640: Why The Worst Thing That Happened To You Was Actually The Best with Axel Schura

Feb 4, 2026

Axel Schura, author and speaker who survived a rare aggressive cancer and now coaches others, shares his transformation from near-death shock to radical healing. He discusses shifting from “why me” to “how for me,” using vision and act-as-if psychology, the necessity of feeling grief, learning to ask for help, and reframing suffering as a teacher.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

From Fit 26-Year-Old To One-Week Life Sentence

Axel Schura was diagnosed with aggressive Burkitt leukemia at 26 and was told he might have a week to live while isolated in hospital during the pandemic.
He received dialysis and chemotherapy, nearly died, and his partner and family fought for his survival which became foundational to his recovery.

INSIGHT

Belief Directly Shapes Survival Outcomes

Belief shapes outcomes: if you assume it's the end, you stop taking life-preserving actions and may reinforce that outcome.
Axel credits a survival mindset and embedded 'try until' programming from his upbringing for not giving in to death.

ADVICE

Ask Empowering Questions

Shift your question from "Why me?" to "How is this happening for me?" to find empowering meanings and practical benefits.
Create immediate, small visions (vision board) of what you want to recover toward to sustain hope and direction.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

What if the worst thing that's ever happened to you was actually the best?

I know that sounds wild, maybe even offensive depending on where you are in your journey. But sometimes the hardest things that happen in our lives, those things that feel like our personal living nightmare, end up being the best things that have ever happened for us.

I met Axel Schura in Bali during a deep shadow work retreat where we shared the hardest things that have ever happened in our lives around a fire. It was such a humanizing experience hearing the men share their heartbreaks and pain. His journey was through cancer, a one-week life sentence that became a complete transformation.

In this episode, we explore:

💔 How to shift from "Why me?" to "How is this happening for me?"

🧠 Why the word "should" is the most toxic word (and what it does to your body)

💪 The power of act as if psychology when everything feels uncertain

❤️ Why accepting challenges doesn't mean spiritually bypassing the pain

✨ How our greatest problem is believing we shouldn't have any problems

We talk about the journey from asking terrible questions to asking empowering ones. How crying for months can actually be processing grief you never knew you were holding. Why the word "should" is poisoning you. And how our souls chose these experiences to crack us open.

Four years later, Axel lives in Bali, travels the world, and just wrote a book. This episode is permission to trust that maybe this terrible thing is actually one of the best things that ever happened for you.

Connect with Axel Schura on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/axelschura/?hl=en

Learn more about Axel's new book here: https://axelschura.com/maybe/

Make this the year you finally start your podcast movement be personally mentored in a small group setting with me https://sahararosecourses.com/podcast-mentorship

If you are looking for a diverse + nourishing community of like-minded souls I'd love to invite you to join Rose Gold Goddesses at https://www.rosegoldgoddesses.com

Receive 10% off your first month of therapy with our sponsor Betterhelp at https://www.betterhelp.com/sahara

Discover Your Dharma - Order your copy now - https://iamsahararose.com/dharma

Stream the Intro + Outro Music: Trust Flow by Sahara Rose ft. WillyNoir here and watch the music video here.

To receive a free womb mediation, email a screenshot of your review of the Highest Self Podcast to sahara@iamsahararose.com

Follow me your spiritual bestie to active your fullest expression + laugh along the way:

https://www.Instagram.com/iamsahararose

https://www.tiktok.com/@iamsahararose

https://www.Facebook.com/iamsahararose

Order My Books: https://www.iamsahararose.com/books

By accessing this Podcast, I acknowledge that the entire contents are the property of Sahara Rose, or used by Sahara Rose with permission, and are protected under U.S. and international copyright and trademark laws. Except as otherwise provided herein, users of this Podcast may save and use information contained in the Podcast only for personal or other non-commercial, educational purposes. No other use, including, without limitation, reproduction, retransmission or editing, of this Podcast may be made without the prior written permission of the Sahara Rose, which may be requested by contacting pr@iamsahararose.com.

This podcast is for educational purposes only. The host claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information presented herein.