The Hero Within: Reinvent Your Life, One New Chapter at a Time

By Serena Low

This book is a gift from the battlefield of adversity. Through the voices of ten individuals and their stories of adversity comes one ringing message for anyone who is doing it tough: This is not the end of your story. You have the power to reinvent your life, and to write a new chapter that is meaningful and forward focused.

Rick W

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamstone Publishing
• Release date: Nov 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781925165760

Serena Low

Serena Low grew up in Singapore and migrated to Australia at the age of 36, after working as a government lawyer for 11 years. The Hero Within: Reinvent Your Life, One New Chapter at a Time is her first book. Serena is the creator of www.Career-Change-Confidence.com, through which she educates, equips and empowers dissatisfied professionals to forge a sustainable and purpose-driven path between what they are qualified to do, and what they really want to do. She can be contacted at www.SerenaLow.com.au.

Book preview

THE HERO WITHIN:

REINVENT YOUR LIFE, ONE NEW CHAPTER AT A TIME

Serena Low

Dreamstone Publishing © 2015

www.dreamstonepublishing.com

Copyright © 2015 Dreamstone Publishing and Serena Low

All rights reserved.

No parts of this work may be copied without the author’s permission.

ISBN-13:   978-1-925165-76-0

DISCLAIMER

The information, strategies, concepts, techniques and suggestions in this book are of a general nature only, and do not constitute, and are not intended as a substitute for, professional or individual advice in any way. You should consult with the appropriate qualified professionals (including psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, medical practitioners and other healthcare providers, financial advisers, and legal advisers) and seek your own independent professional advice relating to your particular circumstances and needs.

Although the author and the publisher have made every effort to ensure that the contents of this book were accurate at press time, the author and the publisher do not represent or warrant their accuracy. The author and the publisher are not responsible for any disruption, loss or damage (including indirect or consequential damages) suffered by any party as a result of or in relation to the use of this book. To the extent permitted by law, the author and the publisher exclude any liability (including liability for negligence or other default) to any party for any disruption, loss or damage (including indirect or consequential damages) arising from or in relation to the use of this book.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank God our Heavenly Father, the Author of life and Source of all wisdom, goodness and strength, without whom I would never have thought to begin this book, much less to complete it.

My husband Calvin and our daughters Bethany and Jordanne: You are my most favorite people in the world and the joy and light of my life. Without you, I would not feel as firm and grounded.

My editor Kim Lambert of Dreamstone Publishing, for turning my draft into something I can hold in my hands and be proud of.

John Eggen, founder of Mission Publishing, without whom I would not have known how to begin writing a book, and my book coach, Christy Tryhus, who kept me going on the way to getting published.

My mentor Pip McKay, for her gracious and warm foreword.

The true heroes of this book: Novita, Yvonne, Mark, John, Caroline, Dennis, Lee, Zophia, and Junie. Without your transparency and generosity, there would be no story and no book. Because of you, others will believe that they too can overcome their challenges and create for themselves a more compelling and inspiring future.

All my friends who have encouraged me, believed in me, and cheered me on throughout the long and arduous process of putting this book together and getting it out to the world. Without you, the journey would have been longer and lonelier.

Thank you.

Table of Contents

DISCLAIMER

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

FOREWORD

WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT THIS BOOK

AUTHOR’S NOTE

INTRODUCTION - MY QUEST FOR PURPOSE (OR WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK)

The Introvert Who Found Her Voice

The Perfectionist Who Settled for Good Enough

How to Change Careers After 35

So You Want to Migrate

CHAPTER 1 - REINVENT YOUR CAREER AND WORK FROM HOME

Story

Lessons and Strategies:

CHAPTER 2 - REINVENT YOUR CAREER AFTER RETRENCHMENT

Story

Lessons and Strategies:

CHAPTER 3 - REINVENT THE WAY YOU WORK AND LEAD AFTER STRESS AND BURNOUT

Story:

Lessons and Strategies:

CHAPTER 4 - REINVENTING YOUR IDENTITY, CAREER AND PURPOSE AFTER LOSING A LOVED ONE

Story (Part 1)

Reflection:

Story (Part 2)

Lessons and Strategies:

CHAPTER 5 - LIVING WITH DEPRESSION AND BIPOLAR DISORDER

Story

Lessons and Strategies:

CHAPTER 6 – LIVING WITH ANXIETY AND PANIC ATTACKS

Story (Part 1)

Story (Part 2)

Lessons and Strategies:

CHAPTER 7 - REDISCOVERING SELF-LOVE AFTER SEXUAL ABUSE

Story (Part 1)

Lesson

Story (Part 2)

Lesson

Story (Part 3)

Lesson

Story (Part 4)

Lesson

Lessons and Strategies:

My Intention for Sharing This Story:

My Work:

QUOTE:

CHAPTER 8 – LIFE AFTER CONQUERING ADDICTION

Story

Lessons and Strategies:

CHAPTER 9 - THE DYSLEXIC WHO BECAME A TEACHER

Story

Lessons and Strategies:

CHAPTER 10 - MY VISION FOR YOU

LIST OF HELPFUL RESOURCES

Empowerment, Motivation

Emotional Intelligence

Using Your Strengths

Introverts

Management, Lifestyle, Productivity

Meaning of Life, Happiness, Purpose

BONUS RESOURCE:

THE HOW TO REINVENT YOUR LIFE 101 CHECKLIST

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CONNECT WITH SERENA

OTHER BOOKS FROM DREAMSTONE PUBLISHING

FOREWORD

I first met Serena when she attended my training courses called Passion and Purpose Coaching™ and Matrix Therapies™. She was a quiet, softly spoken person, but I always felt that Serena had a hidden depth and an access to that all-elusive serenity that her name suggests.

As I found out more about her and read her book, it became clear to me that Serena has tremendous resilience. She has moved countries and immersed herself in a new culture that is very different from her own, and yet she has found a way to honor both in her writings.

She has overcome a very critical and restrictive upbringing to break free and follow her own passion and purpose. In the process she has redefined herself in her own terms and been able to express herself authentically.

We never know what other people have been through. Even those closest to us have had experiences that we can only begin to understand. I remember hearing once that ‘we compare our outsides to other people’s insides’, and this can mean that people feel isolated at times of pain, feeling that they cannot share their difficult experiences and negative feelings. Often at times like this, people feel that no-one else will really understand them.

In my experience, however, it is exactly at the point of greatest challenge that the deepest bonds of friendship and love are forged, if only people are willing to share their human experiences.

In the end we may have different thoughts and ideas but we all share the same emotions, no matter what culture or creed we come from. Communicating emotions allow us to connect and it also gives permission for others to share their vulnerabilities too. In this way we can be accepted for who we really are, not just because of our achievements. This takes the pressure off and allows us to relax and feel like we belong to a community.

This is why I applaud this book, because Serena allows us insight into her own and other people’s challenges and how they have overcome them. This gives those who read it a sense of hope that they can do the same.

In the end it is not what happens to us that defines us, but rather what we do with those experiences. Having had abuse in my own background, it was interesting to read how others found their own journey to healing and how often they emerge stronger and more compassionate for the experience. This does not justify the perpetrator’s behavior, but it does mean that we can overcome our past to become even stronger and to shine even brighter. We are then defined by who we become and how we assist others in their journey.

I look forward to continuing to connect with Serena and invite you to read, and share with others, this book and your own experiences, both the challenges and the triumphs.

As the Greek Philosopher Epictetus wrote almost 2500 years ago, It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. Not a lot has changed in this regard over the centuries, but now, with books like Serena’s, we can model other people’s strategies for building resilience.

Books like this ensure that we know we are never alone, so long as we are willing reach out and share our heart and soul and take the risk to be vulnerable. I believe it is worth the risk.

Vulnerability is a gift that opens the heart, comforts the body and strengthens the soul. I wish you and Serena all the very best

With warmth

Pip McKay

CEO of Evolve Now Mind Institute and the creator of Matrix Therapies® and Archetypal Coaching®

www.pipmckay.com.au

WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT THIS BOOK

This book opens up honest conversations around the hardships that many women experience in life with valuable insights and learning. It also highlights the powerful truths every woman needs to remember, whether or not you are currently in a relationship: You are worthy, you are loved, regardless of what has happened in the past."

Jane Nguyen, Author, Speaker and Transformational Relationship Expert from Honeymoon Forever

Whether you were forced into your career transition or you made your own decision to take a leap, the stories of career change will convince you that you can follow yourpassions and successfully build a new career. When you search deep inside for your personal motivation, you’ll gain the clarity and confidence to make it happen.

Diane Howell Topkis, The Midlife Woman’s Career Coach, www.YourNextChapterNOW.com

The message is: You don’t have to live this life on your own. Together, I truly believe we can overcome.

Ian Young, Director, www.SoberServices.co.uk

AUTHOR’S NOTE

When I started on this book in 2013, my intention was simply to share my life story. There is so much I have learned, and that I am still learning, in my fortysomething years on this earth, that I felt might be useful to others, all the stuff I wish I’d known when I was younger. As I started telling people that I was writing a book, they began to share their own personal stories of tragedy and triumph, or to tell me about so-and-so who had also gone through a difficult time in their lives, had finally emerged on the other side, and was now doing well.

The more such stories I heard, the more I began to wonder: what if I made the book a gathering of these stories instead? And what if in tapping into