Finding New Meaning & Appreciation For Life After Loss

— Losing a loved one is one of the most lonely and painful experiences you will go though in life. It can be hard knowing how to pick up the pieces and move forward with your life after. This episode is about how Julie Derks let her husband's death teach her about life and turned this tragedy into something beautiful and meaningful. Julie truly found herself through losing her husband and it took her on a spiritual path and finding a life of love instead of fear. It led her to finding her passion and purpose in this life of helping those who are stuck in their grief to find gratitude, joy and love again for their life.

Valeria interviews Julie Derks — she is a mom of two amazing boys, and she lost her late husband suddenly in a car accident in November of 2017. At the time her sons were 2.5 years and 7 months old. With a simple knock at her door Julie's whole world was turned upside down and she lost all bearings to which way was up.

In her time of uncertainty, she was certain of one thing, that she would find her way through this no matter what it took. The first year was awful and messy with so many downs (way more than ups) but with Julie's two boys watching her, she knew they needed to see her save herself.

At around the two-year mark she had someone asked her to tell them who she was (without giving her typical answer of "I'm a mom or widow") and she didn't have a clue how to answer. Julie knew being a widow didn't define her, but she didn't know who she was, she felt lost. This was a huge turning point for her on her healing journey. Julie began to reflect on who she truly was and began to love myself.

When Julie lost her husband, she began to have a whole new meaning and appreciation for what life is. She was determined to properly heal herself and do all the work to get her there. It wasn't always easy and many times Julie wanted to give up, but she is so grateful she kept pushing through. Diving headfirst into your pain doesn't seem natural, usually we want to bury it, but at some point, that pain is going to come back up again no matter how deep you buried it. Diving into your pain headfirst is the only way through it.

Julie was fortunate to have many different people help guide her on her journey. It's so important to have support when you're going through something so life changing. No one should have to do that alone.

There really is a lack of resources and support for those who are grieving, which is so unfortunate since we're all going to experience death of a loved one at some point in our lives. Which is part of why Julie decided to become a grief coach. In the spring of 2021, she dedicated herself to taking a grief coaching course and she is proudly a certified grief coach from the "From Grief to Gratitude Coach Certification Program".

Julie hopes are that she can help just make someone's grief journey a little bit easier by walking with them through their grief and help guide them back into gratitude. She wants to help empower people to open themselves up to grieve naturally, then help shift them to thrive again with their new normal.

To learn more about Julie Derks and her work, please visit: inspirationalhealing.ca

— This podcast is a quest for well-being, a quest for a meaningful life through the exploration of fundamental truths, enlightening ideas, insights on physical, mental, and spiritual health. The inspiration is Love. The aspiration is to awaken new ways of thinking that can lead us to a new way of being, being well.