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Mediate.com: A Reality Check

You are about to read an atypical article/testimony honoring two October celebrations.   In truth, both are dedicated to raising awareness, promoting education and helping people understand options on a journey they did not seek. In truth, both provide a respite for determining outcomes by building knowledge and support irrespective of heart-rendering tales and underlying stories.

The October celebratory embracement of the 400th edition of The Mediate.com Weekly coincides with breast cancer awareness month.  On the surface, it may appear that there is minimal alignment between or among both. So, asking for indulgence from the readership, I would like to share the following thoughts about survivorship regarding Mediate.com as a flagship resource and breast cancer awareness pioneering the same.

I am a mediator. I am a breast cancer survivor.  Everything I learned about mediation did not occur in my sandbox at Pepperdine’s Straus Institute.  Everything good that could come from surgically removing cancer, six months of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation did not occur during the treatment plan.   What I learned about mediation as a verb is similar to what I learned about breast cancer as a noun . . . if allowed they can provide formative experiences that have a persistent influence on how we conduct our life practice. Successful living requires a balanced approach.

As with any approach, things may not go ideally or even according to plan. Finding a balanced approach to unforeseen obstacles in mediation means going no further than the archives, blogs and articles of Mediate.com.  Reading weekly articles becomes more of a journey than a resource.  Journeying through colleagues experiences became personal and priceless.  Like surgery, Mediate.com provides symptomatic relief for people’s distress.  Click and you have an option.  Read and you find an answer. 

With gratitude we honor Jim Melamed, John Helie, John Ford, and Clare Fowler for supporting many authors who believe in and care about our field, sharing non-invasive strategies that promote expertise, well-being and resolution in the face of all changing circumstances. Thank you Mediate.com authors for making the power of attention seamless knowing that mediation is only as good as its practitioners.

How fortunate we are to be alive in a time where pervasive demands can be brokered and mitigated so that proactive and mindful needs will be met.  How fortunate we are that the social architecture of Mediate.com is designed to minimize stressful ambiguities and promote positive change based on reader preferences, as the positive change you implement may save a life . . . perhaps your own.

                        author

Steffi Berkowitz

Steffi Berkowitz, an award winning educator, national and international trainer and former school district ombudsman-mediator, earned  bachelor and master’s degrees in speech/language pathology and communication disorders from the University of Miami. Steffi earned a second master’s degree in dispute resolution from Pepperdine University School of Law-Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. … MORE >

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