Several years ago, my wife and I attended a Tony Robbins seminar in which Ms. Buckley was one of the fellow participants who was "working on herself" just like the rest of us. She was doing this, although she had often been a motivational speaker at similar sessions for Mr. Robbins. I was intensely touched by her then, and am even more moved now by reading about her story in detail.

As she says, Ms. Buckley was a victim of ignorance . . . that of others and her own. Probably due to one or the other of severe childhood problems, she has very little hearing. Neither her parents or the school realized this until she was 8. The remediation helped a little, but not enough. She was a poor lip reader, no one tried to make it easier for her, she didn't have hearing aids that did her any good, and schools generally did not give her the special support she needed. As a result, she was more often treated as a mentally retarded person or as a trouble-maker than as a hearing-impaired person. It's hard to know what you don't know in that situation. In many cases, she describes the shock of hearing simple things for the first time (like the laughter of a baby, paper rustling, and the warning bell in a car).

Her second challenge was that having so many things to learn, she was often shunned by others. This made developing her emotional connections slow and difficult. Her parents were not very communicative (even for those who could hear them), and friends and mentors were the exception rather than the rule.

As a result, Ms. Buckley reached a sense of self-awareness and emotional connection that most adults have at 22 only after age 40. The story of how she got there is fascinating. You'll feel like it's happening to you. In addition to the hearing problems, she also had to overcome challenges related to having cervical cancer before she was 30, almost dying in a car accident (while lying peacefully on a beach), and being molested as a girl.

From her trials emerged a smart, caring, wonderful woman whom anyone would want to know and have as a friend. As to those who ignored her when she needed help, you come away thinking that they were the ones who lost out rather than Ms. Buckley.

Some of the many poignant moments in the book include going to her first confession and not knowing what was going on in the confessional, having her first menstrual period without any advance education or explanation after it occurred, forgiving her molester, and learning to be a mentor to others.

Anyone who thinks they have it rough and have the right to feel sorry for themselves rather than taking action can learn a lot from this book. As powerful as the book is, I strongly urge you to meet her in person . . . through her motivational speeches, her comedy routines, or her one-woman shows. That will really bring the message home to you!

What do you need to accept before you can move on? How can you make the best of what you have?

May you find the joy of self-acceptance . . . always!

Several years ago, my wife and I attended a Tony Robbins seminar in which Ms. Buckley was one of the fellow participants who was "working on herself" just like the rest of us. She was doing this, although she had often been a motivational speaker at similar sessions for Mr. Robbins. I was intensely touched by her then, and am even more moved now by reading about her story in detail.

As she says, Ms. Buckley was a victim of ignorance . . . that of others and her own. Probably due to one or the other of severe childhood problems, she has very little hearing. Neither her parents or the school realized this until she was 8. The remediation helped a little, but not enough. She was a poor lip reader, no one tried to make it easier for her, she didn't have hearing aids that did her any good, and schools generally did not give her the special support she needed. As a result, she was more often treated as a mentally retarded person or as a trouble-maker than as a hearing-impaired person. It's hard to know what you don't know in that situation. In many cases, she describes the shock of hearing simple things for the first time (like the laughter of a baby, paper rustling, and the warning bell in a car).

Her second challenge was that having so many things to learn, she was often shunned by others. This made developing her emotional connections slow and difficult. Her parents were not very communicative (even for those who could hear them), and friends and mentors were the exception rather than the rule.

As a result, Ms. Buckley reached a sense of self-awareness and emotional connection that most adults have at 22 only after age 40. The story of how she got there is fascinating. You'll feel like it's happening to you. In addition to the hearing problems, she also had to overcome challenges related to having cervical cancer before she was 30, almost dying in a car accident (while lying peacefully on a beach), and being molested as a girl.

From her trials emerged a smart, caring, wonderful woman whom anyone would want to know and have as a friend. As to those who ignored her when she needed help, you come away thinking that they were the ones who lost out rather than Ms. Buckley.

Some of the many poignant moments in the book include going to her first confession and not knowing what was going on in the confessional, having her first menstrual period without any advance education or explanation after it occurred, forgiving her molester, and learning to be a mentor to others.

Anyone who thinks they have it rough and have the right to feel sorry for themselves rather than taking action can learn a lot from this book. As powerful as the book is, I strongly urge you to meet her in person . . . through her motivational speeches, her comedy routines, or her one-woman shows. That will really bring the message home to you!

What do you need to accept before you can move on? How can you make the best of what you have?

May you find the joy of self-acceptance . . . always!...