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From Woe to WOW book launch

2009-08-12T16:44:00Z

Patricia’s Book Launch:

You, your caring colleagues, fun friends and nice neighbors are invited to celebrate women’s resilience and the new, hot off the press, book that declares, “You are stronger than you think!”

From Woe to WOW: How Resilient Women Succeed at Work is ready for you, your women friends and the men who care about us.

Where: Patricia’s Home: 1411 25A St. SW, (Bow Trail & 26 St.) Calgary

When: Thursday, August 20, 2009 4:30 to 8 pm

4:30 pm: Greet

5:00 pm: A few words (probably sentences, maybe paragraphs but not pages) from the author and meet the Woe to WOW team.

What to expect:

§ Light refreshments

§ A gaggle of inspiring women and some men that adore them

§ Opportunity to meet some of the book’s featured women

§ Opportunity to learn about self publishing

§ Opportunity to meet an esteemed book designer, editor and proof reader

§ Opportunity to help us decide the final cover. Will it be the bands or the bug?

§ One (maybe two or three if you smile) FREE Woe to WOW Strategy Card for just “showing up”

§ No GST on any purchases

§ With every From Woe to WOW purchase one FREE copy of any of Patricia’s other books, many of them popular gift items--Love Her As She Is, She Said, Alberta Women Said, Frantic Free or The Lighter Approach

Questions: Call Patricia at 403-242-7796

Nice to know information:

The three year From with Woe to WOW project has ended with 207 pages, 26 stories of WOW-empowered women, 376 audience member contributions and over 40 resiliency strengthening strategies (also available on cue cards). Dr. Roberta Neault offers this summary:

From Woe to WOW is a wonderful, practical, inspirational tool for women and all those who support them! Right from the Introduction through the comprehensive list of resources at the end, Woe to WOW kept me fully engaged – I read it from cover to cover on a cross-country flight. With stories of real women sprinkled throughout, supported by a seamless integration of factual research and insights from the author’s own rich life experiences, this book provides tips and strategies for turning life’s biggest challenges into opportunities to shine. Patricia doesn’t sugar-coat the stories – in some she definitely shares the ugly side of life but without wallowing in misery. Readers will be inspired by the creative ways that women bounced back from traumatic experiences and will learn how significant others such as employers, friends, and family members can become more supportive during challenging times.

From Woe to WOW is organized into four parts. Part One is a backgrounder on the topic of resilience. Part Two focuses on evaluating resilience using a simple assessment tool that provides readers with immediate feedback; case examples also help readers to reflect on their external supports. Part Three provides comprehensive lists of internal and external woes and then provides rich “wow-empowered stories” to illustrate how real women turned tragic situations around; each story is summarized with bullet-pointed life lessons – “Herstory Take-Aways.” Particularly appealing were “The Rest of Herstory” sections – it was comforting to know that life had continued to be positive and that the “woe to wow” experiences were more than transitory events. Part Four provides a “Reservoir of WOW Strategies” followed by five topical sections each with seven strategies for “WOW Empowerment.”

I’ll be recommending this book to my colleagues, counseling students, and clients, as well as my daughters and sisters-in-law. Patricia has done an amazing job of sharing stories of challenge to inspire women to be the best they can be. Women of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds will find stories that resonate – this is a must-have resource.

Dr. Roberta Neault, award-winning specialist in career/life management, counselor-educator, keynote speaker, and author of Career Strategies for a Lifetime of Success and That Elusive Work-Life Balance.

Wedding Blessing

2009-07-27T21:04:00Z

Just got back from our daughter, Katie's marriage to Mark, in

Mexico

. One of my gifts was a piece of prose I named, Wedding Blessing. The intention was to add some resilience to their relationship. Feel free to pass it on to others as long as you leave my contact information intact. Here it is:

WEDDING BLESSING

May you cherish each other's beauty and gift
While accepting each other's shadow and weakness.

May you have enough disagreements to grow

While seeking to understand the other.

May you have sufficient space between you
While creating sacred couple time.

May you not need one another

While eagerly and repeatedly choosing one another.

May you know the difference between grasping for "it all" and appreciating "it all"
While knowing not "all" might be possible in one life-time.

May you celebrate all that you have, do and are
While knowing any of it can change for worse or better.

May your home be your haven for your realness
While welcoming to honored guests.

May your truth be spoken, no matter how difficult
While being held in your lover's arms.

May you each follow your own dreams and passions

While having places where "we" and "our" are shared expressions.

May you see your spirit mirrored
In the words and actions of your chosen other.

May your worries be few and your blessings many.

May you remember that the love you receive is the love you send.

www.solutionsforresilience.com

Purpose

2009-07-17T06:20:00Z

Saw a client who has struggled for years looking for her life purpose. She shared that she regularly prays to find the answer. I empathize. For years I agonized about my royal purpose. Here is the note I later wrote to her:

Good on you. I used to stew about the BIG PURPOSE of my life. I was relieved when I started to use this perspective: Think of life as walking in a fog. You can only see a short distance ahead of you. Notice what gives meaning and purpose for the next step. Then take it. Please start journaling (perhaps daily) the answer to these questions:

What happened today that had meaning and purpose for me?
What did I do that supported it happening?
For what did I feel grateful?
What did I do that supported me having, dong or being this in my life?

"Go as far as you can see. When you get there, you can see farther."
Thomas Carlyle

Positive Psychology (Part Three)

2009-07-05T05:20:00Z

Barbara Fredrickson, author of Positivity, was one of the most dynamic speakers at the 2009 First World Congress on Positive Psychology. Here are highlights of her presentation:

Positivity: The Path to Flourishing

80% of Americans fall short of the ideal 3-to-1 positivity ratio. (Fredrickson and Losado (2005) American Psychologist 60, 678-686)

What this means is that for one negative experience we need three positive experiences and/or emotions to keep us steady and resilient.

Feeling upbeat and positive does need to fade or diminish now and then or we won’t know the difference hearing bad and good news or the difference between receiving an insult and a compliment.

To Create a Mindset of Positivity:

§ Be open: let go of expectations

§ Be appreciative: take the good in your life

§ Be curious: seek out something different

§ Be kind: focus on others. Make someone else’s day better

§ Be real: don’t fake positivity

Take a 2 minute Positivity Self-Test at http://www.positivityratio.com

Positive Psychology (Part Two)

2009-07-01T23:56:00Z

Ed Diener was one of the main presenters at the June, 2009, First World Congress on Positive Psychology in Philadelphia. Diener, co-author with Robert Biswas-Diener, of Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth, talked about Satisfaction with Life. Here are some of his points:

(Authentic) Happiness means subjective well-being and provides a stress protective factor.

Predictors of Well-Being are:

· Basic needs

· Income

· Convenience

· Life satisfaction

· Positive engagement

· Social support

· Learning & flow

· Public trust

Life circumstances make a difference

Situations and challenges do matter and make a difference to well-being. We must do what we can to create positive organizations and institutions.

Money makes a difference . . . depending

Money does make a difference to happiness. Just ask those who have moved from poverty to $40,000 or more annually. However those with a lot of money are typically only a little bit happier.

Want what you would like

Positive Psychologists say, “Happiness is liking what you have.” Learn to want/desire what you would like. Deiner gave the example of his daughter who wanted/desired a puppy and after she had it didn’t want it.

Positive feelings connect people to ideas and actions larger than themselves—love, affection, wonder and awe. Can we be too happy? The Dalai Lama said, “There is being stupid happy. If a grisly bear is chasing you, not smart to feel happy.”

Positive Psychology (Part One)

2009-06-29T02:50:00Z

From June 18 to 21, I and my therapist friends, Ria and Dianna, attended The First World Congress on Positive Psychology in Philadelphia. Was it exciting and inspiring? You betcha!

Along with 1500 delegates we experienced “the father” of Positive Psychology, Martin Seligman (Learned Optimism and Authentic Happiness) along with other pioneers such as Phillip Zimbardo (The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil), Barbara L. Fredrickson (Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive) and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience).

Here are some thought bites from the event:

Positive Psychology is interested in:

· Strengths (and weaknesses)

· Building the best in life and repairing the worst

· Concerned in improving people’s lives

Positive Interventions

· Optimism

· Positive emotions--name at least three blessings a day

· Engagement with others

· Signature Strengths see www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx

· Positive relationships

· Meaning and purpose—altruistic behaviors such as kindness towards others

(Seligman)

Heroism is the antidote to evil.

How to be a hero:

· Respect just authority and defy unjust authority

· Mindfully obey order

· Never dehumanize your enemy

· Maintain your integrity under stress. Stress is not an excuse.

· Question and challenge the ideology that supports illegal and immoral behavior

· Be a hero to your Mom

(Zimbardo)

Woe to WOW! Guilt

2009-06-11T21:14:00Z

Here is my response to an audience member who wrote, “I would like to learn more about letting go of guilt.

As Erma Bombeck wrote, “Guilt is the gift that keeps on giving.” Many of us confuse guilt with regret or resentment.

Here is an exercise for you to transform and let go of unnecessary guilt:

1. Complete this sentence as many times as you can:

I feel guilty about (or when)

Example: I feel guilty when I can’t leave work to be at special events for my children.

2. For each sentence you wrote, complete the two sentences belowa)
a) I resent (about other people’s behavior, words, lack of support or pressure) . . .
b) I regret (doing or not doing: saying or not saying) . . .

Example:
a) I resent that my workplace is not flexible or family friendly to my family’s needs.

b) I regret not better researching organizations that have flex time and other ways to support family demands.

3. Look at your a) list of resentments and tell yourself. “I do not have control over other people. I will now let go.”

4. Look at your b) list of regrets and complete the following sentence for each of your above "regret" statements:

In order to take better care of myself from now on I will . . .

To learn more about this exercise look at the article “Anatomy of Parent Guilt” under Resilience for Family on my website at http://www.solutionsforresilience.com/articles.html.

Woe to WOW! Letting Go

2009-05-19T00:44:00Z

Hi there,

Here it is Victoria Day and I decide as a blog virgin to enter this world with some thoughts to share and much to learn. My hope is that you will find encouragement to do your best and let go the rest.

To kick off our dialog I offer a response to a message sent to me by an anonymous audience member. Feel free to add your own ideas, wonderings and questions.

On your feedback form you wrote, "I would like to learn more about: doing my best--forgetting the rest." Good for you for naming what sounds like is hard for you.

First, forgetting is not the same as letting go. We can learn by remembering our mishaps while letting go or no longer carrying the burden of what happened. Here are some ideas to consider:
What might be the best way for you to let go of whatever is sticking to you and causing emotional pain or discomfort:

Naming your problem?
Talking to a trusted friend, minister or counselor?
Journaling?
Having a good, wail up cry?
Discovering where this negative concept or ideas came from and giving it back?
Writing a new story of yourself with elements of letting go and freedom?
Reading some free articles on the topic at

http://www.solutionsforresilience.com/articles.html

These articles might be a good place to start:

Welcome

2009-05-17T19:35:31Z

Welcome to my blog focusing on strengthening resilience.

Let me begin by sharing a bit of my background. I've been a long time therapist involved in the well being of women, families and employees. Before 1983 I was an Early Childhood Education (ECE) instructor and involved in many family focused, child care and ECE projects. Since 1984 I have facilitated people individually and in workshops to discover they were stronger than they thought. Then ten years ago I joined the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers and began keynoting conferences as well as providing break-out and PD workshops that are best described by the phrase Woe to WOW! My speaker bio reads as below:

Patricia Morgan is an author and expert in strengthening resilience in individuals and organizations. Presenting to thousands of people each year, she is an international speaker with a Master's Degree in Psychology.

When you get Patricia you get practical how-to's that decrease self-doubt, stress and miscommunication while increasing vitality, productivity and workplace satisfaction. Plus, she delivers her message in a fun, insightful and uplifting manner.

Patricia, The Bounce Back Expert, confidently affirms, "You're stronger than you think."