She was just a young girl when she realized that home, a place where children normally come to be nourished and loved was not a safe place.

Growing up with her sister and brother, she was regularly confronted and attacked by her erratic mother who had an alcohol addiction problem.

The story of Edina’s childhood is heart-breaking. I felt devastated, imagining her as a little girl waking up in the morning expecting the best this world can offer but instead being emotionally abandoned and stigmatized again and again.

In this turmoil, her only solace was a pack of dogs that lived outside their country house. Those animals were her lifeline, her joy, and possibly her only reason to come home after school. She did not see herself existing without her dogs.

One evening, to avoid yet another violent attack by her mother, Edina ran away in desperation. Anxious to leave her animals behind, she quickly checked for her favorite dog, yet he was nowhere near.

Disappointed, Edina started her journey alone. Surrounded by complete darkness she wondered around till she found train tracks and decided to walk along led by the silvery shining of the railroad into a neighboring village where her grandmother lived. Halfway, however, she heard a pack of dogs barking and howling at a distance. As the sounds of the dogs were getting closer and closer, Edina got and blood-curdling feeling that she might get attacked by this pack of aggressive dogs. Without looking back she dashed forward and then, out of the blue, she heard a vicious fight and canine yelping which made her freeze. She turned around and noticed her favorite dog escaping the fight cloud and running happily towards her. Edina could not believe it, her dog had been looking for her, traced her, found her, and in the nick of time protected from a ferocious pack of dogs that tried to chase her down. Even now she believes, that night her dog had saved her life.

These furry friends provided Edina with human-like kindness and care. She gave them all her child’s love. They were the only solace she could find amidst the turmoil of her home. And yet soon she had to witness their death, overhearing them being killed in accordance with her mother’s request. You see, her mother had reasoned that losing those dogs would be the “best” punishment for Edina.

Edina talks candidly about mustering all her strength to confront her mother and leave her house. She then naturally felt drawn to work with animals, the creatures whose language she felt she spoke the best.

Going through ups and downs of life, Edina tirelessly picked herself up again and again through service, love and faith.

The message Edina wants to bring into the world is that no matter what your past looks like there is always a precious moment of now, the golden present in which we are making a choice. A choice that will either bring us forward or take us further away from our dreams. We are constantly choosing where to put our attention and what to focus on.

Several years after leaving her home and working in the field of canine grooming Edina joined a church. She became a Christian and opened up to the power of God. Just when she believed her life is fixed and she is on her way to recovery from traumatic childhood she met a Christian man and decided to marry him, being completely sure that someone who shares her faith will be a perfect match sent to her by the divine power.

Imagine her utter disappointment when in a few short months the man she had chosen turned abusive and violent. What was she to do? How could she explain it?

Edina could have simply given up on herself and concluded that it was her destiny to meet such manipulative and rude people in life. But since she believed that her husband had been sent to her by God, she also turned resentful and angry towards God. She had trusted, she had put her full faith into God, and what did she get in turn??? Day after day she asked, Why was God treating her this way and why did she deserve such bitter life experiences?

Feeling again crushed and exiled she had no hope left in her.

But sometimes our darkest place is where our most empowering realizations come from.

And this is what happened to Edina.

She received a powerful download of divine truth that pulled her through and into her most meaningful and successful life.

She understood that what God did was not send her the wrong man to marry. In fact she herself had chosen this man and she had convinced herself to see this man as a gift from the above. All the decisions, the actions and the choices always belong to us. We take the actions, we explain the meaning of the circumstances to ourselves.

And this is God’s gift to us all. It is perhaps the most important and powerful thing — our free will. Our ability to decide, to take action, and make our own choices…

Appreciating this God-given privilege, she boldly accepted it and applied her free will immediately. She once again stepped out of the abusive relationship and went on to create her ideal life. She did it with a renewed confidence in herself and her understanding of the divine power vested in all of us.

In a few short years, Edina has become a transformational coach and now she is leading others from darkness to light.

Reminiscing on her childhood Edina brings up the fact that she always had felt like she had no voice. She was quiet and afraid to speak up. And these days, against all odds she is on a mission to become a public speaker in order to tell her story and inspire others who may be searching for a way to pivot or improve their lives.

I wish Edina all the success on this incredible journey and a worthy courageous ambition!