Turning Tragedy to Triumph

Turning Tragedy to Triumph was the name of a recent radio show I was on with Tammy Gagnon.  We were talking about turning tragedy's into learning opportunities or triumphs. She interviewed me about our sailboat accident a number of years ago that was a big learning for me about resilience, turning challenging situations into ones you can overcome.  While I really enjoy sailing now, it took me many years to get back on the boat after our accident.

You can listen to the interview and discussions about turning tragedy into triumph here:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/survivors/2012/08/12/hwe-are-thrilled-to-introduce-charmaine-hammond-to-you

Here are a few tips to turn  situations around:

• Always know your shoreline- have a goal, keep the goal in the front of your mind. Focusing on the goal gets you there faster than focusing on fear. Focusing on the shoreline helped me swim towards it.
• Fear limits you, reduces your physical strength, and tires your mind. Focus on what energizes you, the solution and outcome you want (instead of what it is you are fearing).
• You can't get back time, but you can change course and directions. If what you are doing is not getting you closer to your goal, change course. Try something different.
• Let go of what is pulling you under. That might be negative thoughts, carrying the past with you in current day, or hanging onto old disappointments and regrets. these pull you away from your goal.
• Ask for help. 

The sailboat story is the basis of one of my most popular keynote presentations about resilience and bouncing forward, and one that taught me more than I thought I needed to learn at the time.

Want to read more about this sailboat story? It is in my book:




You can listen to the interview and discussions about turning tragedy into triumph here:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/survivors/2012/08/12/hwe-are-thrilled-to-introduce-charmaine-hammond-to-you