326. Murphy’s Don’t Quit, Unlocking Hope When Life Seems Hopeless, With Colleen Murphy

We’ve got a really special guest today. She is an author and a public speaker. She is also a wife, and a mother of seven. Are you ready for a story of tragedy, turned into triumph? Strap up your seatbelts, we are going to St. Louis, Missouri to visit Colleen Murphy today for a very inspiring conversation!   In 2013, tragedy struck Colleen’s family when her second oldest daughter Lauren, was hit by a car and suffered severe brain damage. Colleen's main focus became helping piece Lauren back together again. With the help of specialists from all over the country, her family, her friends, as well as her strong faith.    Today, Colleen and Lauren speak together as a team inspiring thousands of people by sharing the details of Lauren's tragic accident, never-give-up attitude, and her miraculous recovery. Colleen lives with her husband Dave, and she spends her free time fielding countless phone calls from her children as they deal with the challenges of adulting, and assisting her husband via FaceTime as he struggles to find things at the grocery store.   Colleen Murphy is a writer and her recent work, “Murphys Don’t Quit: 5 Keys to Unlocking Hope When Life Seems Hopeless” was released last October 5th. It talks about the raw story of the accident and a story of hope and resilience as one family rallies together during a tragedy. Today, we are blessed to hear their family’s story and how they were able to overcome everything together, and also the 5 keys to unlocking hope that they talk about in the book.   It’s going to be an exciting and inspirational ride today as we visit Missouri with Colleen Murphy here in this episode of dHarmic Evolution!   More about Colleen Murphy Don’t forget to support Colleen’s book and check out their website and social media pages to see what’s new and what they are up to. All links are provided below! Quotes: 07:57 “ They also have a life to live, and I don't want everything just to be around trauma, right? It's important for us to make sure that they have the most normal life that they could even if things were different. I didn't want them to have to give up their sports teams or all their extracurricular activities. So that was like a big, big goal of my husband and mine early on. To make sure life continued as close to normal as possible for the rest of the kids. “   13:12 “So there's always a positive. Something we learned early on, look for the positive. That was their positive attitude.”   18:37 “ Writing has always kind of been my therapy. I am not a private person. I mean, my husband always says he could never run for office, because I’ll be blah-blah-blah, but it's always kind of been my therapy. But my twist on it in my writing style is – and it's a gift I got from my late father – I find humor in everything. Even when we're in the thick of things with the kids. I had a blog that I started back in 2008, and at the end of the day, especially when I had a really stressful day, I would sit at the computer and say, “Okay, what was funny about today?”   33:59 “One of the professors that she works with told me something early on, that was like, the best advice she could give me when we were working on the commencement address. She said, “If it's perfect, it's not inspirational.” I'm like, “You know, you're right.” It is the imperfection that makes this such a wonderful story. I mean, here's a girl that was never supposed to be able to speak or understand words, and she's speaking in front of 3000 people. So I have to always remember that, I can't expect her to not have deficits. “   42:04 “Number one, never give up. No matter what people tell you, never give up, just have faith and I get it that, “our story”, it doesn't always turn out that way, but there's always hope. You just don't know, just put one foot in front of the other, every day is better. You're gonna have some really, really tough days, but hang in there, the next day will be better.”   Timestamps:   01:16 Introducing Colleen Murphy 03:58 What are the five keys to unlocking hope? 05:53 The age spread in ages amongst Colleen’s seven children and how they reacted to their situation. 08:25 Colleen talks about Lauren’s life before the accident. 09:29 Colleen shares how they started having Lauren professionally taken care of. 11:15 How did the Murphy’s handle all the siblings getting in to see her and coming in and helping? 13:16 Colleen tells about her experience in handling the stress and seeing through what happened. 15:30 How did the accident happen? 16:38 What point did they see the light that they are able to connect back with Lauren?  18:18 When did the book idea first occur with Colleen? 20:36 How did Colleen feel about her grief that shadowed her creative abilities? 23:33 Colleen’s shares her take on using pen and paper and a computer. 25:22 Any aspirations for Colleen to write another book? 26:46 How did the speaking get into Colleen’s repertoire, is that something Lauren was doing? 29:32 How does Colleen feel when she’s speaking alongside Lauren? 31:15 Colleen takes us through a gig and the whole experience of them speaking. 34:46 How do Colleen and Lauren manage both of their schedules on doing speeches. 37:38 How did they get professional athletes and Taylor Swift involved to help and support? 39:46 The feeling of having a wonderful community and support system. 41:30 Colleen’s words of wisdom especially to those who are experiencing tragedies. 43:28 Listen to “Ride On” by James Kevin O’Connor   Spotify Playlist:   We are already on our 4th playlist, and we’ve got over 100 artists who are alumni of dHarmic Evolution. Have you checked them out yet? Visit these links, and let me know what you think of it in the comments when you visit the website as well! Don’t forget to also share them with your family and friends and let’s support these amazing talents.   dHarmic Rising Stars: Aquila https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4loDaYF0OuWRjZeMXvEjK4   dHarmic Rising Stars: Orion https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5CnL9tl0xbU4oDh6jtJBZx   dHarmic Rising Stars: Lyra https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ov0OqNMJmPhHrxZjsXthS   dHarmic Rising Stars: Scorpius https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5oQ4Sc4LAJSexsDgDcixt8   dHarmic Evolution links:   Have you signed in to your favorite platform yet? Check out dharmicevolution.com and see the available platforms that we have.  Don’t forget to also leave comments and let us know what you think!   Hey, do you know someone who is suffering from anxiety and depression? Please send them to dharmicevolution.com. The book “7 Steps to Mental Freedom” will be of great help to them. You can easily find it on the main page of the website.   Keep up-to-date with what’s going on with dHarmic evolution, check out our Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dharmicevolution Also, if you are an artist, an author, or a keynote speaker, who is trying to find a safe place to post your content, you can check out the Facebook community and let the world support you! Check out this link: dHarmic Evolution Community.  Special Links and Mentions: Taylor Swift Lance Bass Rick Springfield Connect with Colleen Murphy Website: https://murphysdontquit.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/murphysdontquit Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaurenMurphyRecoveryFund/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/colleenbfmurphy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/murphysdontquit/