From an early age, author Tom Ufert can remember his grandmother proclaiming that adversity builds character. At the time, he didn't completely understand what it meant or know that he would actually live it. In Adversity Builds Character, Ufert shares the events that altered and shaped his life and shows how, with God's help, he was able to survive, thrive, and inspire others. In this memoir, he narrates his life story and tells about the adversity he has faced his mother's early divorces; the breakdown of his relationship with his sister; his adoption by family friends; his mother's illness and murder; his contact with a predatory pedophile; his questioning of his own sexuality, bisexuality, and eventual acceptance of being gay; alcoholism and sexual addiction; diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis and HIV; and paralysis from a car accident. Revealing, honest, painful, and tender, Adversity Builds Character communicates the power of the human spirit to overcome the trials of modern life. It shows how Ufert's suffering paved the way for a deep appreciation for life and God's role in the world.

Raising Children At Promise is a practical resource and inspiring companion workbook to the revolutionary book Children At Promise, which replaced at-risk thinking with an at-promise strategy to help all kids succeed and overcome challenges in their lives through a trusting relationship with a caring adult. Step by step, this workbook explains the AT PROMISE paradigm and offers stories, activities, self-assessments, prayer reflections, and answers to frequently asked questions, encouraging readers to understand and apply At Promise principles in their daily relationships with kids. Most notably, an observation guide facilitates focused thinking and journaling about kids, giving parents and educators a tool for recognizing progress and knowing how to encourage children to live up to their potential. Solidly grounded in tested educational and psychological theory as well as timeless biblical wisdom, Raising Children At Promise offers a groundbreaking approach to character growth in kids.

"Character" has become a front-and-center topic in contemporary discourse, but this term does not have a fixed meaning. Character may be simply defined by what someone does not do, but a more active and thorough definition is necessary, one that addresses certain vital questions. Is character a singular characteristic of an individual, or is it composed of different aspects? Does character--however we define it--exist in degrees, or is it simply something one happens to have? How can character be developed? Can it be learned? Relatedly, can it be taught, and who might be the most effective teacher? What roles are played by family, schools, the media, religion, and the larger culture? This groundbreaking handbook of character strengths and virtues is the first progress report from a prestigious group of researchers who have undertaken the systematic classification and measurement of widely valued positive traits. They approach good character in terms of separate strengths-authenticity, persistence, kindness, gratitude, hope, humor, and so on-each of which exists in degrees. Character Strengths and Virtues classifies twenty-four specific strengths under six broad virtues that consistently emerge across history and culture: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. Each strength is thoroughly examined in its own chapter, with special attention to its meaning, explanation, measurement, causes, correlates, consequences, and development across the life span, as well as to strategies for its deliberate cultivation. This book demands the attention of anyone interested in psychology and what it can teach about the good life.

This book, Counselling and Therapy, aims to equip students, life skills teachers, counselors, psychologists, academics, and other health practitioners with the most practical counselling and therapy basic skills, different counselling approaches, and problem-based techniques to address psychosocial problems. In this edition of Counselling and Therapy the following contents were covered: Definitions of counselling and therapy Counselling principles and theories Gender-based violence Self-efficacy and self-esteem Basic counselling communication skills

A straight-talking guide to the way business experience and success are attained in the real world profiles the "adversity paradox" through which professionals rise to even greater heights after seemingly career-breaking setbacks, in a reference that cites the examples of such individuals as Harvey Mackay, Doris Christopher, and Pete Dawkins.

Over half of all births to young adults in the United States now occur outside of marriage, and many are unplanned. The result is increased poverty and inequality for children. The left argues for more social support for unmarried parents; the right argues for a return to traditional marriage. In Generation Unbound, Isabel V. Sawhill offers a third approach: change "drifters" into "planners." In a well-written and accessible survey of the impact of family structure on child well-being, Sawhill contrasts "planners," who are delaying parenthood until after they marry, with "drifters," who are having unplanned children early and outside of marriage. These two distinct patterns are contributing to an emerging class divide and threatening social mobility in the United States. Sawhill draws on insights from the new field of behavioral economics, showing that it is possible, by changing the default, to move from a culture that accepts a high number of unplanned pregnancies to a culture in which adults only have children when they are ready to be a parent.

Overcoming the Odds looks closely at the lives of an ethnically diverse group of 505 men and women who were born in 1955 on the Hawaiian island of Kauai and who have been monitored from the prenatal period through early adulthood by psychologists, pediatricians, public health professionals, and social workers. Werner and Smith trace the impact of a variety of biological and psycho-social risk factors and stressful events on the development of these individuals, most of whose parents did not graduate from high school and worked as semiskilled or unskilled laborers. Incorporating vivid case study accounts with statistical analysis, the authors focus on both the vulnerability and the resilience of those who overcame great odds to grow into competent and caring adults. They trace the recovery process through which most of the troubled adolescents in the cohort—those with histories of delinquency, teenage pregnancy, and mental health problems—emerged with improved prospects in their twenties and early thirties. Identifying both the self-righting tendencies that enable high risk children later to adapt successfully to work, marriage, and parenthood, and the conditions under which professional and volunteer care is most beneficial, Werner and Smith offer concrete suggestions for effective intervention policies.

Your character matters to God, and this daily devotional equips you to develop godly character, resist common pitfalls, and overcome temptations—one day at a time. With topics from maintaining integrity to growing in faithfulness, each of the 100 devotions provides a short reflection, a key Bible verse, an inspiring quote, and a prayer that will root your character in God’s Word and show you the importance of building up your character and passing it on to the next generation. Stephen Arterburn of New Life Ministries shows how to walk in integrity, stay rooted in Scripture, and set an example for the next generation in this 100-day devotional, which features:Daily devotions on 100 character-building topicsThought-provoking personal questions and practical applicationsPowerful prayers inspired by Scripture5-minute devotions with further study optionsEach day your character is tried and tested. How will you respond? Each day your character is tried and tested. How will you act when no one is watching? There are no shortcuts to building character. It’s a life-long journey. It’s a daily decision. It’s what you do when no one is looking. It’s how you act when trials come.

Become Unstoppable and Achieve More through inspiring ideas and timeless values A person with a positive attitude cannot be stopped and a person with a negative attitude cannot be helped. Both success and failure have a limited lifespan. Success is neither a miracle nor a mystery. It does not depend upon special skills, formal education or superior intelligence. It is the natural outcome of consistently applying certain principles on an ongoing basis. Live by design, not by default · Gain confidence and optimise your potential · Become proactive and develop a winning attitude · Balance your health, wealth and relationships · Overcome day-to-day problems and make better decisions · Make positive choices and avoid pitfalls.