust. So I ask you to think about your "why." Why are you here? If we are not creating, we are not living.

I wanted to share this thoughtful note from a young man, whose life was touched as he read my story. I have received several notes from people who have read my story, but this one stands out because he is at the very beginning stage of his journey. After reading his words, I am grateful that I listened to my intuition, wrote my story, and believed something great would take place. And this note proves me right. It reminds me how grateful I am for the simple things like touching someone else’s life. This brings me joy. And joy is the highest vibration you can live in. What a gift.

I love bringing hope and joy to all of you, and my reward is you bring it right back to me. As you share your stories with me, I am grateful, that you trust in the process of giving and receiving.

I wanted to share this young man's note. Chris is a published author, poetry writer, has a graphic design service business and has a huge, kind heart. Chris has and is continually working on his own self-love, and takes steps every day to live with intention. Not letting the past dictate his future.

I hope you enjoy Chris' words...

Greetings Ms. Markussen

After reading your book I felt like I could connect to every single word on every page. Each challenging moment and the detailed descriptions on how you not only faced difficulties but overcame and learned from them, reminded me of my own life experiences and how I consciously or unconsciously dealt with the people places and things I had to face as I grew up.

Experiences such as if I am in the kitchen making something to eat and someone walks downstairs and questions me on what I am doing and why I am doing it even if I am minding my own business and not doing anything wrong. I will notice that I start to feel triggered that my personal space is being invaded. Following those feelings would be the scenario of the person who is questioning me making some type of judgmental comment about what they think about what I am doing, my behavior, responses/reactions or lack there of.

Looking back on parts of my life and reading certain parts of your book helps me to understand how much I gave away my personal power and felt really guilty about giving away my power. However the great thing about reading your book is that each and every page lets me know that I am not the first and only person to go through these experiences and it is Ok to not be Ok as long as I do not allow myself to stay in that place of darkness, despair and disempowerment. The only thing is since I am older and developed a stronger self-awareness.

I noticed that I still hold many beliefs deep inside myself that were really passed down from the environment where I grew up. In other words as you mentioned in your book, “When our beliefs, stories and habits tear away at our happiness, we need to recognize there is another way”. Sometime I often feel like I don’t know if there is another way because family members often remind me of what is not working out and tell me what they think I need or SHOULD do with my life. If only they knew how emotionally and mentally destructive the word "should" really is.

Lastly I want to add that I can also relate to the chapter that talks about how entering the unknown and taking risks is scary because as I started meditating and asking myself questions about fear and the things that are keeping me from being present. I found out that failure was a belief that I was taught to believe that failure was a very bad thing rather than a tool of growth and development.

Also I experienced many situations where it was difficult to finding my voice, expressing what I felt because I wanted the approval of others, I wanted to fit in and be accepted but I often found myself walking alone most of the time and feeling like there was something deeply wrong with me. So by reading specific parts of your book where embracing life and finding our tribe as well as staying open to new possibilities gives me hope to a better future.

Thank you Again for writing this awesome book,

Chris Foster,

You can get a copy of FInding My Way, Facing My Journey With Courage, on Amazon.