September 1, 2025 • 40 mins
Laura Bratton shares her powerful journey of navigating sudden blindness, overcoming despair through grit, gratitude, and support. Learn how courage and compassion can transform even the most overwhelming losses into a life of purpose and strength.
Inspire Vision Podcast is broadcast on K4HD Radio (www.k4hd.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).
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Inspire Vision Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
Inspire Vision Podcast is broadcast on K4HD Radio (www.k4hd.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).
Inspire Vision Podcast TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
Inspire Vision Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This program is designed to provide general information with regards
to the subject matters covered. This information is given with
the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station
are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial,
legal counseling, professional service, or any advice. You should seek
(00:22):
the services of competent professionals before applying or trying any
suggested ideas.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
At the end of the day, it's not about what
you have or even what you've accomplished. It's about what
you've done with those accomplishments. It's about who you've lifted up,
who you've made better. It's about what you've given back.
Thanzel Washington, Welcome to Inspire Vision. Our sole purpose is
to elevate the lives of others and to inspire you
(00:51):
to do the same.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Laura, welcome to the show.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Thank you, Thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
You know I'm really excited about is because as I've
watched your ten X talk, as I've kind of observed
what's going on here, it fascinates me how many of us,
if not all of us, at some point in time
in our lives, face difficulties, and for some it's a
little bit. For others it's major, and that was in
(01:21):
your case major. And yet the response that we have
to those difficulties is so varied, and it can either
affect our lives in a negative way or it can
affect our lives in a positive way. And I'd love
for you to share your story with the audience and
help them to understand what happened to you, and then
(01:42):
we will get into the whole rest of the process.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Yes, so it all started my first very vivid memory
that I still can see in my mind's eye and
just feel the emotion. I was a nine year old.
I was in between second grade and third grade. It
was during the summer, and I was sitting in the
(02:05):
ophthalmology office in the examining room. I'd read the big
e you know, all the letters that you're just read.
My eyes were dilated, and I just assumed this is
a normal yearly appointment. And what I can remember why
I remember that appointment so clearly, is I was I
was sitting in that chair. The doctor just rolled back
(02:27):
kind of away from me, and he just looked over
at my mom and he said, she has a major
problem going on in her retinas, and it's not something
that I'm qualified to address. I'm going to refer you
to a retina specialist, and we've got to figure out
what's going on. And I remember my mom's immediate reaction,
(02:49):
it was, Okay, you didn't really start a new school year.
I'm a teacher. She's already start third grade. We'll take
good of that. Sometime during the father Christmas break and
I just memory and pausing and then looking back at
her and saying, no, you don't understand. This is a
major problem. You're not going to lunch today. I want
(03:09):
you to leave here and go straight to his office
and he will be waiting for you. So that started
a whole summer of doctor's appointments, blood drawn lab work,
my bloods literally over the world, just trying to diagnose
and figure out why is this healthy nine year old
(03:30):
all of a sudden losing her vision. So that's the
first memory I have of being aware in my mind
something was going on. As a nine year old. Clearly,
I couldn't process cognitively the magnitude of what the doctor
was saying or how that would eventually affect me from
(03:52):
then on when it did become real, when I did
realize the severity and the difficulty of the incredible change
was at the end of middle school. So between being
nine and being fourteen, life was pretty normal. I had
small accommodations as far as using some large print, but
(04:15):
nothing major. So it's just again in my life. In
my world, it was what it was I could see,
and so it's just kind of okay, So only be
my my normal, my reality. So then by the end
of middle school, one day, I'm sitting in geography class
and it was just your typical day as it always been,
and the teacher said, all right, I'm going to put
(04:36):
notes up on the board. I want everyone to write
down the notes. And so I got out my notebook,
got out of my pen, looked up at the board,
and all I could see were these black blobs. It
sort of looked like black shadows, just like black marks.
There was no it wasn't any defined letters. So I
(04:59):
looked at down on my notebook, I looked back up
of the board, and still all I saw were those
black blobs, those black kind of markings. So I looked
at my neighbor the left and the right, and they're
both writing down all these words. So in my mind,
I thought, oh, well, maybe there's writing down the note
the words they know we're studying, because that's not print
(05:22):
up on the board. Then I leaned over to my
neighbor and I said, how are you copping down the
notes on the board. There's no print up there, there's
nothing to write down, And without missing a beach, she
leaned over to me and she said, Laura, the print
is completely normal. What do you mean they're not letters
up there. That's the that's our notes that were copping
(05:45):
down like it's always I've dropped up in just sat
back in my chair. And that's when that diagnosis as
a nine year old became real and I realized the
magnitude and difficulty that I was literally facing. In that moment,
I just lost a significant amount of sight and from
(06:08):
that point forward everything would have to be adapted, changed
accommodations as I currently knew. Life in those up to
those teenage years was completely changing. So that's the two
memories that were most impactful. As I started to lose
(06:29):
a significant amount of site.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Wow, wow, and you know that that fascinates me, And
what a traumatic experience. Even though you know you were
going on and thinking, okay, I'm you know, still in
middle school. Everything's fine, and suddenly there it is. So
you know, as a young person in middle school, what
what was your mindset and what was the initial experience
(06:53):
you were having emotionally and intellectually and so forth.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
So my initial mindset, or my initial mindset and emotion
was complete denial. Oh this is not that bad. Oh
this is not gonna last that long. I'll just wake
up tomorrow and have perfect twenty twenty site. It just won't.
It won't be permanent. And I was trying to convince
(07:20):
myself it wasn't going to last long. It was just
a quick event that would last a couple of weeks
and then I just move on with my life. So
my first response was denial. Once that denial wore off
and didn't last that long, the mindset was the mantra
was I can't, I can't. I can't. I tried it,
(07:44):
I prayed it, I said it. My belief was I
don't have the strength as a teenager to make this
huge adaptation and experience this traumatic change. I can't. So
that mindset of I can't led to extreme depression, extreme anxiety,
(08:06):
just constant panic attacks.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
And at what point in time I mean, how long
did that last? And what was there a moment or
was there just a gradual situation where you were able
to slowly move out of that and how long did
that take?
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Yes? And yes, So that did last for a while.
So as I started high school and went through high school,
I continue to lose a significant amount of the sight.
So over that four year period, I pretty much ended
high school with what I have now just light perception.
So as I continued to experience measure vision walls again,
(08:47):
it was that whole mindset of I can't. I don't
have the strength to get through this. This is just
too much, is just too hard. So it wasn't one
moment where I just woke up and said okay, I
can Okay, now I have to drink. There wasn't one
major event that changed that mindset. It was a series
(09:07):
and as you said, just a gradual change. What created
that change, what empowered that change is the support around me.
So what I mean by that, the whole time I'm
saying and thinking I can't, this is too hard, I
just don't have the strength. I just want to be
(09:28):
a normal high schooler, a normal girl. My parents were
treating me completely normal, while making the accommodations that I needed.
Their standard for me as their daughter didn't change. They
didn't start bidding me, They didn't start treating me less
than or different from. I have one older brother. They
(09:51):
didn't start treating me as like him one way and
me another. He continued to treat me as his little
younger sister, the normal little sibling rivalries and fights and
arguments that didn't change. We still fought over the front
seat and the normal like sibling stuff. The teachers around me,
(10:12):
they just made the accommodations that needed to be made
at school while still grading me the same way as
all the other students. They didn't just give me an
egg in all my classes because I couldn't see anymore. So,
having that constant support around me, everyone around me was
continuing to treat me as an equal human. I just
(10:34):
couldn't see as well. So while I'm saying I can't,
I can't, I can't, I don't have this drength, everyone
else around me is not responding that way. So slowly,
over time I started to change that mindset and think, humph,
all right, so if they are treating me as a
(10:56):
human with purpose, it is worthy that matters. That's an
Maybe I can believe that way, maybe I could live
that way. So those panic attacks that would last all
day would decrease started to slowly decrease, and that anxiety
got a little bit less. I got through one hour,
and then I got through three hours, and then I
got through a full day. So that's what I mean
(11:19):
about it is a gradual process where I realized that
I could continue forward because of the foundation that was
around me telling me not through their words, but through
their literal actions, you are so you and we're just
going to move forward. My parents, would we just say again,
not to their words every day, but just to their actions.
(11:41):
We don't know the future, but day by day we
will figure it out and continue forward.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Wow. And you know what's fascinating to me you bring
up such a an incredible point is the people that
are surrounding us when we experience that can make such
a difference in our life lives. And for the people
that are listening that may not be going through something,
but they have someone in their family or you know,
in the relationships that is understanding. And I love how
(12:11):
you know, Pitty wasn't there. They were just treating you
supporting you. And what amazes me, quite frankly, is that
the school was supporting you and accommodating you to that degree.
And I assume at what point in time were you
absolutely not able to see, not able to read, and
had to use other methodologies in order to do that.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Oh, that that definitely happened quickly in high school. So
about high school, I could not read any print, how
to do everything either in braille or audio. So that
happened very very very quickly.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Well, and it's amazing to me and wonderful that the
school was willing to accommodate that and do that. And
so as you think about that, now here you are
now and you've written a book, and what brought that about?
Speaker 4 (13:03):
So two perspectives that brought that about. The First perspective
was it was incredibly healing for me to sit down
and take the time to write my experiences out, just
to write out and get it down was incredibly healing.
(13:24):
It was a source of empowerment for me. The reason
it was so healing was because it made me realize
and give me that perspective of incredible support that I
did have where I just was taking that for granted
because the moment was the moment. We were just all
trying to survive the moment, keep going. Taking the time
(13:44):
to stop and write the book while so moving forward
in life gave me that perspective of gratitude of Wow,
I am deeply grateful for the support I did have,
and that support made all the difference in the world.
That one perspective and then the other perspective was. Once
I was through that initial traumatic adapting and transition, it
(14:09):
was my deep passion to take the mindset that I
had learned and share that with other people so that
regardless of what their chain was, regardless of the traumatic
transition that they're going through, even though it was totally different,
the anxiety, depression, the grief, the uncertainty, the fear, all
(14:32):
that's still the same. So I was passionate about being
a resource that others could receive strength from as they
went through their change.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Well, and the book's name is harboring, I'm sure. Yeah,
it's harnessing courage.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Harnessing courage. Yeah, And the reason there's a very specific
reason I named that book. So I received my first
guide dog in between the end of high school before
I started college and the harness is what is around
the guide dog. And then the end of the harness
(15:09):
is what the person who's blind hole. So there's the
dog's walking forward. You were holding the harness. So the
reason I named it harness and courage is because that
physically held the harness, and that gave me the courage
to move forward, to physically feel safe and have confidence
(15:29):
navigating the world physically being safe. So that's the first
reason I named it harness and courage. The second reason
is every single day, even though I'm adjusted, even though
I'm adapted, I still have to use that courage and
choose to harness the courage as I move forward in life.
(15:50):
So that there were two reasons for that name. It
was very very specific, very deliberate that I named it
harnessing courage.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Well, and I love the word courage. Uh, you know,
I've used that as I've as I've considered you know,
personal transformation, and as we talk on the podcast about
that and how important it is that as people are
experiencing whether it's two degree that you have or and
I say, this may be you know, similar degrees but
(16:19):
different situations where they're just totally being affected by those
imprints and experiences of their younger life and it takes
courage to be able to move forward. If you finally
had been able to become aware and doing so forth,
and then you went on to college, you went on
to get a master's degree. Can you share with the
(16:41):
audience what that was?
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Yeah, so the reason so let me back up to
the college and that's the reason for the master. So
in college, I'm majored in psychology. Because my fault was
because of my life experience. I want to tho this
on psychology where I can again support people in that mindset,
emotional health, healing experience. Then, towards the end of college,
(17:07):
as I was going deeper and deeper in the psychology
and I was reflecting on my own experience, I realized
that the healing that I had experienced was not just
on the psychology level. It was not just on the
spiritual level. It was not just on a physical receiving
a guide dog and have the courage to move forward.
(17:29):
It was that constant flow between the mind, body spirit
connection that came together to bring the healing. So it
wasn't focusing on one aspect of my life. It was
that constant balance of mind, body, spirit, So that's when
and why I decided, once I had this degree in psychology,
(17:51):
then I want to go pursue my Masters of Divinity,
so I have that spiritual theological education that I can
connect with the psychology. So because of my first experience
and the healing that I found, that's the reason I
connected those two disciplines well.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
And then you went on to develop and found a
whole organization and talk a little bit about that and
what you're doing in that organization.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Yeah, So the organization and the book are completely connected.
So in the book in Hearts and Courage, while I
tell my story and my life experience, I tell it
through the perspective of grit and of gratitude. So I
talk about the grit that my family, my brother, the teachers,
(18:42):
my community had around me to first support me so
that I could eventually accept that grit for myself. Then
at the same time as I shared writing the book,
I became such aware of the deep, deep gratitude that yes,
this has been very hard. Yes it has been incredibly
(19:04):
difficult to grieve and move forward. Yet I am so
grateful for what helps me navigate through the difficulty. So
the book is all about my perspective, through the perspective
of great and gratitude. So that's the organization. So what
I do now is the professional speaker and coach all
(19:26):
on empowering others as they navigate through change, and specifically
I talk about how do you navigate through that change
using grits and then also at the same time using gratitude.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Well and with the with the organizations called it will
be Global. Yes, you mentioned also that you coach. Is
that coaching through your speaking or do you actually work
with individuals through the organization to help them through these
type of processes.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Yes, that's individual. So the speaking is all speaking to
groups two organizations, and the coaching is one on one
work individually with people as they go through specific changes
that I'm supporting them through that.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Okay, so let's let's go through that process. And I
know it's going to be very different. But one of
the questions that just came to my mind, you know,
you were really, in many respects, extremely blessed from the
standpoint of you had that support not only not only
from your family and your friends, but from the school
(20:33):
and so forth. Yes, I would imagine that many people
that you start to work with do not experience that
support right right? How do you help them when they're
not getting the type of support that you're experiencing. Because
I can imagine someone is driving right now listening to
this and going, I don't have any support. I'm going
(20:53):
through all of this, but I don't have any support.
So how do you How do you help those people
that are experiencing that lack of support, at least in
their own mind.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
So the first thing that I remind each person I
work with is, let me be your support. If you
don't feel that you have any other support as you
go through this difficult change, you do have one person
supporting you. You do have one person that believes in you.
You do have one person that you know is going
(21:25):
to be here helping you compassionately guiding you through the process.
So that's one teaching that I make sure is very
clear that they know they have that support in me
as their coach. Then, balanced with that, at the same
time as I remind them, I also get them to
(21:46):
think about, Okay, if you feel like you don't have
any support around you, where do you feel support? Is
it through nature? Is it through pets, through animals, is
it through music? Is it through art, Is it through reading,
is it through exercising, journaling, Just giving them that perspective,
(22:09):
that mindset of where do you gain that strength? So
allowing that strength in the most difficult time to come
from me as their coach, supporting them and also from
that either situation activity that they do feel supported or
energized by in their everyday life.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
Oh as as you work with them. Is there is
there a general category of people's experiences. I mean, obviously
yours was very, very difficult. Do you find that there's
a variety of situations that people approach you with in itself?
Is there a generality or is it very specific and
(22:54):
very different? And what are they?
Speaker 4 (22:56):
It is very general. It's it's people they're having recent
diagnosis that are very difficult. So on that physical level,
it's a lot of people experiencing loss, either a loss
of a relationship or a death of a loved one,
(23:17):
or a loss in a major job. So it is
a lot of people. A lot of what I do
is supporting people through the grief process as they go
through loss, but it's very overall, it's very general. I
work with a lot of athletes as they're just going
through the difficulty and experience, injury and just the mindset
(23:40):
of being a competitive athlete. So it's all across the board.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Wow wow, And and how do you help them to
begin to move forward as their experience And I, you know,
I appreciate the fact that you're saying that this is
mainly people who are experiencing a loss, and you're right,
that is that happens for all of us, one way
or the other. So what is how do you help
them to move forward?
Speaker 4 (24:07):
So the very first step is acknowledging the difficulty of
their situation. So rather than just instantly trying to move
them to a place of okay, let's move forward, let's
just figure this out. Let's move on, Jos taking the
time and having the space to acknowledge the difficulty, to
acknowledge if it's loss, to acknowledge that loss is really
(24:31):
really hard and they don't want to move forward, or
the loss is really really hard and they don't know
how they're going to move forward. So just or if
it's is not a loss, it was just a significant
change Jos taking the time for me as the coach
to hold that space for them where they can just
(24:51):
sit in the pain, they can just feel the sadness.
They can hold space while they cry, while they feel angry,
whatever the emotion be, just giving them time to acknowledge
that because what I found. I'd say that because of
what I found in my own life that, as I shared,
my first reaction was that denial. I didn't give myself
(25:14):
that time to just sit in the this is really
really hard place. It was that instant I've got to
move forward. I have to figure this out.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Well, it's interesting you talk about the word denial, and
you knows as you talk about acknowledge, it's like so
often I think so many people either deny or they resist, Yes,
the actual thing that's happening. And when they do that,
from a psychology standpoint, when they do that, what's happening
(25:43):
to them When they're experiencing the denial, they're experiencing the
resistance to whatever is is going on.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
Yes, that is preventing us from moving forward. Because I
was in that denial. I wasn't able to move forward
because I was in the complete denial of actually what
was happening. So again that's why, from my own perspective,
helping people to realize you don't have to resist or
(26:11):
be in that denial. You just can be in that
place of acknowledging the hard of acknowledging it is what
it is. And what a lot of people tell me.
The feedback I get from most people is the fear
of if they acknowledge the difficulty, they're afraid they're going
to get stuck there forever and that they won't be
(26:32):
able to ave forward.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Yeah, and do you find that they find themselves in
the victim mode where that can be very, very traumatizing
to be yes, So it's.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
Not what I find more than the victim is they
feel overwhelmed by the severity of the change. It almost
is like they're drowning in the frustration, the anger, the
overwhelm of the future, and they feel like they're drowning
that out And so they're going to drowned in that
emotion forever and they're never going to be able to
(27:05):
come up for air and move forward.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
So as they acknowledge emotionally, what is what does that
do for them? Is they acknowledge their situation honestly, and
what's the next step once they do that?
Speaker 4 (27:20):
So once they acknowledge it honestly how they're feeling, then
that gives them the power to control their mindset, to
control their emotions. So, no, they can't control the loss.
No they can't control the change that's happening. What they
can control is their response to it. So my next step,
(27:42):
after they've sat with the difficult emotion is that's where
the grit starts, and it's the grit of taking it literally,
moment by moment, day by day. So I help people
in that mindset, what can you control at seven o'clock
in the morning when you first wake up, What can
(28:03):
you control at eight thirty? What can you control at ten?
All you have to do is make that one phone
call that's really difficult, or send that one email that
you're afraid to send. So taking the whole picture of
the magnitude of what they're going through and breaking it
down to moment by moment, step by step so that
(28:25):
there's more mental control over their emotions and their mindset.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
And you know that fascinates me. You you talked about
how you started to ultimately realize as you experienced, is
that there's a there's a correlation of body, mind and spirit.
I'd love for you to expand on that a little
bit because I think that's really important for people to
understand that they're never alone, and there is that whole correlation.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
So what I found is as I was in that
intense anxiety and depression and I didn't realize how I
was holding my body, that I was constantly tensing my shoulders,
I was constantly tensing my muscles. I was constantly had
that like pit feeling in my stomach. So there was
(29:14):
a real physical reaction in my body. Actually, the I
was holding my muscle so tight that I was having
sharp pain in my left shoulder blade, and so I
it was so bad I had that physical the doctor
ordered physical therapy for it. So my emotional reaction was
(29:35):
causing that physical reaction in my body. And at the
same time, on a spiritual level, I was asking all
those questions, do I still matter? Do I still have
purpose in the world, Do I still have gifts? What's
why should I even move forward? Is it even worth it?
(29:56):
So that's what I mean about the mind body connection
is so prevalent. And then as my mindset started to
change and I shifted to that mindset if I can
in that place of healing and accepting who who I was,
I realized I don't have to be so tense in
(30:18):
my body, I can relax my muscles. I can relax
and have better sleep at night. I can incorporate exercise
into part of my day, and the exercise is going
to help me physically and also emotionally. And then as
I experienced that change mentally and physically, I started to realize,
(30:40):
oh yeah, spiritually I do matter. I do so I'll
still have gifts. I still am enough. I just can't
see as well. So that's what I mean about that
mind body spirit connection. Our mindset is connected to our
body reaction, our spiritual reaction, and vice versa well.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
And as you've worked with people, and this gets to
be interesting to me as I see people going through
these type of transformations that you know, as you talk
about resistance, as you talk about denial h and how
that can affect the body and what that does chemically
to the body. Have you noticed as you started to
(31:25):
work with people where they may also have a combination
of not only that experience and laws, but physically they're
not doing real well or they're having some specific issues.
And as you work with them as they come through
that process, do you see that their health improves or
those physical situations go away.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
So what I find is that has people move from
acknowledging the laws, moving forward from the laws, just changing
that mind said, incorporating mindfulness into their every day. As
they work on that mindset and motions, they just have
overall better help. They go to their yearly check up
(32:11):
and their blood work is completely different and improved from
last year. It's they don't have that desire to eat
a bunch of junk food. They want to eat that healthy,
whole foods. They they're not just exercising because I know
it's something I have to do and I'm forcing myself
(32:31):
do and I don't want to do, and I can't
feel a difference. But they're exercising, and then all of
a sudden, they're experiencing the weight loss, the muscle gain,
the sleeping better, They're experiencing this physical benefits and healing well.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
And you know what's interesting to me is we talked
about suffering, and certainly here we are talking about your
experience and other people's experiences where they really experience that suffering.
And yet you're talking about how as they developed that grit,
as they developed that courage, as it developed the gratitude
that and acknowledge what's going on that in some way
(33:11):
that starts to diminish the suffering you're experiencing.
Speaker 4 (33:17):
Yes, yes, and I was one thousand percent in my experience. Yes,
the difficulty, the frustration hasn't gone away. I'm still a
person without sight in the sided world. Yet everything that
you just said, my mindset, just my spiritual world, my
(33:38):
mental world, the physical it all helps ease the suffering
and make that suffering less and less and less. So
it's not that the suffering is no longer there, it's
just I know how to manage the suffering.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
And therefore you don't suffer as much. Yeah, that's interesting. So,
you know, as you talk about gratitude, because I know
that's an important thing, I think you know, I personally
experienced difficulties sometimes being grateful for whatever is going on
here and there. Yeah, let's expand a little bit on gratitude.
(34:16):
And as you talk about gratitude and as you help
people to develop gratitude, what do you find are the
obstacles and what do you find helps them and what
are the things that they really need to focus their
gratitude on.
Speaker 4 (34:30):
So let me first there a story of how the
whole gratitude experience started for me because I wasn't feeling
grateful right Like, I wasn't grateful to become blind. I
wasn't grateful to have that depression anxiety. I wasn't grateful
to be a teenager. That wasn't the same as all
my other friends. I didn't feel like there was going
(34:52):
to be grateful for. So in high school, a mentor
of mind said to me, or, I want you to
start writing down three things that you're grateful for. At
the end of each day, I want you to write
down three things that you're thankful for. They be people, situations.
Just start doing that. Well, in my mind, thankfully, I
(35:13):
didn't say this, but in my mind, my response was, Okay,
you're not a good mentor because I've just lost my sight.
I'm depressed, I'm anxious, I'm overwhelmed. I have nothing to
be grateful for. That's just not good advice, don't I
don't like that. In my stubbornness, I said, Okay, I'm
(35:33):
gonna proofer wrong. I'm actually gonna be her mentor. I'm
gonna change the table here and I'm going to be
her mentor and teach her. That's just not good advice
to give to someone in the midst of that change.
So the one day became three days, three days became
seven days, the week, one week became three weeks, and
(35:54):
I slowly realized what my mentor was teaching me. I
resist that gratitude because I thought she was saying, I
want you to be grateful for the blindness. I want
you to be grateful for the suffering. I want you
to be grateful for the difficulty. What she was teaching
(36:15):
me is I want you to create a mindset of
gratitude where you're grateful for what helps you navigate through
the change. So again, not waking up and saying, gosh,
I'm so grateful to be blind, but to wake up
and say, I am so grateful that in the midst
of the suffering, I have parents who still are supporting
(36:37):
me and doing whatever it will take to figure out
this new world. I'm grateful to have a brother that
still treats me like his little baby, younger, annoying sister,
you know, and still does those normal sibling interactions. I'm
grateful for the guide dog that helps you navigate the world.
So that's how gratitude started for me. It wasn't because
(37:00):
I was thankful for the blindness. It was because that
mentor helped me to create that mindset that made me
grateful for what helps you navigate through the change. So
that's exactly the gratitude that I work with, both through
the speaking and through the coaching, is helping others to
(37:22):
develop that perspective of you know, we're not grateful for
your change, we're not grateful for your loss, but I
want you to be grateful for what helps you get
through the laws through the change. So that very clear distinction.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Well, and you know, it's amazing how that brings about
a change of mindset to the point where then not
only that experience, but anything else that's going on, if
they've got that mindset of gratitude, they're no longer they're
no longer at the effect of these situations, but rather
they are actually in control.
Speaker 4 (38:00):
In control absolutely, And the gratitude is what we can control.
We can control the mindset of being grateful for what
helps us through.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
Well, that's lovely, and hey, this has been just an
amazing experience for me to listen to you and to
have you share your experiences and as we as we
come to a close. Number one, I'd like for you
to share how the audience can find you and get
your book.
Speaker 4 (38:26):
So the best place is my website. So Laura Bratton
dot com has all of the information about the speaking,
the coaching in the book.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Okay, and again, what's the website.
Speaker 4 (38:37):
Laura Bratton dot com. So my name is b R
A T.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
T O N. Right. Okay, great, and so as we close,
what would be a final message that you would like
to share with the audience.
Speaker 4 (38:51):
The message is, in the midst of change, when you're
navigating through change, give yourself the self compassion to acknowledge
the change and then choose to move forward moment by
moment by moment and trust and know that you're enough.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
That's wonderful. Laura, thank you so much. This is just
as I say, been enlightening and I appreciate it so much.
Speaker 4 (39:17):
Well, thank you for the opportunity for creating this platform.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Well, and thank you and folks, thanks for listening. I
know that you're getting something out of this, and I
hope that for those of you that need a little
bit more that you can contact Laura and literally see
read a book and get some help because we all
go through this We're not alone. We all go through
(39:42):
these experiences and to be able to have someone that
can help guide us through these experiences is magic. So
once again, Laura, I can't tell you how much I
appreciate what you're doing and acknowledging that, and secondarily, folks,
hope you'll join us again soon. So this is doctor
Doug saying no mistayd do to repair
This program is designed to provide general information with regards
to the subject matters covered. This information is given with
the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station
are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial,
legal counseling, professional service, or any advice. You should seek
(00:22):
the services of competent professionals before applying or trying any
suggested ideas.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
At the end of the day, it's not about what
you have or even what you've accomplished. It's about what
you've done with those accomplishments. It's about who you've lifted up,
who you've made better. It's about what you've given back.
Thanzel Washington, Welcome to Inspire Vision. Our sole purpose is
to elevate the lives of others and to inspire you
(00:51):
to do the same.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Laura, welcome to the show.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
Thank you, Thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
You know I'm really excited about is because as I've
watched your ten X talk, as I've kind of observed
what's going on here, it fascinates me how many of us,
if not all of us, at some point in time
in our lives, face difficulties, and for some it's a
little bit. For others it's major, and that was in
(01:21):
your case major. And yet the response that we have
to those difficulties is so varied, and it can either
affect our lives in a negative way or it can
affect our lives in a positive way. And I'd love
for you to share your story with the audience and
help them to understand what happened to you, and then
(01:42):
we will get into the whole rest of the process.
Speaker 4 (01:44):
Yes, so it all started my first very vivid memory
that I still can see in my mind's eye and
just feel the emotion. I was a nine year old.
I was in between second grade and third grade. It
was during the summer, and I was sitting in the
(02:05):
ophthalmology office in the examining room. I'd read the big
e you know, all the letters that you're just read.
My eyes were dilated, and I just assumed this is
a normal yearly appointment. And what I can remember why
I remember that appointment so clearly, is I was I
was sitting in that chair. The doctor just rolled back
(02:27):
kind of away from me, and he just looked over
at my mom and he said, she has a major
problem going on in her retinas, and it's not something
that I'm qualified to address. I'm going to refer you
to a retina specialist, and we've got to figure out
what's going on. And I remember my mom's immediate reaction,
(02:49):
it was, Okay, you didn't really start a new school year.
I'm a teacher. She's already start third grade. We'll take
good of that. Sometime during the father Christmas break and
I just memory and pausing and then looking back at
her and saying, no, you don't understand. This is a
major problem. You're not going to lunch today. I want
(03:09):
you to leave here and go straight to his office
and he will be waiting for you. So that started
a whole summer of doctor's appointments, blood drawn lab work,
my bloods literally over the world, just trying to diagnose
and figure out why is this healthy nine year old
(03:30):
all of a sudden losing her vision. So that's the
first memory I have of being aware in my mind
something was going on. As a nine year old. Clearly,
I couldn't process cognitively the magnitude of what the doctor
was saying or how that would eventually affect me from
(03:52):
then on when it did become real, when I did
realize the severity and the difficulty of the incredible change
was at the end of middle school. So between being
nine and being fourteen, life was pretty normal. I had
small accommodations as far as using some large print, but
(04:15):
nothing major. So it's just again in my life. In
my world, it was what it was I could see,
and so it's just kind of okay, So only be
my my normal, my reality. So then by the end
of middle school, one day, I'm sitting in geography class
and it was just your typical day as it always been,
and the teacher said, all right, I'm going to put
(04:36):
notes up on the board. I want everyone to write
down the notes. And so I got out my notebook,
got out of my pen, looked up at the board,
and all I could see were these black blobs. It
sort of looked like black shadows, just like black marks.
There was no it wasn't any defined letters. So I
(04:59):
looked at down on my notebook, I looked back up
of the board, and still all I saw were those
black blobs, those black kind of markings. So I looked
at my neighbor the left and the right, and they're
both writing down all these words. So in my mind,
I thought, oh, well, maybe there's writing down the note
the words they know we're studying, because that's not print
(05:22):
up on the board. Then I leaned over to my
neighbor and I said, how are you copping down the
notes on the board. There's no print up there, there's
nothing to write down, And without missing a beach, she
leaned over to me and she said, Laura, the print
is completely normal. What do you mean they're not letters
up there. That's the that's our notes that were copping
(05:45):
down like it's always I've dropped up in just sat
back in my chair. And that's when that diagnosis as
a nine year old became real and I realized the
magnitude and difficulty that I was literally facing. In that moment,
I just lost a significant amount of sight and from
(06:08):
that point forward everything would have to be adapted, changed
accommodations as I currently knew. Life in those up to
those teenage years was completely changing. So that's the two
memories that were most impactful. As I started to lose
(06:29):
a significant amount of site.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
Wow, wow, and you know that that fascinates me, And
what a traumatic experience. Even though you know you were
going on and thinking, okay, I'm you know, still in
middle school. Everything's fine, and suddenly there it is. So
you know, as a young person in middle school, what
what was your mindset and what was the initial experience
(06:53):
you were having emotionally and intellectually and so forth.
Speaker 4 (06:58):
So my initial mindset, or my initial mindset and emotion
was complete denial. Oh this is not that bad. Oh
this is not gonna last that long. I'll just wake
up tomorrow and have perfect twenty twenty site. It just won't.
It won't be permanent. And I was trying to convince
(07:20):
myself it wasn't going to last long. It was just
a quick event that would last a couple of weeks
and then I just move on with my life. So
my first response was denial. Once that denial wore off
and didn't last that long, the mindset was the mantra
was I can't, I can't. I can't. I tried it,
(07:44):
I prayed it, I said it. My belief was I
don't have the strength as a teenager to make this
huge adaptation and experience this traumatic change. I can't. So
that mindset of I can't led to extreme depression, extreme anxiety,
(08:06):
just constant panic attacks.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
And at what point in time I mean, how long
did that last? And what was there a moment or
was there just a gradual situation where you were able
to slowly move out of that and how long did
that take?
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Yes? And yes, So that did last for a while.
So as I started high school and went through high school,
I continue to lose a significant amount of the sight.
So over that four year period, I pretty much ended
high school with what I have now just light perception.
So as I continued to experience measure vision walls again,
(08:47):
it was that whole mindset of I can't. I don't
have the strength to get through this. This is just
too much, is just too hard. So it wasn't one
moment where I just woke up and said okay, I
can Okay, now I have to drink. There wasn't one
major event that changed that mindset. It was a series
(09:07):
and as you said, just a gradual change. What created
that change, what empowered that change is the support around me.
So what I mean by that, the whole time I'm
saying and thinking I can't, this is too hard, I
just don't have the strength. I just want to be
(09:28):
a normal high schooler, a normal girl. My parents were
treating me completely normal, while making the accommodations that I needed.
Their standard for me as their daughter didn't change. They
didn't start bidding me, They didn't start treating me less
than or different from. I have one older brother. They
(09:51):
didn't start treating me as like him one way and
me another. He continued to treat me as his little
younger sister, the normal little sibling rivalries and fights and
arguments that didn't change. We still fought over the front
seat and the normal like sibling stuff. The teachers around me,
(10:12):
they just made the accommodations that needed to be made
at school while still grading me the same way as
all the other students. They didn't just give me an
egg in all my classes because I couldn't see anymore. So,
having that constant support around me, everyone around me was
continuing to treat me as an equal human. I just
(10:34):
couldn't see as well. So while I'm saying I can't,
I can't, I can't, I don't have this drength, everyone
else around me is not responding that way. So slowly,
over time I started to change that mindset and think, humph,
all right, so if they are treating me as a
(10:56):
human with purpose, it is worthy that matters. That's an
Maybe I can believe that way, maybe I could live
that way. So those panic attacks that would last all
day would decrease started to slowly decrease, and that anxiety
got a little bit less. I got through one hour,
and then I got through three hours, and then I
got through a full day. So that's what I mean
(11:19):
about it is a gradual process where I realized that
I could continue forward because of the foundation that was
around me telling me not through their words, but through
their literal actions, you are so you and we're just
going to move forward. My parents, would we just say again,
not to their words every day, but just to their actions.
(11:41):
We don't know the future, but day by day we
will figure it out and continue forward.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Wow. And you know what's fascinating to me you bring
up such a an incredible point is the people that
are surrounding us when we experience that can make such
a difference in our life lives. And for the people
that are listening that may not be going through something,
but they have someone in their family or you know,
in the relationships that is understanding. And I love how
(12:11):
you know, Pitty wasn't there. They were just treating you
supporting you. And what amazes me, quite frankly, is that
the school was supporting you and accommodating you to that degree.
And I assume at what point in time were you
absolutely not able to see, not able to read, and
had to use other methodologies in order to do that.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Oh, that that definitely happened quickly in high school. So
about high school, I could not read any print, how
to do everything either in braille or audio. So that
happened very very very quickly.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
Well, and it's amazing to me and wonderful that the
school was willing to accommodate that and do that. And
so as you think about that, now here you are
now and you've written a book, and what brought that about?
Speaker 4 (13:03):
So two perspectives that brought that about. The First perspective
was it was incredibly healing for me to sit down
and take the time to write my experiences out, just
to write out and get it down was incredibly healing.
(13:24):
It was a source of empowerment for me. The reason
it was so healing was because it made me realize
and give me that perspective of incredible support that I
did have where I just was taking that for granted
because the moment was the moment. We were just all
trying to survive the moment, keep going. Taking the time
(13:44):
to stop and write the book while so moving forward
in life gave me that perspective of gratitude of Wow,
I am deeply grateful for the support I did have,
and that support made all the difference in the world.
That one perspective and then the other perspective was. Once
I was through that initial traumatic adapting and transition, it
(14:09):
was my deep passion to take the mindset that I
had learned and share that with other people so that
regardless of what their chain was, regardless of the traumatic
transition that they're going through, even though it was totally different,
the anxiety, depression, the grief, the uncertainty, the fear, all
(14:32):
that's still the same. So I was passionate about being
a resource that others could receive strength from as they
went through their change.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Well, and the book's name is harboring, I'm sure. Yeah,
it's harnessing courage.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Harnessing courage. Yeah, And the reason there's a very specific
reason I named that book. So I received my first
guide dog in between the end of high school before
I started college and the harness is what is around
the guide dog. And then the end of the harness
(15:09):
is what the person who's blind hole. So there's the
dog's walking forward. You were holding the harness. So the
reason I named it harness and courage is because that
physically held the harness, and that gave me the courage
to move forward, to physically feel safe and have confidence
(15:29):
navigating the world physically being safe. So that's the first
reason I named it harness and courage. The second reason
is every single day, even though I'm adjusted, even though
I'm adapted, I still have to use that courage and
choose to harness the courage as I move forward in life.
(15:50):
So that there were two reasons for that name. It
was very very specific, very deliberate that I named it
harnessing courage.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
Well, and I love the word courage. Uh, you know,
I've used that as I've as I've considered you know,
personal transformation, and as we talk on the podcast about
that and how important it is that as people are
experiencing whether it's two degree that you have or and
I say, this may be you know, similar degrees but
(16:19):
different situations where they're just totally being affected by those
imprints and experiences of their younger life and it takes
courage to be able to move forward. If you finally
had been able to become aware and doing so forth,
and then you went on to college, you went on
to get a master's degree. Can you share with the
(16:41):
audience what that was?
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Yeah, so the reason so let me back up to
the college and that's the reason for the master. So
in college, I'm majored in psychology. Because my fault was
because of my life experience. I want to tho this
on psychology where I can again support people in that mindset,
emotional health, healing experience. Then, towards the end of college,
(17:07):
as I was going deeper and deeper in the psychology
and I was reflecting on my own experience, I realized
that the healing that I had experienced was not just
on the psychology level. It was not just on the
spiritual level. It was not just on a physical receiving
a guide dog and have the courage to move forward.
(17:29):
It was that constant flow between the mind, body spirit
connection that came together to bring the healing. So it
wasn't focusing on one aspect of my life. It was
that constant balance of mind, body, spirit, So that's when
and why I decided, once I had this degree in psychology,
(17:51):
then I want to go pursue my Masters of Divinity,
so I have that spiritual theological education that I can
connect with the psychology. So because of my first experience
and the healing that I found, that's the reason I
connected those two disciplines well.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
And then you went on to develop and found a
whole organization and talk a little bit about that and
what you're doing in that organization.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Yeah, So the organization and the book are completely connected.
So in the book in Hearts and Courage, while I
tell my story and my life experience, I tell it
through the perspective of grit and of gratitude. So I
talk about the grit that my family, my brother, the teachers,
(18:42):
my community had around me to first support me so
that I could eventually accept that grit for myself. Then
at the same time as I shared writing the book,
I became such aware of the deep, deep gratitude that yes,
this has been very hard. Yes it has been incredibly
(19:04):
difficult to grieve and move forward. Yet I am so
grateful for what helps me navigate through the difficulty. So
the book is all about my perspective, through the perspective
of great and gratitude. So that's the organization. So what
I do now is the professional speaker and coach all
(19:26):
on empowering others as they navigate through change, and specifically
I talk about how do you navigate through that change
using grits and then also at the same time using gratitude.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Well and with the with the organizations called it will
be Global. Yes, you mentioned also that you coach. Is
that coaching through your speaking or do you actually work
with individuals through the organization to help them through these
type of processes.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Yes, that's individual. So the speaking is all speaking to
groups two organizations, and the coaching is one on one
work individually with people as they go through specific changes
that I'm supporting them through that.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Okay, so let's let's go through that process. And I
know it's going to be very different. But one of
the questions that just came to my mind, you know,
you were really, in many respects, extremely blessed from the
standpoint of you had that support not only not only
from your family and your friends, but from the school
(20:33):
and so forth. Yes, I would imagine that many people
that you start to work with do not experience that
support right right? How do you help them when they're
not getting the type of support that you're experiencing. Because
I can imagine someone is driving right now listening to
this and going, I don't have any support. I'm going
(20:53):
through all of this, but I don't have any support.
So how do you How do you help those people
that are experiencing that lack of support, at least in
their own mind.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
So the first thing that I remind each person I
work with is, let me be your support. If you
don't feel that you have any other support as you
go through this difficult change, you do have one person
supporting you. You do have one person that believes in you.
You do have one person that you know is going
(21:25):
to be here helping you compassionately guiding you through the process.
So that's one teaching that I make sure is very
clear that they know they have that support in me
as their coach. Then, balanced with that, at the same
time as I remind them, I also get them to
(21:46):
think about, Okay, if you feel like you don't have
any support around you, where do you feel support? Is
it through nature? Is it through pets, through animals, is
it through music? Is it through art, Is it through reading,
is it through exercising, journaling, Just giving them that perspective,
(22:09):
that mindset of where do you gain that strength? So
allowing that strength in the most difficult time to come
from me as their coach, supporting them and also from
that either situation activity that they do feel supported or
energized by in their everyday life.
Speaker 3 (22:31):
Oh as as you work with them. Is there is
there a general category of people's experiences. I mean, obviously
yours was very, very difficult. Do you find that there's
a variety of situations that people approach you with in itself?
Is there a generality or is it very specific and
(22:54):
very different? And what are they?
Speaker 4 (22:56):
It is very general. It's it's people they're having recent
diagnosis that are very difficult. So on that physical level,
it's a lot of people experiencing loss, either a loss
of a relationship or a death of a loved one,
(23:17):
or a loss in a major job. So it is
a lot of people. A lot of what I do
is supporting people through the grief process as they go
through loss, but it's very overall, it's very general. I
work with a lot of athletes as they're just going
through the difficulty and experience, injury and just the mindset
(23:40):
of being a competitive athlete. So it's all across the board.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Wow wow, And and how do you help them to
begin to move forward as their experience And I, you know,
I appreciate the fact that you're saying that this is
mainly people who are experiencing a loss, and you're right,
that is that happens for all of us, one way
or the other. So what is how do you help
them to move forward?
Speaker 4 (24:07):
So the very first step is acknowledging the difficulty of
their situation. So rather than just instantly trying to move
them to a place of okay, let's move forward, let's
just figure this out. Let's move on, Jos taking the
time and having the space to acknowledge the difficulty, to
acknowledge if it's loss, to acknowledge that loss is really
(24:31):
really hard and they don't want to move forward, or
the loss is really really hard and they don't know
how they're going to move forward. So just or if
it's is not a loss, it was just a significant
change Jos taking the time for me as the coach
to hold that space for them where they can just
(24:51):
sit in the pain, they can just feel the sadness.
They can hold space while they cry, while they feel angry,
whatever the emotion be, just giving them time to acknowledge
that because what I found. I'd say that because of
what I found in my own life that, as I shared,
my first reaction was that denial. I didn't give myself
(25:14):
that time to just sit in the this is really
really hard place. It was that instant I've got to
move forward. I have to figure this out.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
Well, it's interesting you talk about the word denial, and
you knows as you talk about acknowledge, it's like so
often I think so many people either deny or they resist, Yes,
the actual thing that's happening. And when they do that,
from a psychology standpoint, when they do that, what's happening
(25:43):
to them When they're experiencing the denial, they're experiencing the
resistance to whatever is is going on.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
Yes, that is preventing us from moving forward. Because I
was in that denial. I wasn't able to move forward
because I was in the complete denial of actually what
was happening. So again that's why, from my own perspective,
helping people to realize you don't have to resist or
(26:11):
be in that denial. You just can be in that
place of acknowledging the hard of acknowledging it is what
it is. And what a lot of people tell me.
The feedback I get from most people is the fear
of if they acknowledge the difficulty, they're afraid they're going
to get stuck there forever and that they won't be
(26:32):
able to ave forward.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
Yeah, and do you find that they find themselves in
the victim mode where that can be very, very traumatizing
to be yes, So it's.
Speaker 4 (26:43):
Not what I find more than the victim is they
feel overwhelmed by the severity of the change. It almost
is like they're drowning in the frustration, the anger, the
overwhelm of the future, and they feel like they're drowning
that out And so they're going to drowned in that
emotion forever and they're never going to be able to
(27:05):
come up for air and move forward.
Speaker 3 (27:07):
So as they acknowledge emotionally, what is what does that
do for them? Is they acknowledge their situation honestly, and
what's the next step once they do that?
Speaker 4 (27:20):
So once they acknowledge it honestly how they're feeling, then
that gives them the power to control their mindset, to
control their emotions. So, no, they can't control the loss.
No they can't control the change that's happening. What they
can control is their response to it. So my next step,
(27:42):
after they've sat with the difficult emotion is that's where
the grit starts, and it's the grit of taking it literally,
moment by moment, day by day. So I help people
in that mindset, what can you control at seven o'clock
in the morning when you first wake up, What can
(28:03):
you control at eight thirty? What can you control at ten?
All you have to do is make that one phone
call that's really difficult, or send that one email that
you're afraid to send. So taking the whole picture of
the magnitude of what they're going through and breaking it
down to moment by moment, step by step so that
(28:25):
there's more mental control over their emotions and their mindset.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
And you know that fascinates me. You you talked about
how you started to ultimately realize as you experienced, is
that there's a there's a correlation of body, mind and spirit.
I'd love for you to expand on that a little
bit because I think that's really important for people to
understand that they're never alone, and there is that whole correlation.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
So what I found is as I was in that
intense anxiety and depression and I didn't realize how I
was holding my body, that I was constantly tensing my shoulders,
I was constantly tensing my muscles. I was constantly had
that like pit feeling in my stomach. So there was
(29:14):
a real physical reaction in my body. Actually, the I
was holding my muscle so tight that I was having
sharp pain in my left shoulder blade, and so I
it was so bad I had that physical the doctor
ordered physical therapy for it. So my emotional reaction was
(29:35):
causing that physical reaction in my body. And at the
same time, on a spiritual level, I was asking all
those questions, do I still matter? Do I still have
purpose in the world, Do I still have gifts? What's
why should I even move forward? Is it even worth it?
(29:56):
So that's what I mean about the mind body connection
is so prevalent. And then as my mindset started to
change and I shifted to that mindset if I can
in that place of healing and accepting who who I was,
I realized I don't have to be so tense in
(30:18):
my body, I can relax my muscles. I can relax
and have better sleep at night. I can incorporate exercise
into part of my day, and the exercise is going
to help me physically and also emotionally. And then as
I experienced that change mentally and physically, I started to realize,
(30:40):
oh yeah, spiritually I do matter. I do so I'll
still have gifts. I still am enough. I just can't
see as well. So that's what I mean about that
mind body spirit connection. Our mindset is connected to our
body reaction, our spiritual reaction, and vice versa well.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
And as you've worked with people, and this gets to
be interesting to me as I see people going through
these type of transformations that you know, as you talk
about resistance, as you talk about denial h and how
that can affect the body and what that does chemically
to the body. Have you noticed as you started to
(31:25):
work with people where they may also have a combination
of not only that experience and laws, but physically they're
not doing real well or they're having some specific issues.
And as you work with them as they come through
that process, do you see that their health improves or
those physical situations go away.
Speaker 4 (31:50):
So what I find is that has people move from
acknowledging the laws, moving forward from the laws, just changing
that mind said, incorporating mindfulness into their every day. As
they work on that mindset and motions, they just have
overall better help. They go to their yearly check up
(32:11):
and their blood work is completely different and improved from
last year. It's they don't have that desire to eat
a bunch of junk food. They want to eat that healthy,
whole foods. They they're not just exercising because I know
it's something I have to do and I'm forcing myself
(32:31):
do and I don't want to do, and I can't
feel a difference. But they're exercising, and then all of
a sudden, they're experiencing the weight loss, the muscle gain,
the sleeping better, They're experiencing this physical benefits and healing well.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
And you know what's interesting to me is we talked
about suffering, and certainly here we are talking about your
experience and other people's experiences where they really experience that suffering.
And yet you're talking about how as they developed that grit,
as they developed that courage, as it developed the gratitude
that and acknowledge what's going on that in some way
(33:11):
that starts to diminish the suffering you're experiencing.
Speaker 4 (33:17):
Yes, yes, and I was one thousand percent in my experience. Yes,
the difficulty, the frustration hasn't gone away. I'm still a
person without sight in the sided world. Yet everything that
you just said, my mindset, just my spiritual world, my
(33:38):
mental world, the physical it all helps ease the suffering
and make that suffering less and less and less. So
it's not that the suffering is no longer there, it's
just I know how to manage the suffering.
Speaker 3 (33:54):
And therefore you don't suffer as much. Yeah, that's interesting. So,
you know, as you talk about gratitude, because I know
that's an important thing, I think you know, I personally
experienced difficulties sometimes being grateful for whatever is going on
here and there. Yeah, let's expand a little bit on gratitude.
(34:16):
And as you talk about gratitude and as you help
people to develop gratitude, what do you find are the
obstacles and what do you find helps them and what
are the things that they really need to focus their
gratitude on.
Speaker 4 (34:30):
So let me first there a story of how the
whole gratitude experience started for me because I wasn't feeling
grateful right Like, I wasn't grateful to become blind. I
wasn't grateful to have that depression anxiety. I wasn't grateful
to be a teenager. That wasn't the same as all
my other friends. I didn't feel like there was going
(34:52):
to be grateful for. So in high school, a mentor
of mind said to me, or, I want you to
start writing down three things that you're grateful for. At
the end of each day, I want you to write
down three things that you're thankful for. They be people, situations.
Just start doing that. Well, in my mind, thankfully, I
(35:13):
didn't say this, but in my mind, my response was, Okay,
you're not a good mentor because I've just lost my sight.
I'm depressed, I'm anxious, I'm overwhelmed. I have nothing to
be grateful for. That's just not good advice, don't I
don't like that. In my stubbornness, I said, Okay, I'm
(35:33):
gonna proofer wrong. I'm actually gonna be her mentor. I'm
gonna change the table here and I'm going to be
her mentor and teach her. That's just not good advice
to give to someone in the midst of that change.
So the one day became three days, three days became
seven days, the week, one week became three weeks, and
(35:54):
I slowly realized what my mentor was teaching me. I
resist that gratitude because I thought she was saying, I
want you to be grateful for the blindness. I want
you to be grateful for the suffering. I want you
to be grateful for the difficulty. What she was teaching
(36:15):
me is I want you to create a mindset of
gratitude where you're grateful for what helps you navigate through
the change. So again, not waking up and saying, gosh,
I'm so grateful to be blind, but to wake up
and say, I am so grateful that in the midst
of the suffering, I have parents who still are supporting
(36:37):
me and doing whatever it will take to figure out
this new world. I'm grateful to have a brother that
still treats me like his little baby, younger, annoying sister,
you know, and still does those normal sibling interactions. I'm
grateful for the guide dog that helps you navigate the world.
So that's how gratitude started for me. It wasn't because
(37:00):
I was thankful for the blindness. It was because that
mentor helped me to create that mindset that made me
grateful for what helps you navigate through the change. So
that's exactly the gratitude that I work with, both through
the speaking and through the coaching, is helping others to
(37:22):
develop that perspective of you know, we're not grateful for
your change, we're not grateful for your loss, but I
want you to be grateful for what helps you get
through the laws through the change. So that very clear distinction.
Speaker 3 (37:38):
Well, and you know, it's amazing how that brings about
a change of mindset to the point where then not
only that experience, but anything else that's going on, if
they've got that mindset of gratitude, they're no longer they're
no longer at the effect of these situations, but rather
they are actually in control.
Speaker 4 (38:00):
In control absolutely, And the gratitude is what we can control.
We can control the mindset of being grateful for what
helps us through.
Speaker 3 (38:09):
Well, that's lovely, and hey, this has been just an
amazing experience for me to listen to you and to
have you share your experiences and as we as we
come to a close. Number one, I'd like for you
to share how the audience can find you and get
your book.
Speaker 4 (38:26):
So the best place is my website. So Laura Bratton
dot com has all of the information about the speaking,
the coaching in the book.
Speaker 3 (38:35):
Okay, and again, what's the website.
Speaker 4 (38:37):
Laura Bratton dot com. So my name is b R
A T.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
T O N. Right. Okay, great, and so as we close,
what would be a final message that you would like
to share with the audience.
Speaker 4 (38:51):
The message is, in the midst of change, when you're
navigating through change, give yourself the self compassion to acknowledge
the change and then choose to move forward moment by
moment by moment and trust and know that you're enough.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
That's wonderful. Laura, thank you so much. This is just
as I say, been enlightening and I appreciate it so much.
Speaker 4 (39:17):
Well, thank you for the opportunity for creating this platform.
Speaker 3 (39:21):
Well, and thank you and folks, thanks for listening. I
know that you're getting something out of this, and I
hope that for those of you that need a little
bit more that you can contact Laura and literally see
read a book and get some help because we all
go through this We're not alone. We all go through
(39:42):
these experiences and to be able to have someone that
can help guide us through these experiences is magic. So
once again, Laura, I can't tell you how much I
appreciate what you're doing and acknowledging that, and secondarily, folks,
hope you'll join us again soon. So this is doctor
Doug saying no mistayd do to repair
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