Show Notes – Teri Gosselin

Personal definition – being able to take a really challenging situation and to be able to carry on, to bounce back, to be able to take what you've learned from that situation and be able to turn it into something that can help others or share something in a bigger light.  It sometimes starts with smaller acts of resilience.

She believes resilience is a part of our innate character. 

10 years ago she was planning her wedding to her college sweetheart and learned that her brother had died suddenly in his sleep.  This was tragic and completely unexpected and three weeks before her wedding day.  She had never experienced death before or tragedy.  It was a really challenging time.  Her first step of resiliency was to go ahead with her wedding as planned.

There was a huge void on the day but she looks back and there were parts of day when he was there looking down on her.  It was time to just be in the moment to celebrate, live life and embrace it.

She had to work through a lot of grief.  During the first year she had to learn about her new normal.  Having lost somebody, as well as being a newlywed, with a new job, with a new house, a puppy, she became pregnant, lost the baby and got pregnant again all in a year. 

She gave birth to her first child and then her grandfather suddenly passed away.  Dealing with the highs and lows. 

Last week her eldest son's birthday and then lost her cousin's son to cancer on the same day.

Also had a major health scare which has come with a situation that requires lifelong self-care.

Stuffing these major moments rather than truly honouring these situations and how she felt.  After the health scare she realised that now was the time to find what lit her soul up. 

Became an entrepreneur working with a direct marketing company by sharing her love of makeup.  This gave her an opportunity to connect with people and help them feel beautiful from the inside and outside.

A couple of years ago she started a spiritual exploration.  She went to see a medium in a group setting.  Her brother and her grandfather came through together.  Also her grandmother came through briefly.  It gave her mum and her sister some sense of peace even though initially they were sceptical.  We learned that a sign from her brother was the dragonfly.  She looks for them.  Dragonflies represent transformation and change. 

Last summer she saw them and realised this was her next phase.  She found some Facebook groups based in spirituality and soaked it all in and connected with people.  She hired a coach.  This allowed her to do deep inner work – journaling, gratitude lists, books, podcasts, self care rituals, meditation.  She had resisted some of things for a really long time.  She started making it a practice and doing it daily.  Went from a period of pain to her purpose.  She is learning new tools every day and meeting new people and learning from them. 

There is a lot of strength required to share with people that you need self-care. 

She discovered she could use her experiences to help others as a Transformational Strength Coach.  Hoping to inspire and empower others women to seek out what they meant to be doing.

Personal tool for resilience – journaling.  Starts with a meditation and then writes what comes up.