Healey Betty

The Local Seeker
October 21

Co-authors Betty and Jim Healey, along with illustrator Tracy-Lynn Chisolm launched their latest book, The Me First Playbook, on October 16th at the Cornwall Public Library.

Although titled a playbook; author Betty Healey stressed that the book is intended for an adult audience. "As adults, we have forgotten to play so we avoided calling this a workbook. Self-discovery is a serious and significant journey and it can be fun. When we were creating this, we wanted to encourage readers to relax and enjoy themselves.''

The Me First Playbook imparts a series of serious Me First messages in a conversational way. It is fully illustrated by Tracy-Lynn's intuitive art and contributions from Cleo, the retreat cat. " Basically, the book reflects how we teach Me First during our retreats and workshops.,'' Healey commented.

Other contributors to the Me First Playbook are Candice Nixon of Melting Pot Studio, graphic design and Wendy Grant and her team at Cornwall City Press, printing. Healey emphasized that this is once again a SD&G team who produced this product. "We have amazing talent locally, everything we need to produce a quality product and I am very proud of this,'' Healey added.

The Me First Playbook is available from roadSIGNS, www.roadSIGNS.ca.orinfo@roadSIGNS.ca .

Article by Kathleen Hay
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May 21, 2008

Glen Robertson - local author, life and wellness coach has a new feather in her publishing cap. Betty Healey, author of "roadSIGNS," has had a story published in a Chicken Soup for the Creative Soul series, "Life Lessons for Mastering the Law of Attraction: 7 Essential Ingredients for Living a Prosperous Life (ISBN: 13-978-0-7573-0669-3, Health Consortium Inc.)"

The story, "Radical Sabbatical," is a non-fiction entry that explains Healey's own life-changing journey, as well as her mother-in-law's, as they dealt with career and health challenges. "It just came out at the end of March, and it feels good," said Healey. "I just received my own copy last week."It's good. It expands my audience brings more people to the website."

Her own life journey began as a physiotherapist. A graduate of McGill University, she spent 25 ears in the field working in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec, where she eventually returned to McGill to pursue a M.A. (Educational psychology). She was always interested in the development of adult learning, and this led her into the field of mentoring and, subsequent, coaching.

After completing her graduate studies, she worked as Director of rehabilitation, and later Director of education, at St. Mary's Hospital, in Montreal. "It was very cool for me," she said. It was an opportunity for me to marry health care with education."

In 1997, Healey left the field as her interests continued to evolve. She again pursued additional qualifications including licensed Strategic Attraction Coach, certified Insights Discover facilitator, as ell as certification in Transitions Williams Bridges), Values Centered Leadership (Secretan), MBTI and en Space Technology (Owen), to name a few.

The impetus for Healey's success submission, "Radical Sabbatical," came in August 2001 when she decided it was "enough" she needed to quiet her mind and discipline herself to journal daily. As well, her mother-in-law was dealing with health issues, which were later happily resolved, so it seemed an appropriate time to help as a caregiver.

"The reality is we're on a road called life, but how many times do actually see the signs that cross path?" she says. "What if we began to take note of what the universe, a higher power or God is showing us every day, but that we're not paying attention to?

"The only way we can truly give to others is to give to yourself first." Healey refers to this as not being 'selfish,' but rather 'selfness.' "The idea is to understand the well will run dry if you don't know how to give and receive to ourselves," she states.

The Law of Attraction, in its simplicity, is that like attracts like. Or, in a biblical sense, she continues, "as we sow, so shall we reap." People often aren't aware they may
be thinking in a negative way, even structuring their sentences from a negative point of view. Much of it is done unconsciously, absorbed through media or even listening to a neighbour complain.

It can be as simple as saying, "I'm trying," rather than stating, "I am." "In my view, we become a messenger of our thoughts, feelings and actions, and we put into the world what we want to receive," stated Healey. "If I want an abundant life, I need abundant thoughts and feeling. If I want more love in my life, I need to see where it already exists
and celebrate it. "No one can change anything for us but ourselves."

She has a few suggestions for people to take this into their own lives. For instance, she encourages them to be very selective about what they read or listen to in the media - try to stay away from negative stories. Also, if people commute to work, don't turn on the radio or listen to music for 10 or 20 minutes - give yourself time.

"Television is probably the worst," Healey commented. "CNN is the worst of the worst Continuous Negative News. "People need to tune in and realize they're absorbing it." What appealed especially to her about the Chicken Soup format is that it takes a very similar approach to what she does in her life coaching. Done in short story format, it's followed by a life lesson exercise for the reader.

Her own complete books, "roadSIGNS - Travel Tips for Authentic Living" and "roadSIGNS2 - Travel Tips to Higher Ground," have been lauded by clients and the health-care community. In addition, her second one was a winner in the 15th annual Writer's Digest International Self- Published Book Awards, receiving an Honourable Mention in the inspirational category. As well, she also received a National Mature Media Silver Award from 55+, in Ottawa, for her article, "Remember When."

For those looking for something more in their lives, Healey makes an analogy to having a healthy, balanced diet. If you eat junk food, it may taste good at the time, but your body won't thank you for it. Instead, she recommends following what she terms the "Grace Diet." Discern, Gratitude, Intention.

The discern likens back to being selective about what you say, what you hear, what you choose to surround yourself with in your daily life. Gratitude means being thankful for what's already good in your life, while intention helps you focus on what a difference you want to make in the lives of others and yourself.

"Keep a gratitude journal, it doesn't even have to be written, it can be spoken," Healey said. "It can be as simple as saying to yourself how grateful you are to see green leaves again, or how good it is to have friends.

"This will help you to see a life filled with wonder. I like to do this before I fall asleep at night - falling asleep in gratitude is wonderful." And when you wake up?

"Wake up every morning with intention. Wake up thinking about what energy you want to give your self and others. It's like a pebble that's tossed into a pool of water, you can see the ripples of it."