Believes the hard stuff in life can actually help, not harm, parents--mothers in particular. It can empower them to grow stronger and wiser, more connected and courageous, and better able to make meaning of the mess and live more purpose-driven than ever before. Through science and stories, laughter and tears from someone who is a mom and a former Marine, Resilient as a Mother takes the reader on an epic journey of overcoming obstacles and the evidence-based, practical, and relatable guideposts that anyone -- mother or not -- can utilize in order to. Harness the difficulties that life throws at us so we can better connect to ourselves Build courage and connection to others Tap into our authentic sense of purpose, thereby building dynamic and lasting resilience, one small but powerful choice at a time Stress absolutely can make us sick and harm us, but that's not the whole story. If we think the only thing stress can do is destroy us, then that's all it can and will do. The book posits that we need to change our relationship with stress: we need to seek to improve stress, not remove stress. Parents, mothers in particular, often echo the refrain "the struggle is real" with no viable alternative path. Nearly all of us have whole-scale absorbed this message: all stress is all bad all the time and we need to make it all go away in order to be happy and healthy.

This only serves to magnify "mom guilt" when we seem to get even our pursuit of stress reduction wrong. This book is part of that alternative path where you too can learn how to be resilient as a mother.