Below is my personal story. I humbly share this with you as a way of connecting the dots and in showing how my life has been filled with major life transitions. If I can heal, so can you.
From Hong Kong to San Francisco
I couldn’t understand why everyone around me at the airport was crying. My parents had told me we were going on “vacation”. Hong Kong to San Francisco. Except we never went back. Never having a chance to say goodbye to friends, family. My first memory of loss, age 7.
From college to stage 4 cancer
I grew up in a strict Asian household where physical punishment and verbal abuse was delivered “for our own good”. My father yelled. My mother used prescription drugs to medicate her pain. I spent the next 10 years plotting my escape. A 4.3 GPA out of high school bought my freedom, but after one short semester, a sudden diagnosis of stage four bone cancer brought me back to the place that I dreaded most.
From cancer to falling apart
I beat the 80% odds and cancer but found myself without a roadmap of how to be cancer free and happy. I spent the next few decades living a goal-oriented life. Six-figures in the corporate world, life looked great on paper, but inside, I felt EMPTY. I got married. Our marriage looked great on paper too; a house, a dog, a white picket fence. We survived 9/11 but got lost in the grief of a mother’s death. A few months later, my dog Sophie died unexpectedly and she became the catalyst that made me look at all of my losses.
From darkness to purpose
Sophie was more than a mere companion, she was my confidant, friend, family. She was my first experience with unconditional love. Grieving deeply, I walked away from it all. I wanted more out of life than a cushy paycheck. I wanted purpose. Although I escaped death at 19, I never once slowed down to make sense of the chaos. I began on a spiritual journey to find my way back from that very dark place. I created Luxepets while I searched for a way to celebrate the bond between people and pets and later, to heal from the loss of a pet.
A voice kept saying, “Do your grieving, heal, teach.” I answered the call, receiving training in several highly effective therapies and completed a Masters Degree in Spiritual Psychology, I felt freedom and possibilities for the first time in my life. I was determined to helped others do the same. A new career was born.
In 2007, after being told I should have saved my eggs from having had cancer. I overcame infertility to conceive naturally. The same week I found out I was pregnant, my mother committed suicide. 9 months later, my daughter began having life threatening seizures. A year later, a turbulent marriage came to completion.
I could have judged myself as a failure.
I spoke to my mother only a few days before her death. The autopsy report revealed a handful of pills and alcohol. Why didn’t I see the warning signs?
Instead, I forgave my mother, a broken marriage, and most importantly, myself.
I put aside all of the stories I had made up about being unworthy, broken, a failure. Instead, I used the tools I teach to re-build my life. It’s been a life affirming decade of helping many go from point A to point B.
Will you join me in looking at what possibilities are in front of you in going from point A to point B?