March 3, 2005, Vol. III Issue 5
Dear Friends,
Whew, I’ve been down for a week with a kidney infection. Not fun. Really makes me appreciate my good health! Can’t wait to have my energy and vitality back.
Speaking of vitality, could you use a dose of inspirational vitamins? Another one of our newer speakers who will be featured on the new website is Dr. Robin L. Smith, author of Inspirational Vitamins, A Guide to Personal Empowerment. Dr. Robin, as her fans affectionately call her, is a keynote speaker and licensed psychologist who is also a popular national and local television correspondent. Just this week, she was a guest on The Oprah Show.
It wasn’t a book tour, however, or what I would call a happy visit, that brought Dr. Robin to Oprah. It was all business, the serious business of helping someone make life-saving changes. That’s a challenge Dr. Robin graciously accepts.
“I want to inspire women to be more of who they were born to be,” she says. That’s a message I’m happy to spread. I feel better already.
Yours truly,
Barbara
Dr. Robin L. Smith, As Seen on Oprah
I have yet to meet a motivational speaker who came by her expertise from a place of being on top of the world. That may be the end result, but it’s usually from a low point that we make our way out of the abyss and into the light.
Dr. Robin Smith is no exception. “At an early age I saw the value in building healthy bridges between people. I knew then that I wanted to do that too. It was going to be my life’s purpose,” she said. “I wanted to be an architect of people. I wanted to help empower people to build healthy relationships. There was just one BIG problem. I first needed to design and build a bridge of self-worth and inspiration for myself. This turned out to be no small task.
“I found myself struggling to identify where I belonged in the world, and what truly inspired me. By the world’s standards, I was doing great. I was educated in great schools, had traveled around the world, was building a successful private practice, and started pursuing a career in television. Yet, something was missing. What was missing was a secure personal sense of my worth, value and purpose.
“I kept trying to get the goods without facing the real fear, avoiding the hard work. When I got honest with myself, I wasn’t living the life I wanted to live. That drove me to bring an end to my suffering. I believe the avoidance of fear and inadequacy creates the suffering.
“My breakthrough happened when I finally came to understand and accept the reality that my life, its joys and sorrows, successes and failures, were solely my responsibility to manage. It was during this time that I had the brainstorm for “Inspirational Vitamins,” capsule-size messages that I would prescribe to myself as part of my daily emotional survival gear.
On Oprah’s show, Dr. Robin was working with Lisa, who was on the show admitting that she had become a pathological liar. For 15 years, Dr. Robin has run support groups for wives and children of pathological liars.
“Lying is not a far-fetched thing for women to pretend to be okay when we’re not, when we’re really bucking at our knees,” Dr. Robin said. “It’s subtle and not so subtle to pretend to walk around with our shoulders back and our chest stuck out. Dressing ourselves up, and pretending to be satisfied, becomes a kind of lying.” (It should be noted, however, that this is a mild problem in relation to the intense lying patterns that Lisa was embroiled in).
“When I think about inspiration and being authentic, part of what the Oprah segment was really about is what a frightening and exhilarating challenge it is to become our true and authentic ourselves,” she said afterward. “As I think about the woman’s challenge in this story, and all women who are bombarded with so many competing images of what it means to be a good woman, a healthy woman, a good mother, I notice that all of these external definitions call us outside of ourselves to define what makes us rich and full and adequate.
“There’s not much of an invitation in our culture for us to reflect from a viewpoint that would help us self-define what makes us good enough or adequate enough.”
Dr. Robin feels that one of her primary missions is to re-invite women to get acquainted with who we are, and help us define ourselves as adequate, without having someone else be our measuring stick or our barometer.
“Women are so busy being right, good, loyal, that they’re not very good at being real. What will inspire any of us to become closer to our authentic self? What is this force, the thought, the encounter, the experience that will inspire someone to become more of who she was born to be rather than what other people expect her to be?” Dr. Robin asks.
With her years of experience in human relationships, conflict resolution, and personal accountability, all of Dr. Robin’s programs are built around case histories and the inherent humor that defines the human condition.
Some of Dr. Robin’s most requested topics for women’s events:
- Me, Myself, & I: The three people you need to know to create the life and relationship of your dreams
- My Life Began When I Ran Out Of Steam: Ridding yourself of the disease to please
- Hot Flashes: Burning from the inside out
- Eating the Wolf: Partnering with your fears to create a powerful life
- Lady Sings The Blues: Women freeing themselves from depression
- Inspirational Vitamins: A Guide to Personal Empowerment
Dr. Robin earned her PhD in counseling psychology from Temple University, holds a master’s degree from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and has an undergraduate degree from LaSalle University.
The Call Button: Call On Us
We’re still getting calls for Nurses Week Appreciation events, and some of our speakers have a day or two available. If you know a nurse recruiter or other responsible party who is looking for a program that will help them laugh some stress away and leave them feeling refreshed, renewed and recommitted, give me a call at 503-699-5031.
Separating the Fat from the Gravy
Have your ever been face to face with yourself and your own nearsightedness? The other day I was puzzling over the fat/gravy separator gadget I received in my Christmas stocking. I’d braised some lamb shanks in the crockpot and poured the juice into the cute little pitcher with the spout coming from the bottom. Now, my idea was that I should pour the fat off. After all, that’s what I wanted to get rid of.
Those of you who have one of these and use it successfully, are already laughing and know that I was creating a losing battle with that scenario. It wasn’t working! The deal is the juice pours from the bottom and the fat stays on top. Once you pour the juice all off, you can dump the leftover fat. I can’t even say I was smart enough to finally figure this out, my fiancé had to show me.
This just highlighted for me how I am often blindsided or frustrated by my expectations that have nothing whatsoever to do with how things work versus the way I want them to work. Life is a lot more fun when I’m open-minded and especially when I can laugh at myself.
Until next time, be good to yourself, and check your viewpoint, for your well being and those you love.
Yours truly,
Barbara
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ABOUT OUR SERVICES
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My vision for The Speak Well Being Group is to be a connector for speakers I know, love and believe in, with the audiences who will be inspired, motivated, and transformed by their perspectives, knowledge, empathy, compassion, information and, most importantly, capacity to enjoy the process, laughing at themselves and with you along the way.
You’ll find many of our speakers on our website.
Or please call anytime and let us assist you: 503-699-5031
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