After losing her mother to breast cancer and having an absent father, Danielle Pashko was living as a teenager on her own in Manhattan. She worked as a model to support herself, although much of her free time was spent studying yoga, massage, holistic nutrition and healing modalities. While later working as the "go to" practitioner for everyone's health issues she, ironically, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Her strongly ingrained philosophy of restrictive eating and physical discipline had to be questioned. "Was drinking green juice, going gluten free, veganism and a daily yoga practice a cure all?" Danielle believes that we can take all the external measures in the world to achieve health and happiness, but there are never any guarantees. Smile At Your Challenges is her personal story of overcoming unexpected obstacles (in all areas of life) and even having humor about it. We plan and God laughs, but there's always a reason behind our circumstance. Replete with anecdotes and observations about the human condition, this is a book that invites thoughtful consideration of our relationships with others, our relationship with a higher power and, most importantly, the ongoing relationship we nurture - or should be nurturing - with our own selves.