Love Your Story

Episode 259: Quit Proof - Interview with Jenn Drummond Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. We are closing in on winter, and I always like to pull in a guest with some wintery story - a professional skier or a mountaineer - during these chilly months. We’ll today’s guest fills that bill nicely. Get ready to be inspired by my guest Jenn Drummond. She is a mountaineer who has conquered the world’s seven second summits and recently became a world record holder. But her journey goes far beyond mountaineering. As you’ll see, her story, of being in a horrific car accident that brought her inches from death, is a testament to resilience, motivation and the exhilaration of achievement. Her book, QuitProof: the 7 Necessities for Becoming Resilient, will be released in January. Jenn, Welcome to the LYS podcast. Let’s start with your story. Join the audio conversation to hear about her summiting the 7 second tallest summits in the world. How to be resilient and how to intentionally build our life. Come listen as she shares her story of a car accident that shifted her world. How to get a hold of Jenn: Website: https://jenndrummond.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenn-drummond/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/drummond_jenn Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejenndrummond/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jenndrummond Resilience has been a strong theme this year. It’s been on my mind because I’ve been watching people struggle, a lot of the upcoming generation struggle with mental health, in particular, and the ability to be resilient, or to...

Episode 258: Understanding Your Emotions for Emotional Resilience: Mastering Anger - Part 5 Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. This is the last of the 5-Part Series on Creating Emotional Resilience. This series was created from a class I took, you’ve heard about it in all the other episodes - in it we practiced different skills like healthy thinking patterns, managing stress, overcoming anger….all the good stuff. Take from it what resonates with you, that you may navigate your life with a bit more resilience. One step at a time. These are muscles we are trying to develop. Emotional resilience muscles. Today’s episode is about one of our strongest emotions. Anger. It’s a real emotion that we don’t want to deny, but that we need to learn to navigate and choose thoughts and actions that create more peace in us rather than feed the anger beast. Stay tuned. As I am writing this episode we just completed the April 2023 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As I sat and listened to the prophets and leaders I was surprised at how many talks were about not being contentious. Even the prophet himself focused his primary message on the topic of being peacemakers. In 3 Nephi 11:29-30 the Savior taught the Nephites: “There shall be no disputations among you…for verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another behold this is NOT my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.” Anger is something we all feel. It’s an emotion that rears it’s head when underneath we really feel resentful, disappointed, ashamed, hopeless, guilty, our expectations are unmet, we are embarrassed, frustrated, anxious, threatened, rejected, hurt, offended, heartbroken…there are a lot of underlying emotions and situations that trigger anger. Emotional resilience means that we are able to more effectively understand our emotions and manage them. This is a life-time of work, but a very important part of our work. This is part of living with awareness and moving toward higher ways of being. Let’s consider a couple ideas. 1. Anger comes from lots of various emotions, as I’ve just mentioned. Understanding that can help us get to the bottom of an angry situation so we can deescalate it and understand ourselves better. What I mean by this is that when you feel yourself getting angry, stop and consider what’s causing the anger. Are your feelings hurt? Are you disappointed? Are you embarrassed? Once we understand what has us so upset we can navigate the situation better - sometimes even just understanding that can help you better communicate with the person you are angry with. For instance, let’s say you’ve asked your husband to do something numerous times and he doesn’t get around to doing it. You can spiral in the “Why doesn’t he listen to me? Why can’t he help? Why can’t he see the wisdom in doing it this way?” etc. etc. or you can identify that perhaps you’re feeling disrespected, resentful, unappreciated, hurt. With this knowledge you can then open a conversation, “When I ask you to help rake the leaves up over and over and it doesn’t get done, I feel unheard, disrespected, hurt.” This approach shares a vulnerable insight into your feelings that focuses on you and doesn’t focus on making accusations toward him At the very least this opens space for communication. People talking things out and striving to understand another’s position on something is a tool to choosing peace and peacemaking over anger and...

Episode 257: Stronger Together - Building Emotional Resilience Through Healthy Relationships - Part 4 Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. Have you ever been in a tight spot where a strong family relationship or a great friendship provided you a space for staying sane or healing? Let me rattle off a few that come to mind quickly for me: Once I was talking with my therapist during my marriage to an emotionally abusive man. I was explaining how I had left and gone to my parents for a weekend. I remember her response because she praised me for intuitively going to a mentally safe space when things got hard for me. Going to a space where there were supporting relationships I’ve noticed a comparison to the times that was single and had to deal with a hard day, a deep frustration with a real estate client, or a betrayal from a friend, vs. being married to a really good man whom I can vent with and go to for a place to talk and and shoulder to lean it. It’s a big difference. I love that I have healthy relationships with my siblings. We laugh together and often play together, and at the very base of those relationships is the feeling that I have a strong base. I have roots. I’m not alone. Knowing that strengthens me. As we develop loving relationships with others, our physical, emotional and spiritual health is strengthened. Family and friends provide love, support, daily sounding boards, socialization, people we learn from and teach, people we laugh with. We need each other. The adversary wants to isolate us from others. He wants to deprive us of the blessings that come from healthy relationships. This episode is Part 4 of a 5-part series on Emotional Resilience. This started from an emotional resilience course I took with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and I wanted to share some of my biggest take-aways from the 188 page 10 week course. I hope these episodes - this series, will support you in your own quest for choosing emotional resilience skills. Today’s episode is entitled: Stronger together: building resilience through healthy relationships. Stay tuned and let’s talk about this simple but super important foundation for emotional resilience. People were not made to rock things solo. We are social creatures. We all understand this because we are drawn to relationship. We want to find love. We seek after community and friendship. Babies who are not held and loved wither away and die. During Covid when we were kept from one another we saw serious mental issues surface across the board. I know for me, when I was single and my kids would leave for the weekend with their dad, I would sometimes be alone for an entire weekend, by the time Sunday got there I could feel the crazy of being alone. It’s also why solitary confinement is considered the ultimate punishment in the penal system. We need each other. Today’s emotional resilience episode is all about the reminder of the importance of building healthy relationships. Perhaps this simple concept is the basis, the most basic of creating healthy living. Today’s show will go over 8 main points of creating healthy relationships. Things you probably intuitively know, but it’s always good to get a reminder. We’ll throw in a few recommendations and skills as well. #1 Creating relationships means BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS. This means you must take initiative and invest in the relationship. What does initiative look like? Inviting someone to meet for lunch or to come over for dinner, or to ride bikes or meet for an evening out. Reaching out to talk, go on a walk, share ideas. I Investing in a person looks like remembering special days for them, checking on them, sharing life experiences, talking, playing. Basically creating space for them in your life and initiating...

Episode 256: From Chaos to Calm: Managing Stress and Anxiety for Emotional Resilience - Part 3 Welcome to Part 3 in our 5-part Emotional Resilience Series of 2023. I hope you’ve listened to Part 1 & 2. If not, here’s a little background: I joined an emotional resilience group a few years back. There was a physical therapist, a composer, a nurse, a home economics teacher and me, a Realtor. We did not know each other before hand, and we were doing this course on-line because it was during Covid. This group was put together by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in an effort to support people in learning emotional resilience. The class focused on learning and practicing spiritual and practical skills to better care for the body, mind, emotions and relationships, and everyone took different things from the sessions, because we’re all at different places on the path with what we needed. This was a 188 page 10 week course that I’ve pulled from and I hope these will support you in your own quest for choosing emotional resilience skills you can work on to better support your emotional work. TODAY I HAVE included some clips from a mental health discussion I had with KATHERINE REYNOLDS, A Marriage and family therapist who has shown up in all our episodes so far; and parts of a discussion I had with Brigham Haines, host of the Consider Everything podcast, a podcast about mental health….Take from this episode what resonates with you, that you may navigate your life with a bit more resilience. One step at a time. This episode - Part 3 - is all about Managing Stress and Anxiety for Emotional Resilience. Stay tuned for stories and insights from professionals. Let’s put a few things out on the table. The first is a reasonable look at stress. Stress is a buzz word in our culture. We’re going so fast, we’re stressed out. Some see it as a badge of honor, an indicator that they are movin’ and shakin. But for some it’s gone off the charts and shifted into a debilitating anxiety. Let’s dissect this a bit. Stress, in an of itself, is a normal part of life. It is how the brain and the body respond to any demand - a problem to be solved at work, an important decision you need to make - the right amount of stress helps you focus reach goals, protect yourself. Stress - in the right doses, can be an important part of functioning well. When does it get to be too much? Well, when stress becomes uncontrolled worry, or perfectionism, or a predominant fear that thIngs won’t go well, that you won’t be good enough to solve that problem at work, it can cause anxiety. Anxiety, or a feeling of excessive worry or nervousness can cause serious barriers for us. It doesn’t fade when the situation is taken care of. It builds. I asked Kathryn Reynolds about her thoughts on stress and anxiety and she gave some definitions and ideas. Here are her thoughts: Tune in to hear Kathryn's thoughts. So, comparison can be stressor. Let’s look at perfectionism, because this thought error is a big contributor to anxiety as well, and ties into comparison. Perfectionsim is the belief that if we are not perfect in everything, we are a failure and not good enough. Perfectionism is not a sign that you do things well, it is an inner belief that if you don’t do things perfectly that you are unacceptable. Obviously, since no one does things perfectly, this is a terrible waste of time. Tune into the podcast to hear what Brigham Haines has to say on this subject. Kathryn confesses to being a recovering perfectionist and she has some great insights on how it isolates us through false connection. Here’s our conversation: The podcast has all the clips from our visiting...

Episode 255: Developing Healthy Thinking Patterns for Emotional Resilience - Part 2 Marcus Aurelius said, “You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength.” Today’s episode is #2 in a 5-part series of creating emotional resilience. Today’s episode is titled: "Empowering Your Mind: Developing Healthy Thinking Patterns for Emotional Resilience” A couple years ago I joined an emotional resilience group a few years back. The class focused on learning and practicing spiritual and practical skills to better care for the body, mind, emotions and relationships. Pretty important stuff. I want to share some of my take-aways and I’ll bring some experts in to comment as well. As I mentioned, this is the second in a 5-part series on emotional resilience. I hope these episodes will support you in your own quest for choosing emotional resilience skills - because these are skills we all need . Stay tuned for this important step in emotional resilience - developing healthy thinking patterns. I want you to find one ah-ha today that will serve you. My first marriage was in 1995, my second was 2007 and my third was in 2011. All three ended in divorce. When I finally came to love and accept my own personal story and the disappointment I felt, the failure I felt, the embarrassment I felt, the progress was all about learning to reframe the negative aspects of my story that I was focusing on. IT WAS ALL ABOUT INTERPRETATION AND MINDSET. It wasn’t until I learned how to step out of victim mode and focus on what I had gained from my experiences, like understanding what it felt like to feel unloved, to be cheated on, to be abandoned, to be emotionally abused; I gained empathy for women in abusive situations, I gained empathy for being a single mom, for lonely people, for times of brokenness, for needing forgiveness; for the struggle to forgive. I gained strength as I survived, and kept trying. Instead of my perceived stack of failures - the overall crap in the relationships and the ultimate dissolution of the marriages, I could find peace in my own messy journey by focusing on the things I’d learned and understood now that I did not before. It IS ALL ABOUT WHERE WE PUT THE FOCUS - IN OTHER WORDS - MINDSET. My point is, our thoughts are everything. They create our reality. They make all the difference in how we see ourselves and how we interpret our world. How we talk about ourselves and how we think about things impacts how we feel because thoughts influence emotions. I’ve brought Kathryn Reynolds back for this episode. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist. We met her in Part 1. She practices solution-focused therapy and is passionate about helping women with anxiety or depression regain their sense of identity, expression, and purpose. Here is a clip of our conversation on Healthy Thinking Patterns: Tune into the podcast to listen to Dr. Reynolds. In Proverbs 23:7 it says, “For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he…” I know that none of these ideas are new - but they are vitally important to understand and to work on. I’d like each of you listening to take stock of your own thoughts about your own life right now. What stories are you creating? Are they negative? Are they positive? The ones that are negative - how can you hop over the fence and reframe them? Let’s peak into an example: I was speaking to a friend the other day and she shared a story with me that I thought really captured the clear concept of how the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves really define us. So it’s important to look at what we are thinking. Hear Jackie on the podcast... As we discuss healthy thinking patterns we need to first accept this important piece of the puzzle, that knowing how much power our thoughts have over our emotions and how much power our...

Episode 254: Building Emotional Resilience by Understanding Who You Are and Embracing Your Strength: Part 1 In Life, the Truth, and Being Free, Steve Maraboli says, “Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.” In this crazy world we live in we come up against things people in no other time have had to deal with. Our mental and emotional resources are taxed with mental illness, with severe deviations like all the confusion around gender, like the high suicide rates, like access to all sorts of depravity with the click of a button and the knowledge of all the terrors taking place across the world. We have experienced the trials of being secluded during a pandemic, and that negative voice in our heads telling us we are worthless seems to be at shouting level. Emotional Resilience is something we need like never before. I really like what Steve said, though life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient, but like any skill, that often takes intentional work on our part - so let’s fight for our lives and our peace of mind. Let’s learn and practice resilience. Stay tuned for Part 1 of this 5-part emotional resilience series: Understanding who you are and embracing your strength. I joined an emotional resilience group a few years back. There was a physical therapist, a composer, a nurse, a home economics teacher and me, a Realtor. We did not know each other before hand, and we were doing this course on-line because it was during Covid. This group was put together by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in an effort to support people in learning emotional resilience during a hard time, but it turns out, of course, that emotional resilience isn’t something just for Covid sequestered people, it is a set of skills we all need in order to navigate life successfully and not end up shattered on the emotional rocks at the bottom of life’s cliffs. The class focused on learning and practicing spiritual and practical skills to better care for the body, mind, emotions and relationships. We did the class as a council, sharing personal experiences across our Zoom windows. We made phone calls to support each other outside of class, and we practiced different skills like healthy thinking patterns, managing stress, overcoming anger….all the good stuff. Everyone took different things from the sessions, because we’re all at different places on the path - we need different things. And, like that class, everyone will get something different from this series as well. As we close out 2023 I have put together 5 episodes that glean some of my biggest take-aways from this 188 page 10 week course. I hope these will support you in your own quest for choosing emotional resilience skills. I’ll share stories, use content I’ve pulled from the manual, and I have experts on each of these episodes to share some perspectives beyond my own. Take from it what resonates with you, that you may navigate your life with a bit more resilience. One step at a time. What is emotional resilience? As a child I pictured my future with all the good things. I pictured happy relationships, a nice home, a successful career, lots of friends. As children we don’t know or understand how deeply difficult life will be in the future. We don’t picture the divorce, or the depression, the anxiety, the cancer diagnosis, the death of someone we love, the sexual assault, the disloyalty of a friend. We don’t picture the emotional gauntlet that we will be forced to navigate because of the nature of being in the world. Emotional resilience is the ability to adapt to emotional challenges with courage and faith, helping yourself, helping others, and reaching out for additional help when needed. We throw around the words “Emotional Resilience” every where - it’s a catch phrase, but let me just repeat that definition:...

Episode 253: Coding the Subconscious for Success - Interview Riya Sokol Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. We are inspired by people who help us see the world in fresh ways. We often get stuck in our stories and perspectives, and those stories, many times, limit us. Further more, we don’t often stop to question those stories and perspectives. Let’s take the Corona Virus for example. How many people stopped to look for the positive things that came from our time of seclusion, fear, change and sickness? My guest today, Riya Sokol, is an internationally acclaimed artist, speaker and viral content creator. She gained widespread recognition for her video poem, “Thank You, Coronavirus.” I’ll play a bit of it for you a bit later in the show. The poem has been translated into dozens of languages and received awards at several international festivals. Today we’re going to talk about abundance mindset, divorce mindset, gratitude mindset. She’s growing in popularity due to her unique and life-changing approach, so stay tuned to hear our discussion. Riya, usually we start out with your full story and then talk about the things you’ve learned from it, but as I’ve gone through your areas of expertise, what I want to do is address three topics, and as we get to each topic you can tell us your story about how you came to understand the things you’re teaching us. First - let’s talk about the subconcious mind: You have been doing research and experiments on the subconscious mind and then helping people realize the potential of our subconscious and how understanding and using it helps us live a deeper life. Let’s start here: First, tell us your story about how you got involved in this type of research and why you’re qualified to talk about it? Tune into the audio program to hear her answers. Second: Let’s talk about abundance mindset. You have been known to say that we each sit in a position of abundance despite our current situation, even if it doesn’t seem abundant. You say, lack only exists if you decide it does. What is your experience in how you learned this, how you use this? What do we need to know about how to shift into this mind set? Tune into the audio program to hear her answers. Third, You, like me, have gone through a divorce. In that situation you always have a chance to choose to separate in a friendly or unfriendly way. That is a very emotional space to navigate. You and your husband chose to “extend your family rather than break it.” Tune into the audio program to hear her answers. Fourth, You started performing at the age of 6 - and as I understand it, that was a source of anxiety for you. This is a big deal - anxiety, depression, panic attacks. We’d love to hear your insights on these spaced. Tune into the audio program to hear her answers. To contact Riya: Poem performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgm9E_cmvWA Bio: https://kitcaster.com/riya-sokol/ Instagram:

Episode 252: Voices of Healing -Personal Stories of Life on the Healing Journey. Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. We all die. We all pay taxes. Another thing we all have in common on this crazy ride called life is that we all need to heal. Why? Because in this rough and tumble life we all get hurt. We all have to heal from things mild to wild, the broken heart, the deep disappointments, the full-out traumas. As I’ve looked over the past episodes of the Love Your Story podcast, no matter the episode, over 90% of them involve discussion about the path of healing. Whether the stories shared are about a miscarriage, an injury, a rape, a divorce, an eating disorder, the death of a loved one, etc. the thing they all have in common is that healing is part of the process if forward progression is to be made. As is obvious by the name of the show, we are all about coming to love our own personal life story. Often times the thing that stands between us and a full acceptance and love of our story are the broken times, the shameful times, the things we see as “failures,” the things we need to heal from. I’m so glad you’ve joined me today for some voices of healing as past guests share what this looked like for them. Let’s shine a light on the healing journey and see what we can learn. We all have things to heal from. As we start out this episode I want to start on a humble note. The things we heal from are deeply personal and I’m not suggesting that I know how everyone should heal - just do this or that and all will be well. If I’ve learned anything from listening to people’s stories, it’s that healing is different for everyone, it’s deeply personal. So what I share today are quips from other’s journeys and a few personal ideas about things that seem to consistently work for people. See what hits home for you. If you can take one thing that will shine a light forward on your healing journey or someone you love’s healing journey - then we are getting it right. My first real heart break was in high school. My first love was my high school boyfriend. We shared a locker, we snuck out of our windows to be together. We both played percussion so we got up early every morning before school and practiced and stayed late after. Of course we spent every minute we could, together. We dated for years. One summer we had a fake wedding ceremony next to a stream up the canyon. We had a teddy bear that I named after him and it symbolized our future kids. I have boxes of letters and notes from him. I know, to say it out loud is to shine a light on the beautiful immaturity, and at the same time I think it also shines the light on the depth a young, unharmed heart can go to. ….Until one Friday night I found him drunk, making out with the girl who was my “best friend” at a party. We had a couple of these bouts before I reached 19 years-old, and finally my heart was too broken to ever be put back together by him again. I don’t have a great healing story to tell you, unless you count 25 years later when I finally had to heal from a life of heartbreaks, I had to reframe, I had to let go, I had to come to love my messy, broken story with all the deep pains and disappointments. All the betrayals, all the bad choices, all the disillusionment. Three marriages, three divorces, a handful of serious boyfriends that I hadn’t chosen to stay with. There was a lot of relationship healing for me. At any given time we can be on the path to healing. It’s not just something that we do once and everything is okay. Every time you get a cut or a broken bone you have to heal all over again. Of course it’s the same mentally, emotionally, psychologically - we need to heal whenever we experience hurt. So, we are off and on the path continually. As I’ve gone back and listened to the healing stories of past guests, I mentioned that it really struck home how complex healing is. It’s not the exact same...

Episode 251: How to Overcome Money Block Stories: Insights from Dr. Amanda the Money Healer When I was growing up we didn’t have a lot of money. My dad was a teacher and we grew up growing our own food in the garden, mom made homemade bread, which now is very cool, but back then it just meant you were poor. My parents were frugal because they had to be and I gained a money mindset of lack. Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time working to shift that - focusing on gratitude and abundance. I’m so grateful for the abundance in my life - for which I have a great deal, but I also know I still have money fears, that I have to focus on generosity at times, that I have a tendency to save money rather than invest it. We all have our perceptions and comfort levels with money. So today I have Dr. Amanda - the Money Healer on the show. Stay tuned and let’s all see if we can take one more step on our money mindset ladder. What is money mindset? Your money mindset defines how you think about money and influences how you save, how you spend, and how you manage your debt. It's your core beliefs about money and your attitude towards it. This includes: What you think you can and cannot do with money. So this is a topic for everyone because we all use it. Mindset and money have been hot topics, because everyone wants more money and everything in our lives is about what’s going on in our heads - the stories we are telling ourselves. Dr. Amanda Barrientez - known as "The Money Healer" - is the founder of NFA - No Fooling Around - Money. She’s a bestselling author, an international speaker, the host of The Woman Entrepreneur Podcast, and the NFA Money YouTube Channel. She's been featured on over 150 podcasts, sharing tips on how to up-level your money mindset to manifest easier money in your life and business. Today we’re going to hear her story of going from food stamps to building a 6-figure business. And once she got that figured out she decided to teach people how to transform their relationship to money so they can attract abundance from their Zone of Manifestation™. Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast Dr. Amanda. Join the audio program to hear her story. We talk about the biggest money blocks for people. Her NFA Money Formula Her techniques with Affirmantras, and a lot more. Buddha said, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” As I researched money mindset I found quotes from everyone from Suze Orman, Benjamin Franklin, Brigham Young, Robert Kiyosaki, Tony Robbins, Warren Buffet: They all said, it’s not how much money you make, money is a tool, it’s not where you set your heart but getting money allows you to free up time in order to pursue the things you want - money doesn’t bring happiness, but it gives you time to create your own. They stressed the importance of not spending beyond your means, the importance of letting it work for you. In all the wisdom from these money minds we come back to the fact that money isn’t happiness it’s a tool. But as I’ve discussed, a lack mindset sometimes stops you and keeps you small. I’d like to end today’s discussion with these ideas - Mindset, one of abundance and gratitude has been proven to create such better living by opening to the flow of all good things. Just like we heard about today. I’d also like to tip my hat to the wisdom of being a wise money manager. If you don’t care for your money in the right ways, it won’t matter how much comes to you, it will also flow right out again. How many lottery winners have to prove that? There is a balance of responsibility and a generous flow I think we need to find in our peaceful heart of hearts. We are all in different places of getting to this peaceful relationship with money. Dr. Amanda has a proven 3-step formula to help you begin...

Episode: 250 The Kindness Effect: One Woman's Journey to Heal through Compassion - Interview Megan Snedden Welcome to the Love Your Story Podcast When Megan lost her father in a plane crash and her brother in a car accident, her heart and life plummeted. Mental health issues brought her to rock bottom, but sitting at the bottom and looking up, she choose to find happiness despite her despair. On today’s show she tells us her story and introduces us to The Kind Effect, a movement she started that includes a 3-day Random Acts of Kindness Challenge. Stay tuned for her take on why “practicing random acts of kindness is a good way for people to introduce more regular joy into their lives and their stories…. I think she’s got some good stories to share. Megan Sneeden is the founder of af kindness movement the Kind Effect. She says, “The journey of advocating and sharing kindness hasn't been plain sailing, but kindness has taught me vital lessons.” Today Megan is here with us, and I’m looking forward to hearing her story, her rise from the dark spaces, and what has come sense. You know that we are fans of Random Acts of Kindness on the show, since it is the first of our 21-Challenges. Join the audio program to hear my interview with Megan. Some of our topics include: To contact Megan: Instagram @TheKindEffect or download her free guide The Changemaker's Action Plan. Past president and prophet of the LDS Church said, “Along your pathway of life, you will observe that you are not the only traveler. There are others who need your help. There are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save.” I know how hard it is to try to think of others when you are in a state of pain, but often the way out of that pain is to turn your focus outward, away from the internal suffering and look to others, see what you can do to bring light, one small random act at a time, and before you know it there will be other feelings in your heart besides the heavy ones. Your challenge this week is to keep RAK forefront in your mind and heart…look for opportunities, make opportunities. Put kindness into the world because its a win/win. Lifting our sights, lifting our energy, lifting the world. Please share this episode with one person today as your first act of kindness and we’ll see you in two weeks for the next fun episode of helping you create an intentional life story filled with all the good stuff.

Episode 249: Trusting Your Gut: How Intuition and Curiosity Can Shape Big Life Stories - Interview Taylor Proctor Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast peeoooopppplllleeee! A bit ago, Taylor Proctor, a spicy little red head and the host of “Creating with Confidence” — an internationally acclaimed podcast, was meditating, and the idea of being an 8-figure business owner came to her mind. Now….8-figures is a minimum of $10m, and she initially thought….ya, there’s no way that is possible. But then she decided to explore what would happen if she leaned in curiosity instead of pulling away for the sake of reality. Stay tuned to hear her story because I LOVE the idea of leaning into curiosity. That idea comes up a lot when we talk about what’s possible, about not judging, about knowing ourselves better….curiosity can take us to some new places!! Stick with us and let’s see where curiosity took her….. Taylor Proctor is an intuitive business strategist and coach who uses her skills as a mentor to help high-performing business owners confidently create the life and business they love. As I mentioned in the intro, she’s the host of Creating with Confidence — an internationally acclaimed podcast — and she loves to work with entrepreneurs to uncover their unique intuitive strengths while scaling and propelling their businesses through her proprietary IMOVE method. Tune into the audio program to hear our conversation and topics like: “When you reach the end of what you should know, you will be at the beginning of what you should sense.” ― Kahlil Gibrán To Contact Taylor: 8 Crazy Actions to an 8-Figure Business Opportunity — Free Access: https://8crazythings.taylorproctor.com/8 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taylor.proctor.31/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creatingwithconfidence/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-proctor/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSv02tDGqO2_gyUbtMfVKNg Website: https://www.taylorproctor.com/ Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/creatingwithconfidence Quotes on Intuition: “Intuition is the whisper of the soul.” - Your challenge this week is to tune into your intuition. What does it tell you? Alan Alda said, “At times you have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself.” As we close today’s episode we’ve heard an important story of intuition at work. Whether you have a business or not, whether you reach out to Taylor or just receive inspiration from her story, I think we can all take away some encouragement about getting curious,...

Episode 248: Raising Great Humans - Parenting Hacks from the Gallery Welcome to the LYS podcast. I’m a mom of two fantastic boys. They’re grown now, in their 20’s and in some ways they are even harder now than they were when they were small. We never stop worrying about them, wanting the best for them. Watching them suffer with hard things is much harder than suffering ourselves. When they were growing up I always followed the Love and Logic parenting model because I wanted to teach them responsibility, how to make choices, how to deal with the consequences of their choices. I’m sure each of you parents have your own favorite parenting styles. I dare say most of us parent with intention. Today’s episode gleans the fabulous parenting quips from past shows and puts them in one place. With this one episode you’re going to get all sorts of parenting value bombs. So stay tuned for a little parenting pep-talk, ideas and inspiration. First - We have a Mothering Coach on hand today. In episode 229, Lara Johnson, talks to us about her work coaching mothers for reaching their full potential and being the best moms they can be. Let’s jump right into some of her wisdom…. Here's a link to her full episode. Tune into the audio program to listen to just her clip. https://player.captivate.fm/episode/43c93f12-52f6-4d12-aa88-0e66424ea09e What I hear Lara saying is that moms need to not sell themselves short. We need to take care of us. Honor our dreams and our potential. We are the main engine of our family eco-system, and that engine needs to be acknowledged and taken care of. You can listen to the whole episode and hear about how she sets up systems in the home to do that, Again, that’s episode 229, but this is a great jumping off point for all of us - Taking care of you and your dreams is an important part of living a fulfilling life that keeps you healthy for your kids. I dare say it also sets an example for your kids of the importance of self-care and living your best life. Second - One of the things kids need is time and priority. In episode 203 - It’s all about family - in my interview with Jason Martin, we talk about his book “This is Your Captain Speaking,” that he wrote for his family, so he could share bits of wisdom with his kids. Tune into the episode to hear the clip I chose from Martin's episode. C.S. Lewis agrees with him: "Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work." - C.S. Lewis Here is Martin's entire interview: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/68b2f2e0-d7dd-412e-9ba3-f913d47ee43c Now, We’ve talked about talking care of us so we can be our best for our children, we’ve talked about making our kids/family our priority, and we’ve heard a bit about the importance of spending individual personal time with each child. What happens when they enter the teen years and communication gets a little harder? Third - On episode 236 and 237 I talk with Josh Brazier and Hollie Henderson, authors of Bang Head Here, about how to talk with troubled teens more effectively. Listen to this episode to hear the clip or go to their full episodes to hear all they have to share. They have part 1 & 2 - https://player.captivate.fm/episode/a1da3b55-15ab-4588-b48b-7e57cf594bf6 https://player.captivate.fm/episode/90f2ee15-7be5-42b2-b018-577b79867dfc Building communication trust. Wow. That’s a big one. The idea where you don’t go into solving mode,

Episode 247: Embracing Your Journey: A Gratitude Coach's Guide to Loving Your Story - Interview Holly Bertone Who has ever heard of a gratitude coach? What a great idea. On today’s show I am speaking with Holly Bertone, a gratitude coach, and we are going to be talking about how to unwrap resilience and build fortitude in our lives with the very lovely and important tool of gratitude. Stay tuned and let’s see if she’ll give us a little coaching. After all, as Tony Robbins says, “When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.” With us today is breast cancer survivor, Hashimoto’s warrior, #1 Amazon bestselling author, and host of the Grateful Warrior Podcast, Holly Bertone. Holly spent 25 years rising through the ranks of consulting and federal government service before her failing health shattered her corporate dreams. Since then, she has leaned into her path of true purpose and fulfillment as a Gratitude and Mindset Coach by helping women view their cancer or autoimmune diagnosis as a gift so that they can unwrap their resilience to build fortitude with gratitude. Holly, Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. Tune into the audio program to hear us talk about things like: To connect with Holly: hjracer@gmail.com Fortitude.Academy https://academy.pinkfortitude.com/podcast-landing-welcome IG: @Holly.Bertone FB: Pinkfortitude1 Deepak Chopra said, “Gratitude opens the door to the power, the wisdom, the creativity of the universe. You open the door through gratitude.” Use it, people. Use gratitude to live with joy, wisdom and power. In the spirit of gratitude I want to deeply thank all who are taking a moment to scroll down on your app and hit the “leave a review” button. Thank you. And, if you haven’t yet, I’d love to hear from you, we’ll even share your review on the show. Here’s one: Podcast Review: Title: Such a treat! Author: Claribelleee from the Philippines “Empowering, brilliant, and I learn so much!! Love this awesome show!” Thank you so much Claribelleee from the Philippines. I appreciate your time in cheering me on!! Your challenge for the week is to bring a larger dose of gratitude into your life. Where ever you are at on the gratitude scale - an every day event, or less, just move it up one level and start to open your being to all the beauty that surrounds and flows to you in your life. See you in two weeks. Please take 5 seconds and share this show with someone you love and want to see succeed.

Episode 246: Seeing Things Differently - Personal Stories of Shifting Perspective One of the great life truths is that life is all about MINDSET. When you shift your focus the perspective changes, and when the perspective shifts your reality shifts. BOOM! Dropping truth. Once we accept this and learn about the power we have to reframe events and the stories we tell ourselves in order to support our learning and living, once we fully embrace the power of perspective and the flexibility of it, we become unstoppable. For example. With my personal story - I was married and divorced 3 different times. I can focus on the hurt, the betrayal, the struggle, the cynicism I gained from my experiences. Or I can reframe and look at what I learned, the great people I met because of the various experiences, the people who got to leave my life, the empathy and understanding of some really hard things that I gained. I can focus on the learning and growth, the empathy, the people, the places my adventures took me, or I can focus on the pain and all the messy bad stuff. That is my choice. So, reframing and changing perspective are really the same thing. Do you realize how big that is? It’s everything. It’s how you interpret the world. Stick with me…. Today we’re going to look at some perspective shifts about some of the most common things, and how those various shifts create a whole different world for you to live and thrive in. In Donald Miller’s book Hero on a Mission, he talks about the importance of keeping the perspective of being an agent in your own life - being responsible for choosing the way you look at your story and taking action in your story. - Let’s start with that. In episode 221 Jessica Burrell and I discuss the book and this idea of taking responsibility for doing the work in our lives. Keeping the perspective of our own power. Tune into the audio program to hear this clip. Or, you can find the whole episode here: https://loveyourstorypodcast.com/captivate-podcast/hero/ Check in with yourself. Do you need to make the perspective shift into being the agent of action in your life? Are you taking responsibility for your own life? If not, this is a powerful shift in perspective. If you’re already doing this, then excellent, let’s move onto the next perspective idea. In episode 132 Rebecca Cookston and I discuss the book Deviate - the science of seeing things differently in order to get different results. This step is all about thinking outside the box in order to make life work for you. Rebecca is on the show because she implemented this deviate mindset in big form. Tune into the audio program to hear the clip, or find her whole episode here: https://player.captivate.fm/episode/3403d294-4172-4a85-bf5d-9e216106f778 This book, this discussion with Rebecca, this idea that we can stop doing things the way they have always been done, that we can shift our mindset and look for new solutions was one of the most powerful ideas I’ve processed. In episode 160 Jo Marie Taylor was talking with me about her story of being a hostage in Iraq and how that experience shifter her perspective on the worthiness of all people. We’ve talked about shifting our perspective to take advantage of our power over our own life. Then we talked about thinking outside the box to find new perspectives to the same old things in order to see things differently and make them better. Now we’re talking about shifting perspective about the people that we come in contract with on our journey and how that changes life completely. Tune into the audio program to hear this clip or find the entire episode here:

Episode 245: Forbes declares, "One of the Best Storytellers of the Year." Interview Max Stossel Dear Listener…welcome back to the Love Your Story podcast. Today I have a special treat for you….really. It’s performance time… to welcome in the warmer weather and all good things we are getting a little Max Stossel. Max Stossel is an award-winning poet, artist and filmmaker named by Forbes as one of the best storytellers of the year. Spanning across five continents, from Lincoln Center in NY to the Hordern (HORDEN)Pavilion in Sydney, Max’s performances have been described as "a rare opportunity to experience so many different emotions in the blink of an eye — the best bang for your buck of knowledge dropping, therapy, standup comedy, and wisdom-sharing. It’s an hour of purity." Tune into the audio program because Max is with me today and he is going to perform two of his poems from his poetry special: Words that Move, and it’s REALLY good stuff. Max Stossel’s work has been translated into fourteen languages, won multiple film festivals, and has been viewed over 20 million times online. He's been featured on BBC, CNN, TEDX, and a handful more. His new release "Words That Move" is a first-of-its-kind Stand-Up Poetry Special told on stage at the Brooklyn Kings Theater. This is nine original poems where Max guides us to see the world through different eyes, while articulating the deep-seated kernels of truth that we so often struggle to find the words for ourselves. Taking on topics like heartbreak, consciousness, social media, politics, the emotional state of our world, and even how dogs probably (most certainly) talk, Max uses rhyme and rhythm to make these topics digestible and playful. Love me some poetry… In the audio program Max performs 2 of his poems for us and we talk about creativity and how we all have it. You don't want to miss this. Find Max and watch Words that Move: wordsthatmove.com/special; https://www.instagram.com/maxstossel Thank you so much for being on the show today and sharing your work. So happy to share space with your lovely poetic soul. You have an important way of seeing the world; poets always do. I am a lover of poetry, a writer of poetry. If you recall, back in September of 2017 we had the poet laureate of Logan, Utah on the show, which was fun. I’ve had a handfull of poems published in the past, but one thing I know about poets, is that in general its a thankless art. It’s a quiet art published in small chapbooks and read at open mics in coffee shops and University campuses. I’m really impressed with how Max has used technology and performance to share his poetry, his unique insights into the world with the rest of us. The lesson I’m taking away today is one about thinking outside the box. Just because something has always been done a certain way, doesn’t mean you can’t breach new boundaries, break down walls, find and use new ways of sharing. Your challenge this week is to take one thing you’re doing in your life, especially if you feel stuck with it, and do a little brainstorm session that is strictly outside the box thinking, and see what you come up with. We always create our own boundaries. We also have to be the ones to break them down. Have a great couple weeks and we’ll see you on the next episode of the Love Your Story podcast.

Episode 244: Tips on Connecting with your Man - Interview: Laura Doyle Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast - we are really knocking it out of the park in 2023. This is our 6th year doing the show and I’m so pleased to have collected so many wonderful stories and life tools for all of us to reference and use. SO MANY. Thanks for being here and continuing to enjoy the show. Today’s guest is going to blow your mind. Laura Doyle is a New York Times Bestselling Author, she is the star of Empowered Wives on Amazon Prime, and hosts The Empowered Wives Podcast. On her home page it says, “I show women the proven way to fix their relationships without their man’s conscious effort–even if it seems completely hopeless.” That sounds like magic. Stay tuned for 3 secrets to make your marriage happier and all the relationship magic Ms. Laura can dish out in 30 minutes. Insert LYS Quip Are you ready for some incredible power tips? New York Times Best Selling author, Laura Doyle was the perfect wife…until she actually got married. When she told her husband how to be tidier, more romantic and more ambitious he avoided her. So she dragged him to marriage counseling and nearly divorced him. In desperation she asked happily married women for their secrets, and that’s when she got her miracle…the man who had wooed her returned. Laura wrote a book, to share what she had discovered, and it has been translated into 19 languages in 30 countries, and accidentally started a worldwide movement. She is the founder of the International relationship coach training school -called Laura Doyle Connect,she is the star of Empowered Wives on amazon Prime, the creator of The Ridiculously Happy Wife program and the host of The Empowered Wife podcast. She has been on The Today Show, Good Morning America and The View. She has worked with over 15,000 women and helped them fix even the most hopeless relationships. Join us on the audio program to hear answers to questions like: 1. Let’s start with your story. It sounds like it might start at a place where all women in marriages have been - a space of trying to help your husband be his best self - at least that’s how we see it…. go ahead… 2. What are the most common mistakes women make when they’re trying to get their husband’s attention or affection? 3. How can you get your husband to help more with the house or the kids - the to do list? 4. You have 3 secrets to make your marriage happier - what are those? 5. Sometimes it’s hard to get our men to connect in deep converstation - you’ve got 4 suggestions for us, what are those? 6. You mentioned that there is a way to skyrocket the passion in a relationship, even if you’re in a sexless marriage - what does that mean? Enlighten me… How to find Laura Doyle: Email:lauramdoyle@gmail.com Skype: laura.doyle44 Telephone: 7147263340 Website: lauradoyle.org LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauramdoyle/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauradoyle.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/lauramdoyle Brene Brown defines connection as, “The energy that is created between people when they feel seen, heard and valued. When they can give and receive without judgement.” Personal relationships, especially with our significant other, are key to our health and happiness. It is key to a fulfilling life, and things that are important often take a lot of work. Today we’ve had some great tips from Laura. If there are some weak spots...

Episode: 243 - What Hate Can Do: Interview Peter Mutabazi Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. Today is part 2 of a two-part story - the story of Peter Mutabazi. Peter joins me today, to share the incredible story of his life in Uganda, we are picking up where we left off in part 1. For his full story - please listen to part 1, because today we are going to look at the rest of the story and the other side of the coin. Part 1 is titled: What Kindness Can do. Part 2 is titled: What Hatred Can Do. The reason I am going to take an episode to talk in detail about hate, is because as I was reading Peter’s book “Now I Am Known,” one of the greatest turning points in his life came as he became a witness to the genocide in Rwanda. What he witnessed, what these events taught him, and how they affected the progress of his life. Tune in for my talk with the author of “Now I am Known.” “When I first saw the bodies floating down the Kagera River out of Rwanda and into Lake Victoria on the local television station, I knew something horrible was happening in our neighboring country. Every day I watched news reports showing hundreds upon hundreds of mutilated corpes floating down the river. Men. Women, Children. Some had been decapitated. Others wer cut open with other body parts missing. The bodies of children…I cannot speak of what was done to the bodies of the children. Over the course of three months, tens of thousands of bodies piled up in Lake Victoria and washed up on its shore. When the winds came out of the south and east you could not escape the smell of death…” This is how the chapter “What hate can do” starts. Peter - Welcome back to the show. We loved hearing the first part of your incredible story a couple weeks ago… Tune in as we hear the story of bodies floating down the river, the massacre in Rwanda, the ah-ha of how hate was affecting him and where that took him. “I have seen firsthand the destructive power of hate, but I have also seen the healing power of generosity, acceptance, and love. We all have the opportunity to help others, inspire others, and love others from a sincere heart.” I think the world is incredibly messy. We are hurt, we hurt others, we love people who have been hurt or are hurting. We want to forgive, we want to know how to help others deal with difficult things like trauma or neglect or hopelessness. It’s all so much. One of the things Peter said in his book was “Hurting people need to be heard. They need to know they are not alone.” And then I was listening to a Ted Talk about addiction and the way we try to punish and ostracize addicts, when research actually shows that people and lab animals don’t turn to drugs or destructive behaviors when they feel connected. The suggestion for healing was not to ostracize the difficult ones, but to let them know you care, even though that may be the most difficult move. At any rate, I believe the more we listen to these real life stories, the more we seek the higher road, the more we understand where hate takes the human heart and the opposite, where caring, forgiveness, empathy and kindness takes the human heart, we can take steps in the direction of light. There is no quick solution to the struggle to forgive, or to heal from trauma, but there is the choice everyday to choose kindness and love when we can, and to work on the moments where we can’t. Let’s end with a couple quotes: Will Smith said, “Throughout life people will make you mad, disrespect you and treat you bad. Let God deal with the things they do, cause hate in your heart will consume you too.” Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” May you move toward love, empathy and kindness today, with intention. See you in 2 weeks for the next episode of the LYS...

Episode 242: What Kindness Can Do - Interview Peter Mutabazi - Part 1 Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast Today’s story, “What Kindness Can Do,” starts out with the story of Peter Mutabazi. Here's a clip from his book: “The vine came down on me so fast I did not have time to duck. It ripped across my right arm and burned like fire. “You worthless piece of….” my father yelled as he swung the vine around like a bullwhip. I spun around to protect my face. “Don’t you turn away from me,” He grabbed my shoulder with his left hand, turned me around, and brought the vine down across my neck and chest. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my aunts, uncles, and cousins running out of their houses. They had come, not to stop my father, but to watch. Nyabikoni was a very small village. This passed for entertainment.” Peter Mutabazi joins me today, to share his story of his life in Uganda, his brave escape from an abusive father at 10 years old, his subsequent life as a child living on the streets struggling daily to stay alive, and the fortuitous meeting of a man who would change Peter’s life, and in so doing change the lives his siblings, their children, and all the children Peter now helps as a foster parent. Tune in for my talk with the author of “Now I am Known.” Peter believes that every child and every person deserves to be known. He has dedicated his life to advocating for children and youth. Peter grew up feeling unheard and unseen. He knows what it feels like to believe you do not matter at all in the world. He also knows what it feels like to slowly come out of that, one small step at a time. Join us on the audio program to hear his story... “When I was ten years old, I’d given up on life.” AND “When James saw the good in me, I wasn’t very good at doing that myself. Not just with myself but with everyone. I expected the worst in people, and I usually managed to find it. Even today I must intentionally choose to look beyond behaviors and external circumstances and see the humanity within.” AND “When a foster child moves from an abusive situation to a peaceful household, they feel like they’ve landed on an alien planet. When you find yourself in that place, all you want to do is go back to a familiar place, even if that home is hell. Hurting people do not deserve judgement. They need understanding They need patience. They need love. They need grace.” Tune in to hear about his story, his book, his work and see if it doesn't leave you with a little shock and awe. Peter’s story speaks for itself - What can kindness do? It can change an entire life and in so doing change many, many more lives. To Contact Peter or buy your own copy of Now I Am Known: Peter@NowIAmKnown.com FB:FosterDadFlipper LinkedIn: in/PeterMutabazi https://nowiamknown.com/products/now-i-am-known-book As we close today’s show let’s think about where we can give a little more kindness. How can we give grace, patience, forgiveness, support. That’s going to look a little different for everyone, but take a moment and identify what that means for you. Thanks for being here. Thank you to those who have left a review for the show. I’d like to share this one from: Sam Sam Woo Woo Review Title: This podcast rocks “I love this podcast, it forever changed my life. One of the hottest upcoming podcasts and everyone should listen.” Amen brother. If you haven’t left a review, it’s super easy and I’d love to hear from you - I may even read your review on the show. Have a great day and live it with intension.

Episode 241: Standing Up for What YOU Believe in - Interview Samantha Hawkins Welcome to the LYS podcast. On this show we share stories - stories of big adventures, stories of big struggles, stories that allow us to share our experiences and learn from each other. Today’s guest is a story teller, so get your cup of tea or cocoa, find a warm comfy blanket, and settle in for some stories that teach us a few lessons. Samantha Hawkins, author of the children’s book “My Mommy Marches,” has been a 911 dispatcher for almost 8 years. She’s a training officer and instructor with Cobb County 911 in Marietta GA. She’s also a public speaker and a story teller. Samantha was working disbatch during the riots that happened during the Black Lives Matter movement. She, being a black woman and a dispatcher and public servant, gets a unique view from both sides and I’ve invited her to be a guest on the show today to share some of her own stories. Tune into the audio program to hear what brought Samantha to write the book, My Mommy Marches, and the right we all have to stand up for what we believe in. I think part of living our lives intentionally is standing up for what we believe in - whatever that is - I think that’s really what your book is about. Everyone has a different set of beliefs, but we live in America where we all have the freedom of speech - at least in theory - and we get to support that for everyone while marching for what we believe in. And maybe marching means not being afraid to share your beliefs in social media. Maybe it means standing up for people who have a difficult time standing up for themselves. What does it mean to you? In the audio program she shares 2 stories with us about how she learned to preserver. Join us for her stories. To contact Samantha: Instagram handle: @forevertellingtales LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/in/samantha-hawkins-2a045b3b Pre-order My Mommy Marches: https://www.amazon.com/My-Mommy-Marches-Samantha-Hawkins/dp/1915244129/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3OV5LJ2JS5NAC&keywords=my+mommy+marches&qid=1671720404&sprefix=my+mommy+marches%2Caps%2C72&sr=8-1 Samantha - thank you for sharing your storytelling and your life lessons. And thank YOU, dear listener, for being with us today. If you have some stories you’d like to share, I’ve been thinking of doing an episode or two that are a bit like The Moth - if you’ve ever listened to that it’s where people come and share their own 5-10 minute stories about an event in their life. On the Love Your Story podcast website - loveyourstorypodcast.com, there is a page titled “guesting.” Go to that link and fill out that form with the subject line of Share My Story and let’s see where this leads us.

Episode 240: A Brave Little Warrior - The Story of a 4-Year-Old's Amputation Journey Description: Rosalie Mastaler was pushed into the world of disabilities when her son was bitten by his father's K9 police dog. Tune in for the story of courage and how the family creates good and recognizes miracles from this loss. Shownotes: Rosalie Mastaler learned about Disability Advocacy when her husband's police dog bit her son, Hunter, on February 8, 2015. Despite the trauma, Rosalie and Hunter chose to accept his disability and continue on with life. Rosalie learned that she couldn't change her son's choice to accept his disability, but she could give him tools and opportunities to help him. Hunter eventually accepted his disability and learned that happiness is a choice and that resilience is a journey. Rosalie was inspired by Hunter's ability to keep getting up and pushing forward, no matter how difficult or challenging the journey was. Listen in to our discussion about: 1. How did a police dog bite Hunter and what were the rules around those dogs? 2. How did Rosalie and her husband cope with the guilt and the trauma of the situation? 3. How did Hunter's journey of resilience help shape Rosalie's perspective on life? Visit Rosalie Mastaler’s Socials: Mastaler Family on Instagram Rosalie's Website Rosalie on Facebook TRANSCRIPT 00:00:19 Lori: Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. On this show, we share stories. We share stories of big adventures, stories of big struggles, stories that allow us to share our experiences and to learn from each other. And today's guest, Rosalie Mastaler, was pushed into the world of disabilities when her oldest son was attacked by a police canine and he lost the lower part of his left leg. She and her family now focus on being advocates for those with disabilities and helping people to keep hope was a big thing. 00:00:55 Lori: When Hunter, this is her son, became an amputee at just four years old, his parents had to negotiate a host of feelings, including guilt and grief and worry for how their son was going to adapt. The loss of his lower leg altered their lives and how they cared for him, of course. But Rosalie and Michael, his dad, soon realized that the most powerful tool that they could offer Hunter was resilience. I'm really interested about this resilience topic because it's so big for all of us. So stay tuned for their story and a peek at the Mastaler Party of Five. 00:00:43 Lori: Stories are our lives and language. Welcome to the Love Your Story podcast. I'm Lori Lee, and I'm excited for our future together of telling stories, evaluating our own stories, and lifting ourselves and others to greater places because of our control over our stories. This podcast is about empowerment and giving you the listener ideas to work with in making your stories work for you. Story power serves you best when you know how to use it. 00:02:25 Lori: Mastaler Party of Five is the social media presence of the Mastaler family and their story. In 2015, Michael, that's the dad in this story, his police dog attacked Hunter, their four year old son. And the...