Introduction Excerpt
Dear Reader,
The Wizard of Oz is one of my favorite stories of all time. On the surface, it's a fantasy about a little girl, Dorothy, and her dog, Toto, who are lost in the Land of Oz....But like any good story, it has a deeper meaning. Dorothy and her friends go to the Wizard with the naive, childlike hope that he will have magical solutions to their problems. Yet the Wizard's "magic" is simply a new perspective: he enables them to see that they already possess the inner power to solve their own problems...Like Dorothy and her friends, we all have certain strengths to help us cope with difficulties...
We have skills to soothe ourselves when we feel emotionally overloaded. We all have ruby slippers, the power to calm down and rise above the storm of stress that life can bring. We just have to find them!....This book will show you lots of ways to calm down...
In each chapter, you'll find stories about how three girls coped with a particular problem. I've used true-life stories that my patients have told me throughout the years, although names and identifying information have been changed...Remember this: there's no such thing as a stress-free life. No matter who you are, what color your skin is, how much money your parents make (or don't make), how old you are, what kind of grades you get, where you live, where you shop, what you look like--we are all Dorothys trying to get back home to a peaceful feeling inside...
Everyone needs to find her own ruby slippers, her own power to calm down and cope. Finding your ruby slippers will give you a sense of well-being. You'll feel more centered. You'll feel more in control. You'll feel more confident. You will deal with stress better because you will feel better from the inside out....
