The Path of Creating This WorkBook Series...

Hello!

I am on my much needed break from school and work this week, while preparing for my first Pocket of Pearls workshops in the Quad cities area in my home state of Iowa. As I was preparing for my interactive workshop using my workbook, I decided to read it once again. I read the introduction out loud in my home to get the feel of sharing it with a live audience. I have to say, these memories of my younger life still bring tears to my eyes; good and bad memories.

During my first year of sobriety in 1986 and being a young lady of 22, it was scary. For me, what was scarier was what I learned about myself in that first year and the relationship I had with Merna. It was very harsh and undefined. Our 20's are all about finding out who we are and I didn't have a clue. It really was the beginning of many things in my life. Back then, I lived on Sanibel Island, Florida and had returned to this state after rehab in Minnesota. I believed Florida was the place for me and my future.

After 1 1/2 years of living on Sanibel Island I missed home and my family, so I moved back to Iowa. By trade, I had been a hairdresser since I graduated from cosmetology school when I was 19. However, this last year and a half on Sanibel I worked in a health club and discovered a whole new world of fitness. It was a new door that opened for me and I studied everything I could get my hands on. We had a huge stack of fitness magazines in our lounge and I borrowed them nightly to absorb it all like a sponge.

Even tho I seemed to have left living in "tropical paradise" to go back to Iowa, it was definitely 'going home' to me. Many individual's move to Florida to discover this wonderful world of living in a tropical place. However, once you get there you realize how many jobs you need to work to survive and pay the rent. There were many times i had 3 jobs at once to just make ends meet. There was very little time to enjoy 'paradise'.

However, I have no regrets about the second time I lived in Florida. I originally moved there when I was 19 and spent two years on Sanibel as a hairdresser then also. I had a short year at home in Iowa in between, which is when I ended up in rehab. In total, I lived on Sanibel and the Ft. Myers area almost 4 years. I do had aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents near by, but working so hard didn't leave much family time for me.

When I moved back to Iowa for the last time I took away some very valuable lessons in life, a new trade {aerobics}, a couple life long friends, and my journaling of a softer voice.

It does not matter where you are and what you are doing, there is a silver lining to each experience we have - we just can't see it when we are sitting in the middle of it. That is normal and to be expected. We need to heal, find our way out, grow, and look back to see how far we have come, while treasuring it. This is the process!

Each workbook I have has a part of me and some of my very tough journey's in life.Once I reached my 30's my journey became harder. You will learn about this in each workbook...

Everyone has had very tough moments in their life and it is not a competition of who has it worse. We all have to find a way through our own life, while healing the tough spots. We each have to survived OUR life, so find a healthy path. Pocket of Pearls is an amazing workbook to get you started with a healthy path for YOU!

If I hadn't started on my inner voice back then, I wouldn't have grown within myself. However, I had to go through the bad to realize how deflating and demeaning I was to myself. It is time to change this and help others. This is what I want to share with you. You are NOT alone here at all!

The emails I have received about this workbook are incredible and each woman related to it immediately! It touches a soft spot in many women who realize they need work in this area, but never knew where to start. Here is your first stepping-stone and a powerful one at that. Doing this workbook, month after month,it is a great gift to yourself to stay on a healthy path.

Take care and I will see you next week!

Merna