Meet Sheila Williamson

 

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sheila Williamson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sheila below.

Sheila, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

Both my resilience and my optimism come from the same source: my faith. I was raised in a faith-filled home with parents who brought me up to feel like I could do anything with God’s help. Prayer, worship, and study were part of my upbringing and certainly led me to a deeper relationship with God over the years. When storms came, like my son’s traumatic accident and subsequent drug addiction, I relied on my faith first and foremost to carry me through. My Mom passed before these events happened, but her legacy to her children will definitely live on with me as my parents never gave up on me, even when I made many mistakes in my young adult life. I always knew I was loved and was never alone. My Dad and I became very close after my Mom’s passing, and he taught me many things that are a part of me now. He was spared the worst of the worst of these storms and I am very grateful for that. Unconditional love and relying on God first, then using the gifts I have been given to stand tall and weather these storms were the key components to my survival of many years of heartache. Now, after these storms passed, I feel strong empathy to those hurting and share my story to help others as often as I can.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am Sheila Williamson, married to Jeff for almost 40 years, mother to Chad, age 35. I am the author of “Two Calls Blossoming Faith Keeping Hope Alive” which is our personal story of trauma, drug addiction, homelessness, incarceration, rehabilitation, and redemption of our only child. I wrote our story, and will speak to any group about our story, to help families who are hurting with their loved ones being caught in the throes of addiction. I give them resources that worked for us, and hopefully, make them understand that addiction is truly a family disease that will destroy you without faith. No longer can you survive with sweeping this under the rug, it needs to be talked about with professionals who have the expertise to offer you true help from people who have been there, who understand what you are going through and truly want to help you regain your family. For more information check out www.twocalls.org
I also wrote a Murder Mystery as a fundraiser, “Mistletoe, Murder, and Mayhem” which will be presented December 20, 2024 at Heritage Ranch Country Club. Tickets are now available at www.heritageranch.com/tickets All proceeds go to Meals on Wheels Collin County.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three most important qualities or skills that have served me well are:
1. My love of people which certainly translates into networking, an important skill for any walk of life.
2. Gratitude which translates into wanting to give back to the community where I am so fortunate to be able to live.
3. Empathy which translates into desiring to help individuals who are hurting or who are less fortunate than I to let them know they are not alone. There are people who truly care about them.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

If I had to pick one lesson that I learned from my parents, it would be this one which happened on a vacation to Arkansas one summer when I was 15.
That summer my Dad rented a lake house for a week on Greers Ferry Lake, which probably was beautiful, certainly the setting was., but to a teenager, it was the middle of nowhere and, to add insult to injury, there was NO TV. I thought it was simply the worst time in the world. The first morning we went out for breakfast, we stopped at a diner. The service was terrible. Our waitress could not keep up, the orders were wrong, etc. When the bill came, I said, “SURELY, you are not going to leave her a tip since everything has been wrong.” My Dad made me follow him out in front of the diner and proceeded to tell me that he most certainly was going to leave her a tip, a generous one, since it was obvious to him that something was definitely wrong with her that day. Maybe something at home, etc. He also lectured me on empathy and told me how he hoped I never would have to work as hard as she was in my life, but if I did, he hoped someone would treat me better than I treated her. He finished by saying if I said one more word, he would give her all the cash in his wallet. I learned right then to keep my mouth shut and try to give people grace, when they deserve it most.

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