Overcomers Overcoming

Erin Clements continues her evaluated life experience by discussing life boundaries. When her counselor asked her to define her life boundaries, she was taken aback without a response. As she reflects on her life, she now realizes her failed marriage was due, in part, to her lack of boundaries and her confidence to confront her former husband. Facing others remains an area of growth in her journey, moving forward and upward. She is passing along her positive life learning experiences as she grows through this journey.

The Cooper Culture is a catalyst to transform a person's mindset of quiet desperation to one of confident assurance. A catalyst in this context inspires action. We do this through:

· Public speaking

· Partnering with principle-based organizations

· Our "Overcomers Overcoming" podcast series

Many people of all socio-economic strata are experiencing varying degrees of quiet desperation as manifested by expressing or feeling anxiety, loneliness, uncertainty, unworthiness, and other forms of low self-image.

Ron experienced this in his early life. As he reflects on how things were, he determined why his mindset was what it was. In a brief expression, words matter.

God created us to function best with connected relationships. We all need to be accepted by some people; some need many, while others need fewer. Irrespective of that number, we will likely feel rejected if we do not feel accepted. That rejection can lead to an unworthy feeling, leading to the question, "does anyone care if we are even here?"

Some people are confident enough in themselves to ask for help. Others, however, like Ron, would never ask for help, and to do so would reinforce his inadequacies of low confidence, stupidity, and unworthiness. Therefore, we will remain silent, hoping someone will accept us.

We live by the principle, "we would rather apologize than have to eulogize." We aim to empathize with you so we can recognize and meet your unspoken needs, and we do that by listening to you. we want to be aware of statements we call "data points." Enough of those data points could be appropriate descriptors from which we discern your pain points without you directly expressing and possibly intimidating yourself.

We adapt to your most intimate need for a connected relationship by listening and appropriately assessing without labeling or stigmatizing you. When people know you care and represent a safe space, meaningful communication always follows.

We advance people through three venues:

· Public speaking, where we integrate

o My life story of overcoming

o My appropriate vulnerabilities

o Inspiration to others through aviation, military, and other life stories

· Working with organizations to establish and maintain a workplace culture of trust and loyalty

o Assessing the current work culture and relationships

o Identify the organization's defining/core values

o Interviewing and hiring the right people

· Our Overcomers Overcoming podcast with three main objectives:

o Assure you we are standing with and walking beside you

o Assure you there are multiple solutions to overcome any challenge(s)

o Establish good critical thinking skills to make informed decisions

Our target market for each venue is entrepreneurial-thinking people who learn best through evaluated life experiences. We do not teach. Instead, we explain how we think. Our thoughts always precede our actions, and impulsive thinking sometimes leads to irrational decisions.

We evolved into this passion through life experiences. At one point in Ron's life, he could not even think about doing what we now do because of his inherent insecurities about how he processed various statements.

We have learned that the letters included with your name on a business, the "shingles" you have on your wall representing diplomas, and the trophies you might have on display might mask your feelings. That "mask" too often leads to lives of quiet desperation. We must have the courage to discern and then take appropriate action.

Some of our guiding principles are grounded in the following:

· "A Setback is a Setup for a Comeback," a book by Willie Jolley

· "we would rather apologize than have to eulogize."

· We are "prisoners" of our past only by our choice

We advance others by partnering with others. Mutual support and a surrendered relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior, is our hope that the best is yet to come.

Erin Clements continues to chronicle her life testimony of recovering from a traumatic divorce. After several months of experiencing grief and emotional turmoil, Erin purposed to seek forgiveness to begin her journey to recovery. Initially, she wasn't sure what forgiveness "looked" or felt like. Might forgiving the offender marginalize the hurt and sin? Through prayer and therapy, she experienced freedom from the stress of harboring bitterness. After all, Jesus felt the ultimate agony with His death on the cross.

Charles Smith felt overwhelming grief from his father's death when he was 11 years old, followed by the deaths of his grandfather and uncle. He did not have an inner circle of friends in whom he could confide. As a result, he bottled up his emotions to the point of thinking ending his life might be the best solution. Thankfully, his friends engaged in his life at the right time to avert this outcome. Charles was very quiet and subdued at the time. His friends merely chose to be with him for no reason beyond being with a friend. That "random kindness" response kept Charles from making a regretful decision.

Ron and Marty Cooper discuss taking action in the context of the account of the man wanting to go into the pool of Bethsaida. Jesus healed the man and told him to begin walking. We cannot continue doing what we have done in the past and expect different results. If we are not getting fulfillment with what we are doing, we must take action to do something different. God promises to direct the path of those who surrender to Him, and submitting to Him is the first action to bring about better results.

Erin Clements continues her life testimony with a focus on trust. Trust requires a lifetime to build, a moment to lose, and forever to repair. Enduring trust is earned – it is never demanded, and it is an essential value and character trait. So, how can you know if a person is trustworthy? Erin shares her experience while offering consideration for others to consider. The axiom "pay me now or pay me later" as relates to time to establish or reestablish trust applies. There are no shortcuts to establishing trust.

Erin Clements continues her life journey of recovering from her marital trauma. She evaluated her life experience and shares her lessons learned. As a Christian, this life experience devastated her. However, God brought her through this and has made her a better person despite the devastation. She explains how God can strengthen and provide opportunities through life experiences. Through her life experience, we can learn about God's desire for us to have meaningful, lasting relationships.

Ron and Marty discuss empathy and how we can effectively relate to others without enabling poor behavior. Empathy is identifying with a struggle or pain a person is experiencing. While doing so, we want to help them with a hand-up without being the handout. The handout mindset could enable a person to continue with poor thinking or behavior that brings them despair or anguish. We should want to inspire people to become self-sufficient and not dependent on others. There is an art to discerning the person to apply empathy and/or sympathy such that we do not enable continued poor decisions that may be the reason for the current situation.

Anthony Davis is on a life journey to transition (aka pivoting) to a new life experience. It is a matter of determining what provides fulfillment and income to sustain his desired lifestyle. His journey considers his commitment to his wife, who has multiple sclerosis. He candidly describes some perceived limiting beliefs that can keep him from pursuing his passions. Even with 62 years of life experience, retirement and pursuing an easy path are not options.

Damian White is a poetry writer who has pivoted through various life encounters to identify and refine his strengths and fulfillment.. He authored the poetry book I Made A Place For You, which is his debut collection. It is available at https://www.amazon.com/Made-Place-You-Damian-White/dp/1639885706/. After battling two bouts of homelessness, he channeled those experiences into poetry to heal a fractured identity.​ When not writing, he will likely be exploring art galleries, playing tug-of-war with his pups, traveling, and finding the best coffee in every city. You can learn more about Damian at https://www.damianwhitewrites.com/