In this soul-nourishing Soul Snack, Gary Zukav answers a heartfelt listener question: How do I live an authentic life while grieving a deep loss? With clarity and compassion, Gary explains why emotions like grief and loss are not barriers to authenticity - they are part of it. In fact, developing emotional awareness through our deepest pain is one of the most essential steps toward creating authentic power.

Grieving doesn’t mean abandoning authenticity - it’s an invitation to experience life more deeply. Gary describes how fear-based emotions like grief and loss activate a frightened part of our personality, while emotions rooted in love connect us to our soul and who we really are. The challenge is not to eliminate difficult feelings, but to become aware of them, and to choose love - again and again - even in the midst of suffering.

Ultimately, Gary shows that we don’t have to wait until the pain is gone to live authentically. By using your emotional awareness to make the responsible choice of love over fear, the frightened parts of your personality lose their control over you, and you begin to give the gifts that you were born to give.

What You’ll Discover in This Episode:

(00:50) – The listener’s question: Is it possible to live authentically and grieve at the same time?

(01:12) – Avenues to Growth: Why painful emotions are not obstacles, but avenues to your spiritual growth 

(02:10) – How to become aware of your emotions by feeling the physical sensations in your energy centers, such as your chest and solar plexus .

(03:12) – Why emotions like grief and loss activate a frightened part of your personality

(05:08) – How a loving parts of our personality offer a new perspective on loss

(06:10) – The power of responsible choice: How to consciously choose to act from a loving part of your personality, such as gratitude, while a frightened part is active.

(07:04) – How frightened parts of your personality lose their control over you each time you challenge them by choosing love 

Embrace the Soul Step Challenge:

Think of a time when grief or loss pulled you away from your sense of self. What physical sensations did you notice in your body? What thoughts accompanied them—were they filled with comparison or fear? Now gently shift your attention. Can you recognize a gift that came from the person or situation you lost? Practice holding that memory with love and gratitude. This is how authentic power is born: not by avoiding pain, but by choosing love in the midst of it.

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