It’s time to write another blog, and I feel a little like that old commercial, “It’s time to make the donuts!” The commitment to put out a blog every other week may not sound like much to the average reader, but I’m telling you, sometimes I just have nothing to say on command. Today is one of those times, but it isn’t the usual struggle of not knowing what I want to write about. No, it’s that I am so excited about the release of my new book, Mental Freedom: You Hold the Key, that I’m having trouble thinking about anything else!

Although this is the fifth book I’ve written I still don’t think of myself as an author. Yes, I write books, but I identify myself as a helper. I am a speaker, trainer, counselor, and coach. I love talking with people and writing is such a solitary activity.

This book, however, has been quite different from my other ones. It was born out of necessity during the pandemic. I realized that studying Choice Theory® for most of my adult life had prepared me to get through that time relatively unscathed. Don’t get me wrong, it was hard. I’m an extrovert who lives alone. It was challenging, but after the initial shock, I really was fine. This caused me to reflect on all Choice Theory had taught me about how to manage challenges and turn them into opportunities.

Upon deep reflection, I realized there are six principles that allow me to live a happy, peaceful life. I put them together in a program called the Mental Freedom Experience. I wanted to help people, so I reached out to my network, asked who wanted to try it, and got several volunteers. I set up group sessions on Zoom and started the process. One group quickly turned into three and everyone who took the classes seemed to benefit from them, even those who had been studying and teaching Choice Theory.

After that experience, my good friend, Dr. Nassi Navid, suggested I do some research to include in my book. I had no idea how to go about that, so I reached out to a researcher I knew from my time as a cadre speaker at Yellow Ribbon Reintegration programs, Dr. Cam Richardson, from Penn State, and he generously volunteered to help me in his spare time.

Once again, I reached out for volunteers from my network who might want to help with research. I created a curriculum and certified 23 counselors and coaches in the Mental Freedom Experience. Once certified, they conducted Mental Freedom Experiences with their clients.

My good friend, Dr. Patricia Robey, then connected me with Dr. Figen Karadogan at Governors State University who agreed to run the numbers on the research and describe what she found. There were significant improvements in all six of Ryff’s Psychological Well-being Scales.

While the research was ongoing, I wrote the book. Again, I reached out for help from peers who agreed to review chapters from Mental Freedom: You Hold the Key to help me improve the book. I had eight peer reviewers for almost every chapter—a total of 50 people. I had one woman, Tine Lee Odensky-Zec, who believed in Mental Freedom so much that she also volunteered her time to help me with marketing and publicity.

And of course, there were also my editor and interior designer, Veronica Daub, who spent endless hours working to make this book the best it can be; Denise Daub, my cover designer; and Kristin Carerra, who created the keyhole image with the person carrying the key for the cover. Without these women, there wouldn’t be a book.

And now, in the week before the publication of this book, I have 41 volunteers who joined my street team to share the word about Mental Freedom with the people they know.

I recently learned about Charles Mackesy’s book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. The boy asked the horse, “What is the bravest thing you’ve ever said?” The horse replied, “Help!” That is also true for me. Asking for help is not something I do easily; it seems to threaten my hard-won independence. However, for Mental Freedom: You Hold the Key, I knew I couldn’t do it myself. I knew I needed support, and I was so humbled by the amount of amazing, incredibly busy people who were willing to give some of their time to support this labor of love.

The point is that, as I work to write this blog, my heart is full of all the people who trusted me to take a chance on Mental Freedom: You Hold the Key and believed in me enough to volunteer their time to help see this book to publication so these concepts can reach as many people as possible. My heart feels like it is going to burst with the joy and gratitude I feel to have these people in my life.

I remember many years ago, when my brother, Randy, got married. I sang Wind Beneath My Wings at his reception. I feel like these people are truly the wind beneath my wings and the wings of Mental Freedom, which is designed only to help people who are struggling. Those who keep their struggles to themselves and suffer in silence, while everyone around them thinks they are doing fine, are the people who will benefit the most from Mental Freedom.

If you want to know who my army of supporters are, you will find them listed in the Acknowledgments section of Mental Freedom: You Hold the Key. There are no words that can fully describe how much I appreciate every one of them. My life is made better by my association with them, and Mental Freedom couldn’t exist without their trust, support, and encouragement. I love you all and am deeply grateful.