Making a Shift in Life with Geri Topfer
Manage episode 334340314 series 2980544
Joining Yuliana today is Geri Topfer, the founder and president of Kula For Karma and co-founder of BeStill. Geri shares her phoenix tale involving her sobriety and how she gained strength to look inwards into her life and not just observe as an outsider. Geri recounts the feeling of being armored in her marriage due to past abandonment issues, and also how becoming sober propelled her to not just take control of her life, but also help others do the same.
Geri begins the conversation by sharing how an addiction redirected the course of her life. She talks about living her life in fear and hiding, how this fear seeped into her marriage, and about finding solace in AA meetings and putting herself first despite having to raise her kids. Geri describes the various shifts in life she had to make and the future she looks forward to, even at age 60. The episode ends with Geri sharing the one song that resonates with her life, a song about dancing whenever you get the chance.
Episode Highlights:
- The challenging event that redirected the course of Geri’s life
- Battling her social anxiety with drinking
- Living in fear and hiding
- Being armored in marriage
- Geri describes raising her kids despite her abandonment issues
- The shifts in Geri’s life
- Looking forward to the future
- The one song that resonates with Geri’s life
Quotes:
“Alcohol is really a disease. It is a disease, and I had no control.”
“For six months, I just started to get progressive, where I became insane hiding the bottles, bringing them down in the garbage cans at the end of the driveway. It was really taking over my life.”
“I always felt like an outsider looking in - the way I felt my whole life.”
“It's like living life on life's terms. I approach it with many tools, I'm either moving towards sanity or moving towards chaos. And because of all the work - I've done a lifetime - I hope it doesn't take anyone how long it’s taken me.”
“I feel secure. I love myself, and I feel like I belong everywhere because I take myself everywhere.”
“I am so thrilled that I still get an opportunity to be relevant and to learn and to grow.”
“There's a song also if you get the chance to dance, dance, and I'm forgetting... the artist. But if you get the chance to dance, dance. Get up and dance.”
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