My Amazing Mother & Her Incredible New Book

My mother is amazing!  As if that’s not enough, she wrote a book.  But let’s back up a bit.  My mother is fun, she’s smart, she’s friendly, she’s thoughtful, and she always has been.  When I see pictures of my mom as a kid I see her smiling, laughing, and surrounded by people who are looking at her fondly.  My mother has always been the kind of person that people love to be around, and she’s also always been the kind of person who loves to be around people.  She’s a people person.

Not only does she love to be around people, but also she understands, respects, and appreciates them.  Moreover she understands, respects, and appreciates the ways in which they grow and learn.  She even has a PhD in the understanding and appreciating of how people grow and develop (basically).  The PhD has enriched her knowledge and her worldview, but the truth is, she probably could’ve taught that particular PhD even before she took it.

A while ago, and over the course of about ten years, my mother gave birth to six children.  That’s a lot of children.  I know, in part because I was one of them, and in part because my wife is about to give birth to our fourth…and that’s a lot of children too.  Regardless, for about a decade of her life my mother was either pregnant or giving birth.  Amazing!

Then, for about twenty years after that decade (and during it) she was raising those six children.  By all accounts I would say she did a pretty darn good job!  My siblings and I each have all of our fingers and toes, and we’re each making our way through the world independently, along our individually chosen paths, engaged in our interests, sustaining our hopes, and unfolding our visions.  I think that’s pretty darn good.  Somehow, alongside raising us my mother found the time to have (and continue) a successful career in corporate training and motivation.  I think that’s pretty darn good too.

Aside from the obvious challenges that come along with life, parenting, relationships, and with the rigors of my mother’s professional and academic pursuits, her incredible life so far has not been without its unique struggles.  The amazing thing is, she has and continues to overcome each one with grace and dignity.  Among the many reasons that I can write a sentence like, “My mother is amazing,” is that through those struggles (and that overcoming) she’s maintained and modeled an incredible sense of optimism, resilience, patience, humility, courage, positivity, and fortitude.  She really is amazing!

As my mother has progressed along her journey it hasn’t been difficult for her to realize that her mission includes reaching out, supporting, encouraging, and offering insights and wisdom to other amazing women who have and/or continue to struggle.  In researching her dissertation, she interviewed many such women from around the world.  She recorded and reflected on their stories.  She turned out a masterfully reflective dissertation detailing the insights that she gained through research and her analysis of her lived experiences and those of the women she interviewed.  She focused her thesis on the idea of transformation from a negative to a positive self-image in women over the age of fifty.

I’m thrilled to report that my mother’s work in this area can now be accessed in the incredible new book she just published!  The book is called, “I don’t want to be anyone but me!” by Dr. Micki Berg.  It’s comprised of thirteen chapters.  The first twelve are detailed accounts of some of her study subjects’ struggles and the ways in which they overcome them.  Chapter thirteen is my mother’s story.  As an extension of mission to help others, she’s included an extremely easy to follow and user-friendly workbook in the second part of the book.

My mother’s work is a great example of how we can each dig deep into the connections between others and ourselves to facilitate personalized and meaningful progress.  It is testament to the idea that strength and courage, when accessed with faith and persistence, trumps fear and doubt…even in the most challenging of times.  It speaks volumes about human capacity, about vision and drive, and about lights at the end of what can seem to be the darkest tunnels.  For us in educational leadership and parenting, my mother’s work is evidence of the fact that people thirst for positive progress.  Our children and our students, wherever they may be on the spectrum of struggle to achievement, are ready, able, and eager to learn and grow.

If you or anyone you know is interested in reading about and connecting to the positive transformations experienced by these women, if you or anyone you know is interested in exploring the idea of positive transformation in his or her own life, if you or anyone you know is interested in an incredible read, a cathartic experience, and an uplifting message of hope, please follow this link to my amazing mother’s incredible new book:  http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Want-Anybody-But-Experienced/dp/1495428729/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406058680&sr=1-1&keywords=micki+berg

And if you do, just remember…that’s my mother!

Congrats mom…well done!

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Dream Big.  Work Hard.  Be Well.

2 comments

  1. Michael Medvinsky

    Wow Seth! You have described your mother in an incredible light. I can see from your insights and continued motivation that she has been a wonderful model for you and your siblings. Congratulations on her new publication and your growing family!

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