Deb Copeland
“I know God will not give me anything I can't handle.
I just wish He didn't trust me so much.”
~Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Why I Wrote This Book and How It Can Help You
The expression “Where He leads me” is not something to which I just pay lip service. It is, in fact, exactly how I live my life, on a daily basis. So far, I am happy to report, the Lord has never led me to the wrong place…including when he led me to the interior of Russia where I found my adopted daughter Maggie, or when He led me to Guatemala, where I found my wonderful children, Molly and Tate. Even through the diagnosis of a brain tumor, when I literally fell down many times, He always lifted me up.
From the beginning to the present, through terrible losses, He has been with me. When I was 14 and my father left my terminally-ill mother and me alone, nobody else was there for me except the Lord. And, over time—because I was a bit slow to catch on—His love, support and guidance made all the difference. No matter WHAT life threw at me, no matter how strong the wind force, I was a willow tree, bending but never breaking…because of Him. Even today there are many obstacles and disappointments, but as I have come realize, I may not know what the future holds, but I do know who holds my future.
As I also came to recognize, and accept, on a soul-deep level, life is always going to throw challenges at us. No one is immune. You may be a billionaire with all the toys—a yacht, a personal airplane, servants galore and homes around the globe—it doesn’t matter, life is too big a force, and you are not immune. You may be at the other extreme economically, penniless, even homeless. Your life may be one long challenge, but you can still turn it around. You can still find happiness, satisfaction, fulfillment, and success. The difference is attitude. And that is where this book comes in.
In 2006, I wrote my book, Attitude Therapy. In it I told my story, and that of several others, in great detail, including my philosophy that “Attitude is not about what happens to you, but rather how you respond to what happens.” Although attitude therapy, giving yourself a ‘Tude Tune-up and cultivating “an attitude of gratitude” form the solid foundation for all my talks, seminars and workshops, I thought I was done with writing about the topic.
Then Molly spoke up.
Molly is my 9-year-old daughter. My husband Don and I adopted her—and our son Tate, age 9 who is not biologically related to Molly—from an orphanage in Guatemala. Molly was 12 months when we got her, and I couldn’t love her more if she were my biological child. Sometimes I think she is wise beyond her years. Other times I know she is!
First, Molly wanted a book for a very sick child, a little girl who was dying. We did not know Kayla personally. We learned from the minister of our church about a very sick girl named Kayla who had to be in the hospital for three months for a bone marrow transplant and other treatments. When the minister told her story to the congregation, Molly wanted to help Kayla through her three months by making a special book for her, and the family took on Molly’s project.
My son Ryan, 17, did the driving to pick up the letters from other children, and encouraged older kids to participate. Maggie, 12, made calls and wrote letters and colored art work. Tate, also 9, jumped in with his buddies and drew pictures and wrote sweet letters. Collectively, with the support of their friends, my wonderful children put together an awesome book. It contained three months of letters from other kids, and, for each day, a game or treat of some type. We used an album with plastic pages so that we could insert gum, candy, crayons and other fun stuff. Finally, the book was complete, and we delivered it to the hospital. Kayla loved it from the moment she got it, and used it daily. Her parents and grandparents told us how very much she enjoyed the gift and how much comfort she found in it.
Then Molly told me I should do a book like hers for adults, to help them deal with their problems. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Sometimes He uses my children to help get the message to those who need it.
If “Where He leads me” is real to you, or you believe it could or should be…. or you have self-esteem issues…or life has thrown some challenges at you that feel like you are carrying the world on your shoulders…. do pick up Good Morning Good Night. Do read it with an open, nonjudgmental mind. And most of all please do all the exercises and fill in all the information requested in this workbook. You’ll be glad you did. Molly promises you and so do I.
And if you’d like to share how this works for you, please, visit me at www.debcopeland.com or Email me at debcopeland@gottude.net.
Deborah L. Copeland, whose home base is Charleston, West Virginia, is a successful entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and author of the best-selling book, Attitude Therapy. Her greatest joy, however, comes not from her business successes but from her maternal role in a blended “his, hers and ours” family of eight— including three youngsters adopted from abroad. She also takes pride in her strong and abiding faith and “personal relationship with the Lord,” which, as she details in her book and in her keynote talks, has seen her through many of life’s most challenging trials and tribulations.
During the early eighties, Deb Copeland simultaneously launched two innovative businesses. Under her leadership as President and CEO, the first business, Smart Temporary Services, a recruitment company, grew to serve temporary personnel needs in seven states and soared from 1 employee to 4000 employees, with multiple branches and a national reputation for excellence.
In 1994, after selling Smart Temporary Services to a global firm, Copeland focused her entrepreneurial energy on her second business, Work Smart Business Consultants, a training and development firm. This company, which she still heads, rapidly became a leading supplier of consultant services to hospitals, major corporations, and industry. The company provides work-flow studies, in-house consulting services, management training, business development, legal witness preparation, and many additional sought-after courses.
As a speaker and seminar leader, Deborah Copeland’s compelling messages continue to draw audiences throughout the United States. The most requested courses, “Got ‘Tude?” (i.e. Got Attitude) and “Emotional Intelligence,” enable corporations to get better results from their employees while maintaining and promoting their physical and mental well-being. The basic message of her motivational speeches and seminars is that there is a direct connection between our emotional and physical health, and that how successful we are in life directly relates to our capacity for talking to ourselves in an encouraging rather than demeaning way – in other words, with positive rather than negative self-talk.
Ms. Copeland is an active community volunteer, serving on numerous boards. She also often involves her family and staff. The recipient of numerous awards and accolades, she was named “Entrepreneur of the Year in the Services Division in 1992 by The Institute of American Entrepreneurs. In 1995 The State Journal selected Ms. Copeland as one of 10 business executives profiled in “Who Who’s in West Virginia Business.”
With multiple “starring roles” that encompass wife and mother, survivor, educator, entrepreneur, philanthropist, author, life coach, community activist and religious group leader, Deb Copeland has her hands—and heart—full. And, she says, she wouldn’t have it any other way. Although she admits there are days she doubts her abilities, she remains steadfast in her conviction that: “The Lord never gives you more than you can handle.”
