Janice Landry - Silver Linings: Stories of Gratitude, Resiliency and Growth Through Adversity

Silver Linings

Stories of gratitude, resiliency, and growth
through adversity

Janice Landry

Pottersfield Press, Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia, Canada

Copyright 2019 Janice Landry

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used or stored in any form or by any means graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or by any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any requests for photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems shall be directed in writing to the publisher or to Access Copyright, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (www.AccessCopyright.ca). This also applies to classroom use.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: Silver linings: stories of gratitude, resiliency, and growth through adversity / Janice Landry.

Names: Landry, Janice, 1965- author.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190119438 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190119462 | ISBN 9781988286846 (softcover) | ISBN 9781988286853 (EPUB)

Subjects: LCSH: GratitudeAnecdotes. | LCSH: Resilience (Personality trait)Anecdotes.

Classification: LCC BF575.G68 L36 2019 | DDC 179/.9dc23

Cover design: Gail LeBlanc

Pottersfield Press gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada for our publishing activities. We also acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Province of Nova Scotia which has assisted us to develop and promote our creative industries for the benefit of all Nova Scotians.

Pottersfield Press

248 Leslie Road

East Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia, Canada, B2Z 1T4

Website: www.PottersfieldPress.com

To order, phone 1-800-NIMBUS9 (1-800-646-2879) www.nimbus.ns.ca

Printed in Canada

Pottersfield Press is committed to protecting our natural environment. As part of our efforts, this book is made of material from well-managed FSC-certified forests and other controlled sources.

For my mother Theresa Landry
and my friend Audrey J. Parker.
My love for them, like their brilliant light, will never fade.

The Bottom Line

This book is not a substitute for, nor presented as, professional medical advice/care or an accredited doctors guidance. The opinions, research, and anecdotes offered by a wide range of individuals, from two countries, are intended to be educational, uplifting, and motivational for readers.

They offer hope.

While there are clinicians and experts interviewed, including a global leader in the study of gratitude, those involved are speaking in broader terms and are presenting findings and/or opinions which may or may not be applicable to your own health history.

There are also a few stories which could be triggers for some readers. I am compelled to offer a warning because triggers are impossible to omit for everyone.

However, the focus of this work is on resiliency, growth, mindfulness, and, primarily, gratitude. It is, by far, the most uplifting piece I have ever created. It is from this approach, and with great respect to those involved, especially my late mother, Theresa Landry, that these stories are presented.

Without mud, there can be no lotus.

Thich Nhat Hanh

The lotus flower blooms most beautifully from the deepest and thickest mud.

Buddhist Proverb

To say I am flattered to be asked by Janice Landry to write a foreword for her new book would be an understatement, especially since we just recently met. But its where we met that makes this so extra special.

I am a professional speaker. By that, I mean its how I have made my full-time living since 1988. I am not a fan of the term motivational speaker, and when I hear [the word] inspirational, I feel like I should be in church. But whatever I am, I am also another label.

I am a Thalidomide baby.

You either know what that is, or you dont. If you dont, thats okay. Considering the pace that our world runs at, it would be ancient history. Thalidomide was a sedative produced by, in my opinion, a morally bankrupt pharmaceutical company in Germany called Chmie Grnenthal in the late 1950s. I make such a provocative observation because I was born without arms.

You see, this sedative became so much more. It was discovered, by surprise, that Thalidomide had magical properties that relieved the painful symptoms of morning sickness. Rather than ask an important question, What might happen to the growing baby inside the mother being treated for morning sickness with our product? Grnenthal proceeded to make a vast profit, until Thalidomide was banned for use by pregnant women in some countries in 1961. During that time frame, the drug caused birth defects in more than 20,000 babies and had spread to all four corners of the world, including Canada. Its also believed this medication killed over 250,000 babies who were labelled miscarriages.

Its impossible to put a positive spin on this saga. Except, there is one.

The clear disregard for the safety of unborn infants was the impetus for creating safety standards, and today, a rather explicit reminder that pregnant women should not take unproven medications ever.

One might argue that those standards would have shown up sooner or later, and theres no way to disprove that. The point is change happens in infinite ways, and once in a while, a tragedy stirs humanity to make things right, and, hopefully, improve for future generations.

I also firmly believe we have reached a tipping point in the field of post-traumatic stress disorder, and that has occurred for countless reasons, but talking about it is where it all begins. Private conversations, for sure, and dialogue within the workplace, absolutely, but when you witness a growing number of conferences where its on the agenda, or it is the agenda, thats a very encouraging sign. Its at one such conference in Toronto, for the former Tema Conter Memorial Trust, [now The Tema Foundation], that Janice and I first met.

We have heard a great deal lately about the stigma around mental health. Good. Its about time we pull back the curtain on all kinds of societys past taboos. I have witnessed the shift, and I like to think Ive played a role in it. Being born without arms was apparently [for some] a huge human tragedy, so tragic my own birth family rejected me at five days of age.

I became a victim a victim of Thalidomide and a victim of circumstance. Imagine. In one week, in 1960, I was armless and homeless. Sad story, huh? Sure. There are millions of sad stories.

Mine isnt one of those.

It could have been. But it didnt turn out that way.

One of my mantras is: Its not about me. I was raised in a home where I learned that. The reason I have a career was a choice, while my life wasnt. What I mean is: I obviously didnt ask to be born without arms, didnt ask my birth family to abandon me, and certainly didnt ask for Hilda and Jack Law. But like a great movie script, Hilda Law came to the hospital where I was born because she got a call from a social worker who was assigned my case, as I was now a ward of the government of Saskatchewan.