At least once in your life you may experience a bad break or a traumatic experience. It could be a cancer diagnosis, the death of a loved one, a marriage gone sour, or loss of a job or business. Setbacks and stumbling blocks are facts of life. Some situations are more difficult than others, and the healing process may take more time and effort for some. Survivorship has many faces and paths, but there is one common destination: recovery.
There was a point in my life where I faced a fork in the road after a series of setbacks that could have stopped me in my tracks. Over time I learned to reframe my outlook to move forward. If I had not done this, I would not be writing this post today, or hosting my radio shows, or have written two books.
I don’t believe bad breaks should put the brakes on your Fabulously Authentic You. Here are some tips to heal and re-frame:
- You can choose to let the situation pull your spirit down or lift you up to become stronger.
- Instead of asking Why Me? focus on Make Me Better!
- Ruminate less on what you lost and dedicate more to what you have to gain.
- Let go of your anger. Anger festers and makes the emotional wounds harder to heal.
- Stay curious and try new things. An active mind doesn’t have time to stay locked up in emotional dwelling.
- Turn your bad breaks into lucky breaks. Many people I know whose lives were turned upside down due to a bad break are doing some pretty amazing things now that might never have happened.
“Survivorship” can be many things to many people depending on what the challenges is/are they face. A cancer survivor faces the reality that mortality is a finite period of time which you need to cherish. An individual laid off from years working at a company realizes that even valued employees can be expendable. A soldier coming back from the front lines of war and has to transition back to home life. A woman who has been abused or raped must process what happened and regain her emotional strength.
In her book, “Bouncing Forward: Transforming Bad Breaks into Breakthroughs,” Michaela Haas, PhD, interviews survivors of many kinds of situations who share their resilience in their individual ways: a survivor of a concentration camp, a terminal cancer survivor, a women living with autism; the mother of a son killed by a drunk driver. They all have learned to bounce forward.
Michaela Haas shares powerful insights from real life survivors.
Learn how you can turn your struggle into renewed strength. Dr. Michaela Haas joins me Monday, June 6, 4pmEST on Fearless Fabulous You! Live on W4WN and rebroadcast permanently on Heart.com and the free iHeart App.
Purchase a copy of “Bouncing Forward” here:
My second book, “Fearless Fabulous You! Lessons on Living life on Your Terms,” provide her five pathways to reclaim your life after a setback. Available nationwide on Amazon, Barnes & Noble.
