Do you have enough adversity in your life to have an adversity bio? Sharon Roth-Lichtenfeld does! This founder of Good Grief Coaching has survived hardship and heartache amazingly well. Listen to the episode to discover how she finds peace and joy in the midst of very tough circumstances.

Good Grief in Adversity

Highlights from the interview:

• A lot of research has proven that you are not born resilient. It’s a skillset that every individual has inside of them and can cultivate it at any given moment.
• Resilience: the skill to see things from a different point of view and recognize that inside of them they can create peace and joy no matter what happens in their life.
• Adversity will happen, you won’t get away from the pain, but you can go through it faster and come out the other side stronger, wiser, and meaning.
• We have to recognize the peace and joy that show up in the world, even in the midst of adversity and while we’re having pain.
• Often we see so many happy people around us, but we’re going through the pain. It’s hard for us. You may not get to happy, but you can get to peace. The goal is to get to moments of peace or seconds of peace with the goal of stretching those into longer moments.
• Sharon has an adversity bio on her website. She’s had a lot to recover from.
• The old Sharon would push feelings aside and ignore them. Over the years she’s learned to express her feelings and allow herself to feel the pain. Everything that happens you can make something meaningful and greater and better than it is.
• You’re OK to have your emotions. Record your emotions, speak them and listen to them back. It’s important to express how you’re thinking and feeling
• It’s also important to be grateful. And be very specific. There’s ALWAYS something to be grateful for. The practice of gratitude helps train your brain to see what you do have.

Listen to the episode for the full story.

Stacy’s Journal

Welcome to Stacy’s Journal! In this segment, I let you peek into my journal as I share my thoughts on a topic or resilience resource. Sharon explained that you can look for joy and peace even in the midst of adversity. So many times in our lives we have to actively LOOK for joy and recognize things to celebrate. It seems counterintuitive almost. Something sad, bad, or awful has happened, but in addition to feeling those feelings you also look for joy. I don’t want to discount having feelings of sadness because those are valid and important to acknowledge and feel. But holding that alongside the search for tiny bits of joy can help you get through a tough time. Part of finding joy is being present during our days. Presence is a gift. Thinking about the past leads to regret. Thoughts of the future lead to anxiety. Keep your mind in the present if you want to experience happiness on a regular basis. Find the tiniest amount of joy that’s around you.

That’s all we have for today. Last episode, Peter Shankman, whose brain runs faster than normal, shared his insight into why the ADHD brain is a gift, so if you have someone with ADHD in your life, you might want to go back and have a listen. Next week, we’ll interview Mike Veny, America’s leading mental health speaker, who talks about his own mental health struggles.

I love interacting with our listeners on social media. We’re on Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and just about anywhere you can hold a great virtual conversation. Plus, I answer all my emails personally, so feel free to email me: stacy{at}stacybrookman{dot}com.

100 Most Important Memoirs of the Past 200 Years

This week’s memoir is: A Moveable Feast

Our memoir of the day is A Moveable Feat by Earnest Hemingway, written in 1964. Published posthumously, this remains one of Hemingway’s most beloved works. This classic memoir of 1920’s Paris is filled with irreverent character, poignant recollections of his first wife, and insights on early writing experiments. It’s a literary feast, brilliantly evoking the exuberant mood of Paris and the youthful spirit, unbridled creativity, and unquenchable enthusiasm that Hemingway himself epitomized. Check out A Moveable Feast and all the memoirs on this list at stacybrookman.com/100memoirs.

mem-780x100.png" alt="" width="780" height="100">Click on the graphic to learn about this memoir and all of the most important memoirs of the past 200 years…

273x300.jpg" alt="Good Grief Coaching, Sharon Roth Lichtenfeld" width="273" height="300">About: Sharon Roth-Lichtenfeld

The official line is I am an ICF Certified Professional Life Coach and Life Mentor at my company Good Grief Coaching. For the past 8+ years my focus has been resilience, joy and leadership. I have written numerous articles, given countless workshops and coached many individuals.

The bottom line is I strongly believe that even when adversity happens, joy and peace are always available to you. Being a resilient person is a skill. When you are a resilient person you lead from that place then joy and peace dominate your life.

Links: 

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