Don’t Wait to Live: Turning Pain into a Teacher with Stefanie Schaffer (Episode #98)
Making an amazing hand out of the cards you’ve been dealt can seem impossible. But today’s guest – Stefanie Schaffer – has mastered the process and shares insights we can all put in practice tomorrow. The “bad hand” she was dealt, was very bad: losing both her legs in a tour boat accident while on a family vacation at age 22. But, in just 4 years, she has recovered from one setback after another, and managed her responses with so much clarity that she has recently found herself modeling for Kim Kardashian’s company, traveling, writing a book, and finding perspectives…
This interview is a Part 2 to a remarkable conversation Stef and I had just two years into her journey. And I have to tell you that even today, when I look back on that conversation, I still get goosebumps. She made comments that seemed almost otherworldly in their wisdom and foresight.
Resources Mentioned:
- Stafanie’s first podcast with Goodness Exchange – Finding New Roads While Redefining Yourself with Stefanie Schaffer
- Good Thing, Bad Thing, Who Knows? Silencing the Mental Chatter with Dr. Srikumar Rao (Episode #05)
Connect with Stefanie Schaffer:
- Website – https://www.stefanieschaffer.com
- Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/stefanieschafferrr/
- Stefanie’s Book (amazon) – Without Any Warning: Casualties of a Caribbean Vacation
[00:00 – 04:30] Opening Segment
- Live better lives with the cards that we’re dealt.
[04:30 – 10:10]
- Stef’s story and what she has been up to in the past years.
- Stef’s Bahamian vacation when she had her accident that changed her life.
[10:11 – 14:00]
- The kindness of strangers.
- Stef’s mother’s love for her daughter.
[14:01 – 18:00]
- Being kinder than the moment calls for.
[18:01 – 20:40]
- You learn to look at the bigger picture and you get better at it.
- Choosing to work everyday to get stronger instead of wallowing in self-pity.
[20:41 – 24:30]
- Modeling for the Kim Kardashian SKIMS line.
- Inclusivity in the fashion world.
[24:31 – 29:50]
- Talking to people with disabilities like they’re human.
- Putting everything through the lens of intention.
- Uncomfortable conversations are a learning process.
[29:51 – 36:00]
- Not labeling things good thing or bad thing and just letting time evolve.
- Time and memories are the most precious thing.
[36:01 – 40:50]
- It is still a great world, it just depends on what you look for and surround yourself with.
- Surround yourself with people who believe in you.
[40:51 – 41:55]
- Just do what you can do.
- It might be everything they need in that moment.
[41:56 – 45:00]
- Random choices and how they make outcomes.
[45:01 – 47:55]
- Being an observer.
- Choosing to give your attention to your gains and not your losses.
[47:55 – 53:50]
- Everyone has a story.
- Forgiving is the strongest thing that you can do.
[53:51 – 55:17] Closing Segment
