Embracing Adversity with Amy Torrez

"Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it." ~ Charles R. Swindoll. We spoke with Palermo Galindo, Program Director for Indiana Tech's LAMPRO Program, Chair for Indiana Coalition for Hispanic and Latino Affairs, an former City Liaison with the City of Fort Wayne, and he touched upon how he got through the many changes of moving from Mexico to the United States when he was younger through the passing of his mother and 15 year old son. He discussed how he was able to get through the many changes in life. Staying positive all the time is near impossible and contrary to what you may think, it is counterproductive. The key to acknowledge any emotion or attitude about a scenario, but the plan to move forward from it must be positive in order to gain mental strength. Music: “Old Sour” Written and performed by Dane Connor.

"Gratitude makes sense if our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." ~ Meloday Beattie. Join us as we speak to speak with former Paul's Place guest, Josephine Wilson. Josephine describes her battle with breast cancer and her subsequent treatment and her stay with Paul's Place. She says being grateful, even for the smallest things helped keep her pushing through her ordeal during a global pandemic as well as her recovery after she left Paul's Place.  Music by Edward Sheremet

Join me as I chat with Nate Moellering, Community Outreach Coordinator with Fort Wayne Recovery and Allendale Detox & Treatment Center. Hear his story of how he battled addiction through high school and his college career. Nate's story of perseverance of trying to stay sober through many, many attempts reminds us that we must understand that sometimes solutions do not present themselves immediately and we must be patient to see the solution and how to make it work.

Amy Torrez shares her personal adversity from flunking out of college and the returning to finish to miscarriages and divorce. Then of course somewhere between all that, taking care of her father in Houston and eventually founding Paul's Place: Support for Families, Inc. "Adversity is the source of our deepest growth and greatest blessings; embrace it, dare to seek it out." ~ Aron Ralston.

 "You didn't come this far to only come this far!" Whenever a roadblock or obstacle hits us, our first inclination is to stop working on the lan and give up. However, when we take a moment and give ourselves credit for what fears we have faced, and the positive that WILL come in our future, our mental strength will push us forward to completion. I chat with Christie Browning from Revision Motivational Co. as she describes her story of adversity and pushing through major obstacles adn how she turned her life around.

I am speaking with Jennifer Norris-Hale of Mission: Motherhood and her journey with post-partum depression. She discusses the importance of being aware of your self-talk, especially for mothers. We must fight being our own worst critic and instead being our loudest cheerleader.

This is a powerful story of perseverance through mental and physical rehabilitation of Petra Hogan after her ordeal during the Aurora theatre shootings. No matter what we have failed at thus far or what we have to relearn, we can take these challenges as learning opportunities to adjust our path and lay them as building blocks to our eventual success. 

“If a plan doesn’t work, change the plan, not the goal”. As we are all aware, life will throw us curveballs when we least expect it. But if we understand that will happen and that there are multiple ways to cross those obstacles we will have a better chance of overcoming those obstacles ad embrace adversity.

While our mission at Paul's Place is to provide temporary housing for adult patients and their caregivers, there are those that may not have a need for our services. After the year 2020, when many had health issues, struggled with new modes of education, financially struggled from shut down work, or strained relationships, how do we keep our mental health intact when it seems like things are spinning out of control? We want to share our own personal stories of adversity through these podcasts that will hopefully offer effective strategies and inspire others to develop their mental strength and learn how to embrace adversity.