Gentle Strength For The Holidays

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The holiday table can glow and ache at the same time. We open up about how grief, memory, and pressure can blur the season—and how to meet it with honesty, gentleness, and real-world tools that actually help. Instead of reinventing yourself, we focus on remembering the capable, resilient person who got you this far and is ready to rise again.

We walk through a kinder approach to gratitude that goes beyond listing blessings. Think of it as noticing what carries you: the friend who checks in, the walk that steadies your breath, the small routines that keep you grounded. From there, we rebuild self-belief with evidence—writing down the steps you’ve taken over the last 60 days—and we choose tiny, repeatable anchors for a busy week: a short walk after dinner, water before coffee, a few minutes of quiet before a gathering, protein with each meal. No rules or guilt trips, just rails that keep you steady.

We also name the messy middle: you’re allowed to feel joy and sadness at once. One meal won’t erase progress, one dessert won’t derail health, and one emotional moment doesn’t mean you’re falling apart. To close the year with intention, we offer two questions that re-center your path: What has been the most meaningful thing in your life over the last 60 days? And what is one feeling you want on December 31—not a metric, a feeling? Use those answers to guide the next kind choice and protect your peace without apology.

If this season feels heavy, you’re not alone—and you don’t have to carry it perfectly. Press play for practical ways to navigate holidays, grief, and goals with compassion and strength. If this resonates, share it with a friend who needs gentleness today, and subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next. Your future self will thank you.

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I am capable of amazing things.
I trust the process of my life.
I release what no longer serves me.
I embrace what’s unfolding for me.
I am strong, even when I feel unsure.

Let these words settle into your soul like roots grounding into the earth.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:29):
Welcome back, my friend, to Unleash Your Inner
Radiance.
I'm Lisa, your life, wellness,and transformation coach.
And I am so glad that you'rehere today because this week
holds a lot for many of us.
In my last episode, you know, Italked about how you didn't lose
your self-belief.
You just literally forgot whereyou put it.

(00:51):
And that message matters evenmore right now.
Because when life gets heavy andthe holidays stir up old
memories, when your body ischanging to a much slower pace
than you want, it's really easyto think that something is wrong

(01:14):
with us.
But nothing is broken here.
Your confidence isn't gone.
Your fire isn't gone.
Your ability to follow throughisn't gone.
It's literally still in you, allof it.
Just tucked under the noise, thegrief, the stress, and the

(01:40):
explanations that you have beencarrying and the words that
you've been saying to yourselfand the expectations of others.
This season isn't about findinga new version of yourself.
It's about remembering the onethat you already are, the one

(02:02):
who has gotten through everyhard thing so far.
And she's still right here,ready to rise.
So as we are heading intoThanksgiving, I can't believe
it's already in a couple ofdays.
And then we roll right straightinto the holidays.

(02:25):
There are times when life isjust really tough, and the
holidays seem to get that way.
And while this season reallybrings connection and comfort,
it also brings the stress, thepressure, the expectations, and
the memories that hit just alittle harder than we expected

(02:47):
them to.
This week is really a tender onefor me because last year I lost
my dad just days beforeThanksgiving.
And even now, it feels like theholidays arrive kind of with a
mix of love and happiness.
And I really miss him.

(03:08):
And maybe you felt that too.
Maybe you're hearing somethingthis season that makes the
lights feel a little bit dimmer.
So let's just breathe for aminute.
Let's talk about getting throughthe holidays with honesty, with

(03:29):
gentleness, with strength.
And talk about how you can usethe final weeks of this year to
set yourself up for a stronger,clearer, more energized 2026.
Because you deserve that.
And your future self is alreadythanking you for starting now.

(03:53):
So what do you think of that?
So as we navigate the holidayseason with, you know, when your
heart is heavy, kind of likemine is, I mean, the holidays
bring out the best of us and themost overwhelmed parts of us.
And so if you are grieving,healing, or trying to find your

(04:17):
way, the emotional weight getsheavier.
But here's what I want you toremember: you don't have to
pretend to be okay.
You don't need to hold it alltogether perfectly.
You are allowed to feel joy andsadness at the same time.

(04:44):
And you are allowed to slow downand protect your peace.
So I want you to ask yourselfone question this week.
What do I need to feelsupported?
You don't need a full answer.
But even noticing the questionand how it shifts your energy is

(05:11):
really super important.
So take note of that.
So this is kind of like a seasonto come home to yourself.
Today we're gonna slow thingsdown and get honest about
something that you might befeeling, but haven't said it out

(05:34):
loud.
Because Thanksgiving brings somuch noise.
Family, food, expectations, oldemotions, new goals.
It's a lot.
And if you're walking throughgrief, change, or a major life
reset, this week can hitdifferently.

(05:55):
You might feel stretched betweenwanting to stay present for the
people you love and wanting justa little space to breathe.
And remember that you're notalone and you're not doing
anything wrong because you'rehuman.

(06:16):
Back in 2011, I left myex-husband right before
Christmas.
Like right around Thanksgiving.
So that was a really tough timefor me.
And then I lose my dad lastyear, right before Thanksgiving.

(06:37):
So, you know, as I go into thisweek and I start going into the
holidays, I've lost both myparents.
Um, it just, it's just, itbrings up a lot of emotions.
And it just makes it, you justkind of catch yourself at
certain times.
So remember that you're notalone and you're not doing

(06:58):
anything wrong by experiencingthese feelings.
You're just human, just like I'mjust human.
And so this is the season, it'sit's an actually, it's actually
perfect.
It's the actual perfect momentto come home to yourself again.

(07:19):
Because you've spent the lastweeks working on your health,
healing parts of your story,remembering your confidence, and
rebuilding your energy.
That doesn't disappear justbecause there's pumpkin pie on
the table.
Um, although pumpkin pie is oneof my favorites.

(07:41):
It comes within you, it anchorsyou.
You get to honor where you arewithout pretending you feel
something you don't.
You get to show up withcompassion for yourself first.
And you get to protect yourpeace without guilt.

(08:02):
And yes, you get to enjoy theholiday without starting over
Monday.
So let's talk about a few thingsto keep you steady this week.
First, we're going to talk aboutgratitude because gratitude
isn't about pretendingeverything is perfect, it's

(08:24):
about noticing what's carryingyou.
Maybe it's strength that youdidn't know you still had.
Maybe it's the small routinesthat you've built.
Maybe it's the people who showedup for you when you needed it.
Gratitude is a lesson.

(08:47):
It's it's it's a lesson.
And it's it's it's tough, right?
It's tough to have a gratitudejournal because gratitude is
less about listing blessings andmore about acknowledging the
things that are helping you moveforward.
And that is a tough one for me.
Um, I've always struggled withgratitude journals because I

(09:10):
always want to list theblessings instead of
acknowledging the things thatare actually helping me move in
the direction that I want to go,right?
Um, so there is that, and youmight struggle with that too.
Second, I want to talk aboutyour belief because it didn't
disappear.
You did literally just forgetwhere you put it.

(09:31):
So life gets loud, the stressespile up, you start doubting
yourself without even noticingthat you're doing it.
But the belief, it is stillthere.
And this season can actuallyhelp you reconnect with it.

(09:51):
Because when you slow down, youremember what truly matters.
When you see how far you'vealready come in these last 60
days, that confidence comes backinto view because you didn't
lose it.
You just tucked it under all theresponsibilities that you carry.

(10:15):
So this week is a chance to pickit back up.
And when I say how far you'vecome in the last 60 days, I want
you to sit down and I want youto write that out.
Go back 60 days and just see thesteps that you've taken to move
you forward to where you aretoday.

(10:38):
Because then over the next 60days, we're gonna take more
steps to move you even forward,right?
So I want you to keep one or twosmall commitments to yourself.
There's no rules, norestrictions, just grounding
anchors.
I want you to take a short walkafter dinner.

(11:02):
Or have a glass of water beforeyour coffee.
Make sure you eat a pea a goodchunk of protein with each meal.
And how about just a few minutesof quiet before you walk into a
gathering?

(11:23):
These tiny anchors will hold yousteady when the week gets busy.
And here is your dental holidaysurvival reminder.
You don't have to be perfect.
You don't have to eat clean.
You can just eat.

(11:45):
And you don't have to proveanything.
One meal is not going to stopyour progress.
One dessert won't derail yourgoals, and one emotional moment
doesn't mean you're fallingapart.
You're learning.
Yeah, you're learning.
You're learning how to take careof yourself in real life with

(12:08):
real people, with real emotions,and that's the transformation.
So even though you go into theholidays and they're hard, I
want you to just sit with it.
Because as you move through thisThanksgiving, I want you to ask

(12:30):
yourself one question.
What has been the mostmeaningful thing in my life over
the last 60 days?
I want you to sit with it, Iwant you to name it, I want you
to honor it.
Because that answer is part ofwho you're becoming.

(12:55):
What has been the mostmeaningful thing in my life over
the last 60 days?
Before you go, ask yourself whatis one thing you want to feel on
December 31st?

(13:16):
Not accomplish, but feel.

(14:19):
And just remember that you don'thave to do this alone.
You do deserve to feel goodagain.
And this is your moment tostart.
See you next week on UnleashYour Inter Radiance.
Have a great Thanksgiving day.