At this Sunday Morning Café gathering, Dr. Tom Wagner welcomes happiness researcher and Washington University professor Dr. Tim Bono for an evening exploring the journey from post-traumatic stress to post-traumatic growth. Through live music from vocalist Jennifer Theby-Quinn and pianist Carl Pandolfi, guided reflection, and open discussion, participants explore how adversity met with reflection and community can become a source of resilience and lasting meaning. Dr. Tom closes the evening with a contemplative meditation rooted in stillness and shared humanity.

Key Takeaways

• Happiness is a direction, not a destination: The goal isn't to "be happy" — it's to become happier. Small, intentional steps matter more than waiting for the perfect circumstances.
• Adversity plus reflection equals growth: Difficulty alone doesn't build resilience. It's adversity paired with community, mentorship, and meaning-making that leads to real growth.
• You're not broken for having bad days: Trying to suppress negative emotions only amplifies them. The goal is to feel them, not fight them.
• Connection is non-negotiable: Rich, satisfying relationships show up in every study as a consistent predictor of well-being, during the good times and especially the hard ones.
• The RAIN acronym for anxiety: Recognize it. Accept it. Investigate what it might be telling you. Nourish yourself thoughtfully.

Lifeline Activity & Reflection Questions

PART ONE

• Make two points on the opposite ends of the paper: One labeled "birth" and the other labeled "now." Draw a line between the two points.
• Identify some of the major high points and low points in your life and graph them according to your age (horizontally) and the feelings in the experience (vertically). Low points will be below your lifeline, high points will be above.
• Connect the points with lines, making a zig-zag line.

Part One Discussion Questions

1. How did each impact you? How has each event contributed to who you are today?
2. What did each experience teach you about yourself? How did it change your perspective on life? Is there anything else important you learned from those experiences?
3. If you could go back in time, is there any aspect of the experience you would approach differently?

PART TWO

• Make two points on the opposite ends of the paper: One labeled “NOW" and the other labeled “FUTURE." Draw a line between the two points.
• Identify at least three hopes, goals, or dreams you have for your future and specify the age when you’d like them to occur.

Part Two Discussion Questions

1. What are some of the biggest challenges you may face in your future? When might these come up? How might they affect the goals and dreams you have for yourself?
2. Is there anything you learned from your previous experiences (either high points or low points) that can help you in the future?
3. What steps are you taking now to help you realize your future dreams and goals? What might be some of the barriers that get in the way?

Resources & Links

• Join us live for the 8/2 SMC Event with special guest Royce Martin: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/events
• SMC events honor that what is deepest within us is most universal between us. Your gift helps create space for reflection, connection, and belonging — donate here: https://gofund.me/d63f2a6a9 100% of donations are dedicated to the costs associated with bringing SMC events to more people, more often.
• Dr. Tim Bono’s book, “Happiness 101”: https://a.co/d/028GLKqQ

Stay Connected with Dr. Tom Wagner & the SMC Community

• Sign up for Dr. Tom’s newsletter: tomwagnerspeaker.com/contact
• Website: tomwagnerspeaker.com
• Blog: tomwagnerspeaker.com/blog
• Facebook: facebook.com/DrTomWagner
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtomwagner
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-tom-wagner
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tomwagner3042

Even in the worst conditions, the human spirit finds ways to survive. In this episode, Dr. Tom reads his article published on April 19, 2026, exploring how those small acts of survival can become the foundation for healing.

View the article + discussion questions here: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/unbroken

Resources & Links

• Join us live for the 8/2 SMC Event with special guest Royce Martin: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/events
• SMC events honor that what is deepest within us is most universal between us. Your gift helps create space for reflection, connection, and belonging — donate here: https://gofund.me/d63f2a6a9 100% of donations support the costs of bringing SMC events to more people, more often.

Stay Connected with Dr. Tom Wagner & the SMC Community

• Sign up for Dr. Tom’s newsletter: tomwagnerspeaker.com/contact
• Website: tomwagnerspeaker.com
• Blog: tomwagnerspeaker.com/blog
• Facebook: facebook.com/DrTomWagner
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtomwagner
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-tom-wagner

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tomwagner3042

What if there’s a part of you that already knows how to “keep climbing” when things get hard? In this episode, Dr. Tom reads his article published on April 5, 2026, exploring the resilience woven into every soul.

View the article + discussion questions here: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/each-and-every-soul-has-some-easter-in-it-no-exceptions

Resources & Links

• Join us live for the 4/12 SMC Event “From Post-Traumatic Stress to Post-Traumatic Growth: Perspectives on Extracting Meaning from Adversity” Featuring Happiness Expert, Author, and Professor Tim Bono, PhD: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/events
• SMC events honor that what is deepest within us is most universal between us. Your gift helps create space for reflection, connection, and belonging — donate here: https://gofund.me/d63f2a6a9 100% of donations support the costs of bringing SMC events to more people, more often.

Stay Connected with Dr. Tom Wagner & the SMC Community

• Sign up for Dr. Tom’s newsletter: tomwagnerspeaker.com/contact
• Website: tomwagnerspeaker.com
• Blog: tomwagnerspeaker.com/blog
• Facebook: facebook.com/DrTomWagner
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtomwagner
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-tom-wagner
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tomwagner3042

Sooner or later, we all find ourselves in the gap between who we hoped to be and how we actually showed up. In this episode, Dr. Tom reads his article published on March 29, 2026, exploring what it means to meet yourself there and how self-compassion can become the beginning of healing.

View the article + discussion questions here: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/mind-the-gap

Resources & Links

• Join us live for the 4/12 SMC Event “From Post-Traumatic Stress to Post-Traumatic Growth: Perspectives on Extracting Meaning from Adversity” Featuring Happiness Expert, Author, and Professor Tim Bono, PhD: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/events
• SMC events honor that what is deepest within us is most universal between us. Your gift helps create space for reflection, connection, and belonging — donate here: https://gofund.me/d63f2a6a9 100% of donations support the costs of bringing SMC events to more people, more often.

Stay Connected with Dr. Tom Wagner & the SMC Community

• Sign up for Dr. Tom’s newsletter: tomwagnerspeaker.com/contact
• Website: tomwagnerspeaker.com
• Blog: tomwagnerspeaker.com/blog
• Facebook: facebook.com/DrTomWagner
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtomwagner
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-tom-wagner
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tomwagner3042

As the years go on, something in you will either settle…or awaken. In this episode, Dr. Tom reads his article published on March 22, 2026, exploring the choice between comfort and contribution, and what it means to grow older with purpose, wisdom, and intention.

Through reflections on everyday moments, inner tension, and the call to “generativity,” this episode invites you to consider how you want to live the years ahead.

View the article + discussion questions here: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/when-snow-on-the-roof-means-fire-in-the-belly

Resources & Links

• Join us live for the 4/12 SMC Event “From Post-Traumatic Stress to Post-Traumatic Growth: Perspectives on Extracting Meaning from Adversity” Featuring Happiness Expert, Author, and Professor Tim Bono, PhD: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/events
• SMC events honor that what is deepest within us is most universal between us. Your gift helps create space for reflection, connection, and belonging — donate here: https://gofund.me/d63f2a6a9 100% of donations support the costs of bringing SMC events to more people, more often.

Stay Connected with Dr. Tom Wagner & the SMC Community

• Sign up for Dr. Tom’s newsletter: tomwagnerspeaker.com/contact
• Website: tomwagnerspeaker.com
• Blog: tomwagnerspeaker.com/blog
• Facebook: facebook.com/DrTomWagner
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtomwagner
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-tom-wagner
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tomwagner3042

Faith traditions speak often about welcoming the stranger and the alien in our midst. In this episode, Dr. Tom reads his article published on March 15, 2026, reflecting on a prayer service outside an immigration detention center and exploring what it means to see the stranger—and not look away.

View the article + discussion questions here: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/exodus

Resources & Links

• Join us live for the 4/12 SMC Event “From Post-Traumatic Stress to Post-Traumatic Growth: Perspectives on Extracting Meaning from Adversity” Featuring Happiness Expert, Author, and Professor Tim Bono, PhD: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/events
• SMC events honor that what is deepest within us is most universal between us. Your gift helps create space for reflection, connection, and belonging — donate here: https://gofund.me/d63f2a6a9 100% of donations support the costs of bringing SMC events to more people, more often.

Stay Connected with Dr. Tom Wagner & the SMC Community

• Sign up for Dr. Tom’s newsletter: tomwagnerspeaker.com/contact
• Website: tomwagnerspeaker.com
• Blog: tomwagnerspeaker.com/blog
• Facebook: facebook.com/DrTomWagner
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtomwagner
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-tom-wagner
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tomwagner3042

We may not always live on the mountaintop, but we can live in memory of it. In this episode, Dr. Tom reads his article published on March 8, 2026, exploring how even though moments of awe fade, we can intentionally remember them and let them guide how we see life and people.

View the article + discussion questions here: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/post/living-in-memory-of-the-mountaintops

Resources & Links

• Join us live for the 4/12 SMC Event “From Post-Traumatic Stress to Post-Traumatic Growth: Perspectives on Extracting Meaning from Adversity” Featuring Happiness Expert, Author, and Professor Tim Bono, PhD: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/events
• SMC events honor that what is deepest within us is most universal between us. Your gift helps create space for reflection, connection, and belonging — donate here: https://gofund.me/d63f2a6a9 100% of donations support the costs of bringing SMC events to more people, more often.

Stay Connected with Dr. Tom Wagner & the SMC Community

• Sign up for Dr. Tom’s newsletter: tomwagnerspeaker.com/contact
• Website: tomwagnerspeaker.com
• Blog: tomwagnerspeaker.com/blog
• Facebook: facebook.com/DrTomWagner
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtomwagner
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-tom-wagner
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tomwagner3042

Recorded live at a Sunday Morning Café event, this contemplative meditation features musician Lynn O’Brien leading a simple, chant-like refrain: “I have everything I need in this moment right now.” As the chant unfolds — naming love, peace, friends, and joy — it echoes the ancient rhythm of monastic prayer. Dr. Tom Wagner introduces the meditation, recalling the sacred chanting of monasteries and inviting you to enter a similar space of grounded presence. A practice for slowing down, settling in, and remembering that — even now — you are held.

Resources & Links

• Join us live for the 4/12 SMC Event “From Post-Traumatic Stress to Post-Traumatic Growth: Perspectives on Extracting Meaning from Adversity” Featuring Happiness Expert, Author, and Professor Tim Bono, PhD: https://www.tomwagnerspeaker.com/events
• SMC events honor that what is deepest within us is most universal between us. Your gift helps create space for reflection, connection, and belonging — donate here: https://gofund.me/d63f2a6a9 100% of donations are dedicated to the cost associated with bringing SMC events to more people, more often.
• Lynn O’Brien – featured musician: https://lynnobrien.love/

Stay Connected with Dr. Tom Wagner & the SMC Community

• Sign up for Dr. Tom’s newsletter: tomwagnerspeaker.com/contact
• Website: tomwagnerspeaker.com
• Blog: tomwagnerspeaker.com/blog
• Facebook: facebook.com/DrTomWagner
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drtomwagner
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dr-tom-wagner
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tomwagner3042