Speaker, Success Strategist, Trainer Lisa Standeven
The Art of Optimizing Adversity
The workplace accident that claimed my right hand changed my life forever. Initially mired in depression, I saw no hope. No career. No family. Obviously, my husband would leave. Who would want disfigured, pitiable me?
Life is full of adversity. On one level or another, it happens to us all. First, I learned not to blame. It’ s no one’ s fault.
Steadily recovering, I bravely fought to overcome others’ judgement and my own self-doubt. Imagining it all as a karmic“ paying-it-forward”, I assumed my future would be trouble-free if I could just effectively rehabilitate and regain confidence. I discovered adversity only ends when you do.
Challenge is an inevitable part of our reality. So, how then to live a life of love, abundance and enduring success?
Growing up, I avidly watched“ The Bionic Woman”. The television character, Jamie Sommers, was a CIA agent who’ d become almost superhuman thanks to advanced bionic technology. Predictably, Jamie would find herself in peril, stuck in quicksand or mud. Despite her phenomenal super-skills, she couldn’ t escape without outside aid, rope, vine or friend, but her calm self-possession and determination would always prevail until help arrived.
Truth is, it’ s not about what happens to you. It’ s how you react to adversity that matters. Overcoming hardship fuels your progress towards your goals.
Resilience is the“ rope” that pulls you from life’ s quicksand. It takes courage, not weakness, to reach for outside help. Sadly, many lack the ability to recognize or accept available assistance. Instead, they panic, blaming external circumstances, believing they’ ll remain“ stuck” forever with no escape. A strong, flexible“ resilience rope” can not only save you, but it essentially acts as a“ sling-shot”, propelling you over life’ s quagmires and beyond.
“ Optimizing” adversity means more than“ overcoming” it. Through refusing to succumb to unconstructive, debilitating emotions in the face of misfortune, you render adversity so insignificant that your resilience actually becomes a positive, triumphant force catapulting you forward to overwhelming success.
I’ ve been an amputee now over half my life. Yet, my incredibly supportive husband and I raised three amazing children, and grew a small proprietorship into a thriving corporation. I have a Master’ s in Education, my 4th Degree Black Belt and four World Para Taekwondo Championships. I have skydived, rappelled and climbed mountains, literally and figuratively. I have no time for self-pity.
Having recently embarked on an inspiring career as a speaker and resilience mindset mentor, I now teach others the skills and strategies that have repeatedly guided me through crisis to triumph, sharing with all the exultant“ Art of Optimizing Adversity”.
Speaker, Success Strategist, Trainer LISA STANDEVEN, M. ED.
Creator of“ Brave is the New Beautiful Initiative for Girls”“ Pinnacle Series Mountain Retreats” &“ Skill Sync Workforce Development for Persons with Disabilities” www. lisastandeven. com lisa @ lisastandeven. com Phone 780.907.6332
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Christina Louise Photography