Transforming the Ultimate
Loss into Positive Action & Hope
Late in her life, my mother was misdiagnosed with depression. Only after her suicide did we find out that the
more accurate diagnosis was bipolar disorder. So the medication she'd been taking for years was wrong, even counterproductive
to what actually ailed her.
Starting decades earlier, there was a pattern
of very disturbing behavior. Had my father, brother, and I insisted on some group therapy despite my mother's refusal,
perhaps our family would not have unraveled as it did. Had we known what we were really looking at for all those years—and
the complex risks inherent in bipolar disorder—the outcome might have been very different.
Piecing together the puzzle and how to best move forward after her passing has been a profound
journey. Apart from the obvious painful questions, there were many more that would quite literally redefine my life
and goals.
I asked myself...
* How can I transform
this loss and mourning into new insights and actions?
* How can I use this experience to help others and
enrich my current relationships?
* Will I make something good and fruitful come from tragedy?
*
How will I dedicate myself to engendering positivity over negativity, knowledge over fear, creation over destruction?
My mother committed suicide in 2005 at the age of 78. In 2007, I published a non-fiction
book entitled
Inspirations for Thriving in Our Troubled World. This became the initial foundation
for
www.QualityOfLifeNews.com launched in late 2009. The goal of the book and the website is to share a passion for quality of life with regard to
ongoing research in the fields of sociology, psychology, environmentalism, philosophy, interpersonal relations, health, and
spirituality. It is my sincerest hope that Quality of Life News informs visitors how to begin or continue influencing
significant change—a form of social activism on a personal and familial level—one positive thought and action
at a time. My overarching mission is to pull together the threads of enlightened, visionary, and empathetic thinking
into a centralized resource for positive action.
The ultimate goal is fully integrated quality of life.
Vital to the above growth process is the ability to:
* Confidently connect the dots of cause and effect through
8 key areas in our daily lives
* Truly understand how deeply interconnected everything is
* Master
the capacity to make whatever strategic shifts we want, small or large, to maximize quality of life for ourselves and the
people we care about
* Be empowered with new wisdom that leads to informed and transformative action
If one is able to embrace and sustain paradigm shifts, that growth may even save a relationship,
a dream, or a life. In my heart, I believe these goals are an inspiration worth pursuing.