Overcoming Adversity Archives - Therapist for Sensitive and Gifted

How to Ride Out Life’s Tough Times: Hang Loose in the Washing Machine!

Adversity is something everyone faces at some time in their life. Adversity often has a greater impact on CASIGYs™ (Creative, Acutely Aware, Super-Sensitive, Intense and/or Gifted You-s) than it does on neurotypical people. So, for the CASIGYs™ in your life, here’s How to Ride Out Life’s Tough Times: Hang Loose in the Washing Machine! Several years ago, I was helping one of my counseling clients learn how to cope with overwhelming emotions connected to the adversity he

Sharon Barnes June 27, 2018

My Scrap Angel: Life Lessons Learned While Quilting

Have you ever started a creative project that went so badly you trashed it? I have–more times than I’d like to admit. I had heard that mistakes can be our finest learning experiences, but I’d not relished that idea until I reclaimed one of my discarded pieces, and unexpectedly discovered how to reclaim my life, too. An hourglass quilt block I had made from scraps contained too many mistakes to use, so I pitched it.

Sharon Barnes May 30, 2018

5 Intuitive, Creative Steps to Heal from Life’s Hurts

An Intuitive, Creative Approach to Healing from Life’s Hurts Or, How to E-E-E-K-K Your Way Through Adversity to Destinations of Delight When tough times hit and our life’s path seems to disappear in the fog; when we are faced with illness, loss, financial reversals or other adversity, it can be easy to feel like we have lost our moorings. We may struggle to keep our feet under us, or to change the metaphor, to keep

Sharon Barnes January 12, 2018

Curing – Strengthening – Healing

Curing is the work of experts, but strengthening the life in one another is the work of human beings. …Sometimes the deepest healing comes from the natural fit between two wounded people’s lives. Rachel Naomi Remen

Sharon Barnes September 27, 2012

Are You Facing Adversity

Are you facing adversity? That’s an interesting question. It implies first, that you’re in the midst of a tough time in your life; and second, that you’re not ignoring it or running away from it, but that you have turned your face into the storm, so to speak. So let me ask it again, are you facing adversity? I have spent much of my working life helping people who have been in the midst of

Sharon Barnes September 21, 2012

Life Lessons Learned While Quilting

If it has to be done, make it fun. Look everywhere and see all there is to see, even if no one else sees it. See life through the eyes of an artist Look for life’s colors, shapes, textures, and shades of light and dark. Don’t shut down when you face problems; open up to ALL of life’s experiences. Learn the same thing as often as necessary until you know it by heart. Multi-task without

Sharon Barnes September 14, 2012

Creating Beauty from Life’s Scraps: The Foggy Days Quilt

Are you facing tough times? Do you know someone who is? If you have never thought of creativity as something that would help you cope with difficulty, you may be inspired by today’s article, “Creating Beauty from Life’s Scraps”. In it, Sharon shares the story of how creative expression helped her cope with the adversity of illness. You’ll learn how creative expression can diminish physical and emotional pain, release energy, and facilitate healing of mind, body

Sharon Barnes August 25, 2011