What has Happened in my life to make me into the person I am today?- A Response to TribeSteemUp QOTW

@trucklife-family asked everyone, wither you're a @TribeSteemUp member or not, to respond to their Bi-weekly question - "What has Happened in my life to make me into the person I am today?"

I love these types of questions for it gives me a chance to get to know people better and folks to get to know me better if they care to do so.

@Porters - a Selfie!

Two things that are a big part of my life came about from my family life as a youth.

My mother was a nurse and had lots of medical books around plus my two older sisters had a keen interest in natural medicines so there was a lot of influence on my path as a herbalist and when you combine that with the love of nature that was instilled in me from my father, who worked for D.U. and Nature conservancy, taking us on many field trips you can see why I ended up living in the forest, looking to the abundance provided there.

Two of my major lessons I learned in my youth was the impact peoples words can have on others. How simple words can put you into a dark space, lost until you learn to stand up for yourself or like me, learn to fight.
Because of this lesson I am very careful with my speech and not using my words to hurt plus I can feel more compassion for those who may be in a dark space, to reach out with some kindness to hopefully alleviate some of there suffering.

Another major lesson I learned as a teenage, in those difficult years when you are trying to make your way into the adult world, was - where you put your focus on is what you give power to. I was having difficulty with my thoughts and feeling a loss of control, which led into another dark hole. Once I could see that it is only what you focus on, it's only those thoughts that will have any power. This lifted me out of despair and has given me strength when I'm faced with a myriad of craziness being bombarded at me from the outside world.

There has been major incidences in my life that have been turning points.

Becoming a Mom

One of these was when I became a mother - a good mother, learning what it was to love and care for someone so much you would give your life for them. It continues to enrich my life to this day as I bought my son up and became a grandma with so much more love to share.

Another one of these turning points was like starting a whole new life.
I was in a life changing accident and went from an athletic, very active person to one who was paralyzed and in a wheelchair.
Read How I over came paralysis at: https://steemit.com/naturalmedicine/@porters/my-healing-story-overcoming-paralysis

After my accident I could no longer return to my old way of living and my father, who was a firm believer in education, had told us he would pay for any secondary education we wanted to take.
I always loved working with kids and has worked as the town swimming instructor before the accident.
Any education I would take would have to be distance education for I did not want to leave my home in the forest to go to school.
I looked into becoming a teacher but the women who worked at the regional college filled me in on what your actual wages would be if you counted the hours that you would work and it wasn't much. Now you have to know that I was nearly fifty years old when I was looking into this. She pointed out the Educational Associate program when you are paid by the hour. That was the course I chose and have never regretted it, for I got a position in the "Play and Exploration " program with the Pre-K kids and I just love it.
Read all about it in my post - "When Work is Play" at: https://steemit.com/introduceyourjob/@porters/when-work-is-play-what-i-do

There had been people in my life whom I have come under their influence.

One being my partners in a greenhouse business we started growing coniferous seedlings for reforestation. It was my bit for paying back to Mother Earth who nourished me. With this reforestation project we created a lot of employment to folks in our community and it was lovely to work together and see the forest and our community grow!

Another person who's influence I came under was my future husband, who bought to me the Buddha Dhamma. This led me to find much peace and tranquillity in a crazy world. We built our lives together and created a sanctuary, a place to retreat from the world, in the forests of Saskatchewan, Canada. See my interview with @riverflows in the Natural Medicine community on Vipassana meditation at: https://steemit.com/naturalmedicine/@naturalmedicine/natural-medicine-interview-sessions-talking-vipassana-with-porters

Another change in my life has been coming to Steemit and connecting with the wonderful communities and amazing people here.
I was at the age where I wanted to pass on some of the knowledge I had gain through out my life, to help keep it alive. I had written a series of books - "Bringing Out the Potential of Children" found on Amazon.
But the engagement and the writing prompts, questions of the week and challenges set up by different communities, has opened a whole new avenue for writing and sharing.

Thus you have my entry to this Bi-weekly question of the week.
I thank you for reading my response and I'm hoping to see many more responses to this question to get to know my fellow Steemians better!

If you enjoyed this post,
Please don’t hesitate to follow me here on steemit at @porters