Changes: by Michele Ballantyne — Prologue and Dedication

What can I do when it seems there is no hope for things to get better.

How can I leave my unhealthy situation when I am so dependent on another person, who is sometimes abusive to me and my children?  I have always been a stay at home mom having children, homeschooling them, and being a handy man for the rentals my husband and I own.  I do not have a career, or skills to make the kind of money I would need to support a large family.

These were my thoughts when I faced extreme depression and hopelessness.

Of course there is always both the good and the bad in a relationship, and though the good may be great, the bad can sour it all.

My decision to learn about wilderness survival came partly from the desperation of feeling helpless and trapped, and partly from a feeling that I needed to learn how to take care of people in the woods with nothing more than what is provided by nature.

My education turned out to be not only lessons in wilderness survival, but many journeys into the unseen and eternal worlds of the subconscious, force, and spirit we live in. Those journeys opened doors and taught me that I am powerful, strong, and connected to all things.

The point of my book is to offer hope to others through insights and discoveries I made along my path, moving from fear and despair to strength and power.

I believe that we all have the ability to tap into our own strength and power through awareness of our core and our connection to everything else.

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This book is dedicated to my teacher Tom Brown Jr.

With acknowledgements to my teachers Malcolm Ringwalt,  Karl Direske, and Tom Franks. 

With absolute thanks and love to God, the Creator of all, that I like to think of as The Great Everything.