Pills for the Happy Soul: Prescription Inspiration Life Lessons for Success

By Sharon Earle-Edwards

PILLS for the Happy Soul (Prescription Inspiration Life Lessons for Success) is an inspirational coaching book delivered in simple easily-understood poetic form. It comprises real life stories, motivational messages - and even a little humor - expressing life's trials, hopes and triumph. It incorporates great quotes, Bible verses and thought-provoking questions for reflection. It encourages readers to practice good self-care, bounce back from adversity as well as to build and maintain healthy relationships with God and others. It promotes hope, authenticity, vulnerability, insight, support, purpose and determination as tools for lasting happiness and success. Through reflections on Faith, Family and Feelings, the author, a medical doctor, motivational teacher and coach, shares wisdom gained from her wide personal experience on matters like physical disability, divorce, forgiveness, singleness, marriage, parenting, friendship, stress management, grieving losses through dementia and death, as well as growing in faith and obedience.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Feb 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9789769599529

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Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part 1: Firstly

My Elevator Speech

Why Read?

PILLS for the Soul

I’m OTHER Abled 

Soulcare

New Year’s Greetings

Profile

Part 2: Family & Friends

Daddy You Taught Me

Mummy Dear

My Soulmate My Friend

To My Firstborn

Blessing Number Two

The Amazing Adventures of André – The Affable Able Attorney

The Song in My Heart

Darlings

Wellness Well Done

Gracias Amigos

What You Saying Usain?

Part 3: Faith

Tell God First

Lost in the House

Did You Dis Obey?

I am God’s

Greater is He That’s Within Me (Song)

A Christian is Human

Running on E

Faith Comes by Hearing (Song)

Bedside Baptist

Time to Go Back to Bethel

My Soulful Song

The Pastor’s Wife

Part 4: Feelings

Single Jingle

It Honours God

Bless Your Child

Everybody Has Their Pain

Employment Opportunity

Ease the Stress

Money Matters

Stress Management Prayer

The Eating Plan

Communication

To Miss is to Dis

On the Campaign Trail 

Why Did I Get Fired?

A Compact Approach to Disc

Happy? 

I Walk in the Light

Days Like This

So What?

Legalize It?

Keep Your Love On, Love No Matter What

Divorce

After the Breakup

To Truly Live We Must Forgive

Sensation is My Destination

Watching You Go

When You Lose a Loved One

Take Time for the Living

Friendship – Make It Happen

Remember PLATTS GOIMO

Epilogue

This book is dedicated to my darling husband and friend, Trevor, my beloved blessings Adé and François, my dear stepchildren Grace-Ann and Raymond, my late loving and purposeful parents Joseph and Pearl Earle and my favourite (and only) brother André.

Thanks for your unconditional love, wholehearted support, patience and sincere feedback.

Foreword

You have in your hands a special gift. This represents a rare opportunity to journey with my dear friend Sharon through life. A life dedicated to loving God, loving self and others in a healthy way. This book is meant to inspire, motivate, and even empathize. These are things that Sharon does naturally.

She continues to amaze me with her insights, wit and willingness to be vulnerable and transparent. This wonderful woman of God is a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, cousin, godmother, Sunday School Teacher, Radiologist, Counsellor, Motivational Speaker … and so much more.

As you read, I challenge you to go deeper, by completing the workbook (How about you?) which is included. Applying new insights will help to complete the learning process, in the same way that you must take the ‘PILLS’ to truly benefit from them. This exercise is just as useful in the individual as in the small group setting.

I recommend the PILLS for the Happy Soul for your reading and learning. Enjoy the journey!

Dr. Maureen Irons-Morgan

Consultant Psychiatrist and Public Health Specialist

Acknowledgements

My deepest thanks and appreciation to Almighty God for His Love, Inspiration and Guidance.

My family and friends for the support and encouragement along the way. Thanks to those who took the time to read the poems and questions and give valuable advice.

To my sister-friends Dr. Benita Yaw-Alfred and Dr. Maureen Irons-Morgan for believing in, and enthusiastically encouraging, me as well as to my other two Breakfast Bible Club Sisters Dr. Pauline Williams-Green and Dr. Sharon Priestley – I’m strengthened by your prayers and our fellowship.

To all those who have offered wise counsel and coaching over the years – Dr. E. Anthony Allen, Dr. Rose Johnson, Rev. Dr. Burchel Taylor, Dr. Barry Davidson

My Grade I Teacher Mrs. Aiken for repeatedly telling the story of how impressed she was with my very first essay on My Family – the fact that you remember that almost 50 years later is, in and of itself, a tremendous source of delight to me.

Paulette Ulett for excellent editorial guidance. Tina Wong, Adé and François Brown, Auntreé Creighton, Garcianne Morrison, Jacqueline Wilkie and Carl Nash for administrative assistance.

You, the reader for taking the time to read the poems and reflect on the questions. May you be truly blessed and inspired.

Introduction

How this book was written, and why.

I have always enjoyed poetry. The poems that have meant the most to me were those that inspired, encouraged or challenged me. An avid reader, my fascination with language and stories as a child matured into a more deep-seated hunger for books that helped me develop my spiritual, emotional and relational health. As a young Christian I devoured books which helped me gain deeper understanding of what I believed and why, how to share my faith even with those who didn’t believe in God at all and how to recognize cults. These supplemented the excellent teaching I received through sermons and Sunday School at my home church Bethel Baptist in Jamaica. My pastor Rev. Dr. B. K. Taylor and my mentor Deacon Dr. E. Anthony Allen are both brilliant, humble men who themselves are great readers and leaders. I have learnt a lot from their precept and example.

As a young wife and mother, after being exposed to Focus on the Family through our own Family Life Ministries here in Jamaica, I began to fill in the gaps in my knowledge about marriage and parenting – gaps which had been widened during my years at Medical School. I became a young adult Sunday School teacher and premarital counsellor. Teaching young adults stimulated me to know even more about my faith and about relationships.

Trying to achieve work-life balance finally took its toll on me twenty years ago when I completed my Radiology residency. The challenging season started when my neighbour, a nurse who shared carpooling responsibilities for taking our children to school with me became ill and died within five weeks, at the age of 29. In that period I also witnessed the demise of the marriage of my friends and felt the weight of the responsibility while serving as a Radiologist at our understaffed, overcrowded large public hospital and trauma centre. Things came to a head one day when I began to feel chest pains. Having been cleared of a medical cause for this pain, I went into counselling. At the same time, I was introduced to Bibliotherapy by my dear friend Dr. Maureen Irons-Morgan. The first book I read was Worry free Living by Minirth and Meier, followed by the Healthy Christian Life by the same authors. Eventually I read Simple Steps to Wellness by my mentor, Psychiatrist and Whole Person Consultant, Dr. E. Anthony Allen. Since then I have had a special interest in and read widely on stress management and work-life balance.

Three years after that crisis, I went through the greatest pain in my life when my marriage ended. This was a severe blow to me since I was, and continue to be strongly committed to the permanence of marriage.  While trying to pick up the pieces and help to rescue my children from the consequent ruin I feared would now certainly befall them, we went into counselling. I read a lot, received prayerful support from friends and family, joined a divorce recovery support group hosted by Family Life Ministries and became a member of Toastmasters International.

I was a single parent for seven years. Now I’m happily remarried. My husband and I experienced significant healing and grew close to each other while going through the divorce recovery support group which was started as a joint initiative of his and another member’s (who first hosted the meetings at her house). Dr. Barry Davidson, Marriage and Family therapist and CEO of Family Life Ministries gave guidance and facilitated the startup process.

My husband, Rev. Trevor