Gratitude
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year. It’s a time of reflection and planning for the new year. I always look back over the past year and see all the good things that occurred, along with all the challenges that lead to opportunities for growth. Our past teaches us things if we are willing to glean from these lessons. These challenges create resilience, strength and courage. I have learned, however, that you cannot stay focused on the past, you must accept it for what it was, live in the moment for the next unique possibilities and commit to a plan for the future.
I have recently had three great books on my desk. Dare to Lead, by Brene Brown, The Leadership Gap, by Lolly Daskal and Building a Story Brand, by Donald Miller. All three of these amazing authors have been challenging me to grow and move forward in my professional, physical therapy role and my business endeavors. All of these books, in different ways, use introspective thinking to help you move forward in your thinking and to ask yourself hard questions about what might be holding you back from your full potential. All of us possess different strengths and weaknesses. The ability to use our energy to freely develop our potential is powerful and can make a difference for ourselves and others in our community. This freedom means shedding some of our old habits and the negative words we might have experienced in our life which may be holding us back so that we can do what we are called to do.
Last year I was asked to be a delegate for the WED Women’s Entrepreneur Day Coeur d’Alene/Spokane event. It was a thought-provoking event and it made me consider what it would be like to work with women in our community to make it a better place. I began networking with women in our community and then joined a group in my own physical therapy profession called “Women in PT Summit.”
These things challenged me to look locally at making a difference and globally at making women’s medical health a priority for me, personally and professionally. With that, we started a study at Lake City Physical Therapy, PA, to assess how well our community is doing in caring for postpartum moms after having their baby. We have collected more than 60 surveys so far so that we can see how well we are doing in our medical community with the “Fourth Trimester.” Our next step is coming, with a free PT screening and a 12-week exercise program for postpartum moms to get the correct early interventions so the women in our community can have a higher quality of life.
This year I’m a delegate again for WED Coeur d’Alene/Spokane and I’m excited to invite you to our “Women’s Entrepreneur Day” evening event at North Idaho College from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Nov. 30 with an after-party sponsored by Vine and Olive. WED is an international organization to empower women in business. The goal is for women who are in business to make a difference by helping other women, locally and globally.
All of our local proceeds this year will go to fund scholarships at NIC through the NIC Foundation for their Entrepreneurship Certificate program so that we can further facilitate those who wish to train and develop their entrepreneurial skills for their own business or their potential new business.
We will have an amazing lineup of speakers from our own region to help motivate you, whether you have been in business for years or you are just getting started. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.com. You won’t want to miss this! Last year we had over 350 women who attended. If you wish to be a sponsor and get in front of all these incredible women, please contact me at shereelcpt@gmail.com. We look forward to seeing you there!
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Sheree DiBiase, PT, is the owner of Lake City Physical Therapy, PA, and she and her amazing staff look forward to seeing you at WED Women’s Entrepreneur Day at North Idaho College Women’s Choice, Choose Well Lake City PT. Coeur d’Alene office, 208-667-1988; Hayden office, 208-762-2100; and Spokane Valley, 509-891-2623.