ABOUT CLAUDIA NELSON
Adversity has shaped my life...as I chose to have it shaped. That is, after I realized that making a choice about how I responded to adversity, made all the difference. Until then, like most people, I wallowed around in being a victim. After all, victims get so many perks—look at all the handicapped parking spots. And if you remain a victim, you don’t have to be responsible for your life; and you can get so much attention and sympathy. That feels good for a while. The problem is, if you don’t take control of your life, someone else will. That’s when most of us find that . . . whomever takes control, doesn’t always know what is best for us, or have our best interest at heart. That is when we have to finally realize, as hard as it is to take responsibility for our own lives, the consequences become far more difficult if we don’t. This is one of the first things I help victims understand as they begin their journey from victim to victor, you must be willing to make a choice, to give up the perks of victim to become a victor.
No one would have blamed me if I had allowed myself to be a victim. After all, I’d lost my father to an auto accident, my mother and sister to murder, and nearly lost my life to cancer. And, I’d lost my first husband to divorce then death, my 2nd husband to an Alzheimers like dementia and death, and lost my life savings to a Ponzi scheme, to say nothing about the kidnapping of my nieces to be sold for Satanic worship, and having my brother-in-law shot twice, set on fire and left for dead.
When I made the decision not to be a victim of my adversities, but to make every minus (-) in my life, a plus (+), with the stroke of a choice, my life began to change. So did the lives of many others around me—for the better. After my mother and sister were murdered I began a 501c3 non-profit organization to find ways to create safer communities for families, this effort crossed international borders and saved the lives of many children. When I got caught in a Ponzi scheme, I spent 8 years pursuing the con men to get them off the streets to prevent new victims; then I wrote Rising from Ashes to help the victims recover—which turned out to be a book to help anyone recover from any kind of adversity, such as fraud, abuse, job loss, etc. As you review my Bio that follows, everything I have accomplished was in response to trying to help someone victimized by life’s circumstances. In the process of helping others, I have healed and helped myself. You always get back more than you give. Try it! Cast your bread upon the water. In time, it will come back buttered and spread with an exquisite jam. Just keep watching for the miracle, or you may miss it, or not connect your good fortune to your earlier good deed.