Stepping In to Reclaim Joy Through Life After the Death of Her Daughter with Linda Shively

In this episode, Kara is stepping in with True Joy Expert, Linda Shively. After healing from an abusive marriage and navigating the diagnosis and eventual death of her severely handicapped 3 year old daughter, Linda found her way to bounce back and reclaim joy in her life. Linda shares gripping moments from her daughter’s diagnosis to her last breath as well as recounting the years of despair and numbness to her new found purpose, triumph and joy in life. Her daughter’s joy and the joy that was between them keeps her going even to this day. Linda’s story of loss is tragic but the peace and presence she has cultivated are healing and inspiring. 

Highlights:

• Linda takes us back to the stark white doctor’s office where her doctor told her Jessica wouldn’t live to her first birthday. After that moment everything changed for Linda, but she realized nothing actually changed for her daughter, so she tried to stay really present in the joy that was between them and give Jessica the best possible life she could in the short time she had with her. 
• They were in and out of the hospital constantly, making decisions navigating a very significant medical journey. 
• Creating an environment of other people who can support and help is so important.
• Doing a fundraising walk every year, she and her crew have raised over $1.5 million, and seen the evolution of now 3 treatments. (No effective treatments were available when her daughter was alive.) Now kids with spinal muscular atrophy are dancing and playing.
• Linda explains how if you don't do anything to heal and feel, grief is patient. It will wait for you. 
• Even if you don't feel joy right in this particular moment, you can get to it. It's different from happiness, because happiness is associated with something external. 
• Joy is internal, so even if there's something that isn't great that's going on, you can still have joy.

Quotes: 

• “I have a lot to say about our society and how we deal with grief or don't…"
• “I didn’t want to stay stuck… I didn’t know how to get somewhere different, but I knew I didn’t want to stay in that miserable spot.”
• “She always brought so much joy into my life. That glimpse of her joy-filled life keeps me going even now. I’ve kept that powerful, joy-filled little girl in my heart and it feeds everything I do.”
• “The death of a child isn't something you just get over in a week, isn't something you get over in a few months. It's ongoing, it's just a new way of looking at life…”

Episode Resources:

• Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence: https://www.nextdoorsolutions.org/
• Retreat Link: https://www.lindashively.com/events/
• Getting To Joy by Linda Shively: https://a.co/d/asW7cvI

Connect with Linda Shively:

• Website: https://www.lindashively.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LindaShivelySpeaker
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindashively

Linda Shively has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, is a best-selling author, international award-winning speaker, and neuroscience and mindset expert.

Linda has been a multiple-time guest on ABC, CBS, and FOX television, featured in a feature film and even performed at the Rose Bowl.

After healing from an abusive marriage, and navigating the diagnosis and eventual death of her 3-year-old daughter, Linda found her way to bounce back and