Page 26 - MidWeek - Oct 13, 2021

24 MIDWEEK OCTOBER 13, 2021
Retired Army Colonel On A Mission To Help Others Beat Their Stress
FROM PAGE 17
pact with herself as she silent- ly ordered her lungs to expand and contract, and her legs to keep moving along the path.
As she explains, “I learned that stress can be your super- power if you harness it, tame it and focus on what you want done.”
can bring out the best in ev- eryone and get more done.”
hoping to overcome obsta- cles and reach their potential. “I’ ve faced death,” she states. “I’ ve faced people trying to bomb me, shoot me, kidnap me, insult me and put me down. I’ ve had it all. I was asked a question recently, ‘How do you handle (stress)? Well, I said, for one, you learn to get back up. And in my case, I’m going to get back up fast! I’m never going
“I said to myself, ‘I’m go- ing to pass out before I fall out,’” she remembers.
Little wonder why Lewis — a retired U.S. Army colo- nel who just released her book Why is Pono not Pono Today? — is one of the world’s fore- most coaches on stress man- agement.
Her book captures the es- sence of her Mentally Tough Women initiative, which seeks to strengthen both women and “enlightened men — or those unafraid of strong women at their best” — through online courses and one-on-one sessions. Two of her free courses on extreme stress and stress ba- sics have already registered 3,800 people from 110 coun- tries, she says.
Lewis neither fainted nor threw up that day. In fact, she not only completed that run but every run thereafter. In figuring out how to control her breath and heartbeat, she discovered she could do ex- traordinary things when she allowed her mind to over- come a daunting challenge.
“We need to be stronger,” demands the Hilo resident. “We must figure out a way to handle more stress so that when we face challenges, we
I
father, Bennett, graduated from West Point and was a mechanic in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He also served in multiple wars before retiring as a lieu- tenant general in 1984. Even her mother, Malvene, had ties to the military as the daugh- ter of a naval officer.
(Above) Debra Lewis with her parents, Bennett and Malvene, during her farewell ceremony at the Pentagon in 2002. (Right) The future equestrian team captain at West Point was, along with brothers Michael and Alan, a natural at horse riding from an early age. PHOTOS COURTESY DEBRA LEWIS
Fans of Lewis (center) and her just-released book include (from left) Christine Reed, co-owner of Basically Books and Petroglyph Press in Hilo, and Dr. Sonia Juvik, professor emerita at University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.
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Attitudes about the sexes have certainly changed in
“When I retired (in 2010), I wanted to help people be successful when things got tough,” adds Lewis, whose book may be purchased at mentallytoughwomen.com. “It took a while to come up with Mentally Tough Wom- en, but the idea was how do we gracefully handle tough situations? People keep tell- ing us to de-stress. The prob- lem with that is, are problems getting easier or are they getting tougher? Are people dealing with it well or deal- ing with it badly?”
t only seems natural that Lewis would wind up in the military. Her
to wallow in it.”
In many ways, Lewis’ three-decades-long career in the military — which in- cludes surviving life down- range in Iraq as well as in Washington, D.C., during the 9/11 attack at the Pentagon — makes her the ideal men- tor and motivator for those
“I was going to be a doc- tor,” admits the woman who planned on attending the Uni- versity of Virginia following high school graduation.
early age.
“As a young person, you
Lewis is certainly proud of being a part of the first grad- uating class of 62 female ca- dets. In the years since, the U.S. Military Academy has seen more than 5,000 women successfully pass through its hallowed halls, and today, its female population comprises 25% of the corps.
Still, Lewis — who was born in Frankfurt, Germa- ny, and raised in locations around the world — claims her career pathway was any- thing but a foregone conclu- sion.
Intrigued by the offer, Lewis simply replied, “OK.” “My mother was the rid- er in the family, so I got that from her,” says Lewis, whose father taught her and her two older brothers to swim at an
“It was also tough being a swimmer and moving around a lot. I think my path could have taken me in a number of ways, but I was definitely drawn to West Point.”
Circumstance, however, would pull her in another direction after a cadet friend
want to do things tough ear- ly on. I think that’s where I get a lot of my toughness. It was tough being a horseback rider,” she continues, adding that she ultimately became
of an acquaintance asked the young woman with a clear passion for horses, “Have you thought about going to West Point? I can get you on the riding team.”
captain of the equestrian team during her senior year at the academy.
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