Grieving Voices

The heartbreak of a parent losing a child is a pain like no other. But what about the sibling(s) left behind of the child who dies?  When her son, David, was four years old, he was diagnosed with cancer. After a 2 1/2-year battle, he died when his younger sister was 3 years old. Michele shares her perspective of guiding her daughter through sibling loss while navigating her own. Michele of @goodgr...

What happens when you get a group of people together with unprocessed grief? The same thing that happens, likely every day of your life - in unprocessed grief, dysfunction meets dysfunction; baggage meets baggage. We are a society of grievers. Every human being has either lost a loved one, dream, relationship, home, job/career, a pet, or themselves. Amidst these losses, are other relationships in...

Do you want to know where to start if you're tired of settling for the conditions and circumstances of your life? Ask yourself the question Moussa asked himself and start there. What was the question? "What are you trying to forget?"   When we get tired of our past circumstances creating chaos and dictating how far we go to reach our dreams, it takes introspection and committing to...

Breaking points - we all have them. But, there are ways you can ride the waves of it without getting pulled down by it. Resiliency has its limits. And, when you've spent years, or even decades, mastering the myths of grief (Don't Feel Bad, Replace the Loss, Grieve Alone, Be Strong, Keep Busy, and Time Heals), resiliency will only get you so far before you reach a breaking point. By creat...

When Kimberley was a child, a house fire would change her life as she knew it forever. Both her older and younger sisters both perished in the fire. However, Kimberley wouldn't learn the truth of how that life-altering moment came to be until her 30's. Growing up, Kimberley's father also worked a job that kept the family on the road. As a result, Kimberley found it challenging (and...

Curiosity is sorely underestimated. It's not given headlines or attention, but, in my eyes, it's responsible for most inventions. Curiosity has led to some of the world's most significant innovations. If there weren't people who allowed themselves to be led by their curiosity, we never would've evolved from stick rubbing to flint. Someone, along the way, asked themselves b...

Kristin Sherry is a bestselling and award-winning author, creator of YouMap®, a 2020 Career Innovator Award recipient, and she's also my mentor. Her brilliance is why I am a Certified YouMap® Coach. If you have been struggling with your life path, career, purpose, or what I like to call - a midlife unraveling, this episode is for you! Grief is the loss of hopes, dreams, and expectations. When...

We have more agency over our physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies than we would like to admit. Admitting that we have power and control over ourselves is admitting that it’s also our job to do something about the issues that plague our physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies. The energy of grief can be like cancer and invade every fiber of your being. It can destroy your relationships, fina...

What does it take to bicycle 4700 miles, with temps most often over 100 degrees and the wind against you? David Richman did just that as part of a passion project that later became his book, Cycle of Lives, where all proceeds benefit cancer-focused charities. However, David didn’t wake up one day and decide to make Cycle of Lives his mission. Instead, it was years in the making, following the deat...

Empty Arms Syndrome is a phenomenon most often associated with stillbirth. However, as Corchele's story illustrates, feeling an ache to hold your baby is a very real feeling even if you deliver a breathing child. Ten hours after delivering Breklyn by emergency cesarian, Corchele and her husband were faced with a loss no parent should ever experience. And, the fact that it was completely preve...

What is grief? Grief is the loss of hopes, dreams, and expectations. Grief is anything we wish would be different, better, or more. And, no one has to die for you to grieve. Also, because there are more than 40+ losses, it’s a safe bet that you and every person you meet is or has experienced grief. We are taught how to acquire things (or people). We’re not taught what to do when we lose them. Toda...

What is truth? For many of us, it is what we've been told to believe to be true, without any real evidence or science to back up that truth. After the sudden, tragic death of his daughter, Bob found his open-minded skeptical heart looking for evidence that his daughter's consciousness still existed in some form after her passing. He was having experiences that, years before, he may have...

Katie Carroll had her life mapped out from the time she was a little girl. She knew, from a young age, that she wanted to be a mother one day. However, as she found success in every other area of her life, there was one area of her life that hinged on her desire to be a mother. She was busy in her career as a pediatric ER traveling nurse, had been dating, and all the while, looking for the one who...

This week, I share a bit of my heavy heart as I share my reflections around sharing our grieving voices - including my own. This podcast has enabled me to be a heart for ears for many guests, including Emma G. and Anne. However, this week's episode is also inspired by my grief in real-time. Since 11/14, life has been day-to-day, not knowing what the future will hold for our son. As of this ep...

Imagine being told you have cancer. But then imagine being told you have cancer for which there was no cure. At that moment, in an instant, life is forever changed. And, although many people hear the words "You have cancer" every single day, fewer hear that the type of cancer they have will, without a doubt, kill them. That is unless a cure is found. Anne shares, in this follow-up, what...

The ripples of loss reach far and wide within a family unit; often in ways, we don't expect. Emma shares the impact the death of her cousin to suicide has had on her life and that of her family. Emma has found solace in writing her grief in the thirteen years since her cousin Nicky's death, publishing three books since that time. Suicide leaves those left behind having to navigate the di...

Do you feel like the leader of your life? Do you believe you are leading yourself through grief in a healthy way? You may be wondering what the "healthy way" looks like. Take a moment to consider what leaders do at the start of their day. They don't start their day dragging themselves out of bed, drinking a Mountain Dew, and grabbing a snicker bar for breakfast. Maybe some do, but I...

When Kristine's husband, Richard, suddenly died of a pulmonary embolism while descending on a flight, she had no idea how much she would rely on the tools and insights she had gained while writing several of the books contained in the " Don't Sweat the Small Stuff " series. It was the teachings, many years of personal development work, writing, and support of others that gave h...

What do Green Beret special forces do and how do they differ from other special forces? What qualities make a leader?  How can everyday people become a leader in their own life? What, in leadership, breaks his heart? How does Scott feel about the pullout in Afghanistan, having worked directly with the Afghans for several years?  What is Scott's take on grief and suicide prevention in the mili...

The one thing I found that my guests Marty Cooper and Ken Ross have in common is that they both embody optimism. Marty can't imagine life without learning and without feeling hope for the future. While Ken, in all of his traveling and adventures, never worries about potential adverse outcomes. Both are optimistic in their way, and both are wonderful examples of what it means to live a life th...

Ken Ross has a theory for the way he lives his life and, it didn't come to be without the influence of his mother, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. Ken and I dig deeper into his life experience growing up in a home where grief, death, and dying were a daily part of life and the topic of conversation. His mother, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's first book, On Death and Dying , was the conversation starter...

What does the wizard behind the one invention that has transformed society around the globe have to say about optimism, failure, and learning? Marty Cooper has been coined the name the "Father of the Cell Phone" but, there's more to him than being an inventor of one of the most societal-altering devices. It took ten years to see his dream come to fruition, and it nearly didn't...

When you find yourself the observer of a situation that brings up some emotional dis- ease for you, it may be helpful to say the following to yourself: “I don’t know what I don’t know.” This helps me to feel better when I have felt wronged in some way or when I find myself raising an eyebrow at a situation that may or may not involve me. Society isn’t short of judgment and criticism these days. I...

There are psychics and then there are psychic mediums. Do you know the difference?  Sirry shares the difference between the two in this week's episode. And, there's so much more that we cover in this conversation including: Her grief growing up, things she's experienced as an adult, and what her grief is today. What her thoughts are on the afterlife. Her thoughts on religion and mys...

As a parent, if you had to choose between your child's best interest or what you personally wanted, you would likely choose what’s best for your child. However, what if that decision meant your child wouldn't be with you full-time? Kristjana was faced with a gut-wrenching decision that hung over her head for weeks on end until a moment of clarity struck her like a lightning bolt. But, it...