#personal-transformation

#personal-transformation

Western culture has taught us that suffering is a problem to be solved, discomfort a symptom to be medicated away, and trauma something to avoid at all costs. Yet, research by psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun suggests we may have this entirely backwards. Their work on post-traumatic growth reveals that some of life's most profound transformations-positive changes in self-perception and relationships, greater self-awareness and confidence,

I was immediately seduced by the silence and the immense landscape. There's something beautiful about it: You feel like a very small person, you're made vulnerable, and you realize you don't mean that much in the world. It was the start of winter and the temperature was 20 degrees below zero, but I couldn't really feel the cold because I was so excited to be part of this journey that I forgot about everything else.

Two days before I met him, I’d put down Lord Byron, my 15-year-old shepherd rescue, after nursing him for a year. I was a wreck.

This time, the once-aspiring college basketball player, who was serving as referee for the prison football league that day, immediately made it clear he had no interest in an altercation.

I was a four-time loser before I realized I was in the wrong game.

Leo Phillips-Waller, after suffering a traumatic brain injury from a crash, now volunteers on a dementia ward, using his experience to help others.

Johnson's obsession with health led him to extreme dietary practices, focusing almost exclusively on raw meat, particularly from various bovine organs, as a means to achieve personal strength and health.

People may forget what you said. They may forget what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel, especially when your short temper...

"The solution appeared in the most unexpected of places: Facebook. A friend recommended a local cook who came with stellar reviews from other families."

At the heart of this dialogue are three of the most influential words in the English language: I, am, and can—statements like 'I can change' redefine our self-perception.

For me, those moments were terrifying, as I watched my best friend struggle to get out of the quicksand. It was an incredibly scary experience.