Real, raw and relatable are these short stories. Heartfelt, poignant, rich and shared with honesty and authenticity from our hearts to yours. It takes courage to share a story from your life especially one that has its' share of challenge and adversity. Each of the women featured in this book has found ways to embrace their setbacks and use their experience as a gift to share with others. While each story covers different elements of courage, the common theme is that each one of the women in these stories showed courage, tenacity, grit, inspiration, and a never give up attitude. Each author sharing their story hopes to inspire and help others who may be navigating a tricky path or at a crossroads in life. The authors in the book are as follows: Lisa Evans - The Stories We Tell OurselvesMelanie Chatfield - Playing in the ShadowsMichele Gennoe - What is Your Gift in the World?Ai-Mei Nguyen - Three Thousand Miles to FreedomNicky Howe - Changing HatsPip Brennan - A Difficult ConversationMavis Carruthers - Generosity of StrangersKarina Barrett - Who Would Have Thought?Claudette Pope - Leap of FaithGrace Najean - Courage to be MeMary Chetcuti - Triumph after TraumaCushla Lovejoy - Courageous LoveThere is something for everyone in this book. Collectively we are offering our stories to you to read and reflect on the power of the human spirit, the ups and downs, twists and turns that make up the rich tapestry of life. There is nothing more potent than the power of your story. Lisa Evans is the director of Speaking Savvy. Lisa is one of Australia's leading public speaking coaches. If you enjoyed reading this book you might like to read the first in the series Stories From The Heart: Tales of Inspiration or you may wish to learn more about public speaking and storytelling in my book Speaking Savvy. Other titles are also available on Amazon.