My childhood was a life of chaos on the road for nine years with indifferent parents. I was repeatedly abandoned, including the day I was left on the side of a highway at six years old. I then spent nearly ten years in an orphanage, where no one came to visit.
When I aged out of the orphanage, I didn't know how to rise beyond despair, but I did realize that it was up to me to find a meaningful life. However, I was not yet emotionally equipped to make that happen. Personal relationships, including my marriage and those with my children foundered and nearly dissolved.
Then I found you, Dr. Laura. I was relieved to know that someone seemed to have real solutions that might benefit me. You daily drilled into me themes of self-determination, personal responsibility and willpower to do what was exceedingly difficult but necessary for achieving emotional balance. I heard you and stopped dwelling on my past, changed my behavior toward others, focused on positive solutions, recovered precious relationships, and grew my marriage and family into a haven where nurturance still flourishes.
Several years ago, I realized I had arrived at a destination I had long sought over the past sixty years. It is a sublime place, a place I wish never to leave and one where everyone should dwell - - it is the realm where contentment lives.
I am grateful you shared with me a map for finding this place. Like you, I would like to make others aware of the route to a land of contentment, especially those who believe insurmountable obstacles block their way.
Joel
I Turned My Bad Childhood Into A Good Life